The concept is very simple. A contestant is asked questions, and he is rewarded with cash for giving truthful answers. But if he lies, he loses whatever he has earned up to that point.

The catch however is that he (or she) can be asked very awkward and personal questions. He does have a choice of quitting at any point and not answering. He can keep whatever he has earned.

The dynamic in the show is the counterplay between greed and personal dignity. It is excruciating for a family, say the contestant’s wife, to watch secrets revealed to all the world. The cash incentive is enormous. After 21 questions the contestant hits the jackpot of US$500,000.

In the first show a professional trainer was asked whether he ever had sex with a woman after meeting her on the first day, whether he had done anything that would make his wife not trust him, and whether he was not having a baby yet because of doubts if his marriage would last. To all these questions, he answered yes. By this time, he had reached $25,000.

But then when asked if he had ever touched a client during a training session more than was necessary, he said no. This was considered a lie. He lost all that he earned, and gained only embarrassment, anguish and perhaps disharmony and ultimately the break-up of his marriage. All for a game show. Of course, he had hoped to walk away with half a million after an evening’s entertainment.

Actually we don’t know if he told the truth or lied, as the judge was a lie-detector machine, As we all know, these machines are hardly infallible. But when someone admits to embarrassing and incriminating personal questions, it’s more likely than not that he is telling the truth.

Although the contestant seems to have a free choice to stop during the game, by taking part he has already tacitly agreed to give up some, if not all, of his personal secrets. And if he chooses to not answer a question, the whole world will take that to mean that he is admitting to what is being asked.

With that first contestant the irony is that he seems to have admitted to some grave indiscretions and acts of unfaithfulness, yet lied about something that is comparatively minor. Perhaps he valued his “professional” reputation more that his personal life. Difficult to fathom the thinking of this man!

There have been previous shows like this. A similar show called “Nothing But the Truth” was a hit in Colombia. It was taken off the air in October 2007 after a female contestant admitted to hiring a hit man to kill her husband. That resulted in a public outcry and there were even threats that the producers of the show could be charged with being accessories after the fact to the crime.

What a strange world we live in! Within bounds of good taste, such a show could be highly entertaining. But good taste on television is becoming a rare commodity, and thrill-seeking viewers are legion.