Ho hum - another quirky primetime whodunit

When does an iconoclast become a cliché? Or, to put that question another way where TV viewers are concerned, is there room in prime time for yet another whodunit about a brilliant eccentric?

My first response is no when Fox's new "Lie to Me" debuts at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, on WFLD Channel 32. Once again we have a highly trained, but borderline-normal expert who uses his immense abilities (none of which involve people skills) to solve crimes.

Imitation is not only the sincerest form of flattery, it's also the quickest way to water down a successful TV series, and now everyone is out to ape the only new hit of the TV season, "The Mentalist" on CBS, which itself is merely building on previous cable sensations like USA's "Monk" and "Psych."

That said, I can't bring myself to totally dismiss "Lie to Me," in that for all its lack of originality it not only brings Tim Roth, the intense Mr. Orange of "Reservoir Dogs," to series television, but also gives him a sharp ensemble to play off. If this series can develop the verve and confidence to display its own personality, it could be every bit as good as Simon Baker's "Mentalist," but Wednesday's pilot unfortunately is almost entirely formula.

Roth is Dr. Cal Lightman, a "deception expert" loosely based on Paul Ekman, author of "Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage." He has studied facial tics and expressions to the point where he believes he can tell when anyone is lying - and what they might be lying for.

"These expressions are universal," Lightman insists. "The truth is written on all our faces."

When he's called in on a slam-dunk murder case involving a dead teacher and a student with the hots for her, of course he runs afoul of the no-nonsense U.S. attorney.

"Personally, I think what you do is a joke," he says. But the attorney has to shut his yap when Lightman sees right through his own duplicity in record time.

The pilot employs the old dual, dovetailing story structure, as Lightman and his team are also trying to get the facts on a congressman who's been dropping big bucks on a high-priced prostitute. All a viewer needs to know is that, even when Lightman catches these characters in their lies, there's almost always a twist to what they're lying about. I only wish there was a little more delightful surprise to the twists.

"Body language tells the truth, even from the grave," Lightman says while studying a photo with all the hammy certitude of David Caruso's Horatio Caine himself.

Even at that, however, the material is here for a very good show. Lightman is backed up by Kelli Williams' Dr. Gillian Foster, who plays the romance-reading, pudding-eating optimist to Lightman's cynical nihilist. (Lightman also has an ex-wife and, of course, a precocious daughter.) Brendan Hines plays Eli Loker, who counters his bosses by telling the baldfaced truth in all things, even when it comes to his attraction for the newly recruited Ria Torres, who as played by Monica Raymund is "one of the naturals" with an innate ability to read people.

As the cases play out from week to week, they figure to cast Foster's faith in people against Lightman's suspicions of what they're hiding, and in that there's a promising premise. But it's got to transcend the rickety, rote mystery angle first, and that's not so easily done.

Just as "Columbo" begot "McMillan and Wife" and "Banacek" and "Kojak," quirky, character-driven crime dramas in the '70s, "Monk" and "Psych" have now begot "The Mentalist" and "Eleventh Hour" and even "Cold Case" and "Without a Trace," if you want to throw them in there, as well as mysteries where the lead characters are given even more of a personal edge and a 21st-century expertise. It's a crowded field where a show is going to have to work hard to set itself apart as something distinctive. I have to admit, at this early point I can't really look into the eyes of "Lie to Me" and see which way it will go, but for now it's worth checking out for its promise alone.

In the air

Remotely interesting: Jeff Kiernan has joined CBS' WBBM Channel 2 as vice president and news director. The Munster, Ind., native and Marquette University alumnus comes to Chicago after most recently serving as news director at WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV, CBS affiliates in Boston. Channel 2 is also running news, sports and weather on Pace buses thanks to a new partnership with Transit TV.

Reporter Dan Ponce has left ABC's WLS Channel 7 to pursue a music career. ... Wanda Wells has retired from Fox-owned WFLD Channel 32 and WPWR Channel 50 after serving 27 years as director of community affairs.

End of the dial: The major news stations will of course be covering Barack Obama's inauguration today, but classical WFMT 98.7-FM will also air his inaugural address live while featuring U.S. composers like Aaron Copland, George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein throughout the day. (What, no allowances made for Duke Ellington?)

Clear Channel's Chicago stations will also be celebrating the inauguration. Tony Sculfield will broadcast from the inaugural parade from 2 to 6 p.m. on WGCI 107.5-FM, and WVAZ 102.7-FM will carry the swearing-in ceremony from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.