CTD Gets Ready to 'Face the Truth'

CBS Television Distribution’s Face the Truth, starring Vivica A. Fox and produced by Jay McGraw’s Stage 29 Productions, will premiere Sept. 10, said CTD, which also released the first trailer (below) on Wednesday.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjC814RQWk[/embed]

The show — which aims to “bridge the gap between quality television and the exploitative voyeuristic television that people are stuck with now,” according to McGraw’s father, Dr. Phil McGraw — will air on CBS owned stations in 10 major markets, including New York and Los Angeles. It’s also been picked up by stations owned by Cox Television, Meredith, Graham Media, Hearst Television and Weigel Broadcasting.

Host Fox will lead a so-called “Truth Team” that includes model, life coach and single mom Rosie Mercado, lawyer and advocate Areva Martin, psychologist Dr. Judy Ho and Judge Mary Chrzanowski, aka “Scary Mary.” During the development phase, the panel also included Bar Rescue host Jon Taffer, but he is no longer involved, said a CTD spokeswoman.

In each episode, real people will present their problems to the panel, who will then offer their opinions, occasionally enlisting the help of private investigator and surveillance expert Bradley Pfanner. Once the studio and at-home audiences have heard the whole story, they can vote on who is right and who is wrong.

Face the Truth is executive produced by Jay and Phil McGraw as well as Carla Pennington and Patricia Ciano, with Ciano serving as showrunner.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.