# TV Shows where the main driving force is dishonesty **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865 "2012-02-05T15:12:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/1 "2012-02-05T15:12:00Z")
The one that finally came to mind after I had run through most of my list of regularly watched shows (past and present) is _Sons of Anarchy_. Maybe I wasn’t as impressed with that feature in other shows, and perhaps there are some I don’t watch where the lying and deception exceed the level of SOA’s. But can you name others where any promise is going to be broken and where characters regularly lie to everyone, their friends and family members especially? ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/2 "2012-02-05T15:24:32Z")
In Boardwalk Empire most of the problems stem from dishonesty and characters betraying other characters who trusted them. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/3 "2012-02-05T15:25:23Z")
LOST was the king of this, characters lied and concealed when it made absolutely no fucking sense to! Nobody shared information, answers to intelligent questions where bizarre and cryptic to the point of absurdity. “do you live there?” “I have lived there” The antagonist tells the protagonist “we’re the good guys” with no further explanation or context, after they have been kidnapping and murdering the protagonists group. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/4 "2012-02-05T15:28:17Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > The one that finally came to mind after I had run through most of my list of regularly watched shows (past and present) is _Sons of Anarchy_. Maybe I wasn’t as impressed with that feature in other shows, and perhaps there are some I don’t watch where the lying and deception exceed the level of SOA’s. > > But can you name others where any promise is going to be broken and where characters regularly lie to everyone, their friends and family members especially? “Arrested Development” “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/5 "2012-02-05T15:28:40Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > In Boardwalk Empire most of the problems stem from dishonesty and characters betraying other characters who trusted them. Good one. I must have not come to it yet when I was running through my list. Now that I’m thinking of it, several of HBO’s big hits had this feature. _The Sopranos_, _The Wire_, _Deadwood_, at least. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/6 "2012-02-05T15:29:38Z")
The King of Queens. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/7 "2012-02-05T15:35:48Z")
Joe Millionaire ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/8 "2012-02-05T15:36:39Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > But can you name others where any promise is going to be broken and where characters regularly lie to everyone, their friends and family members especially? The first seasons of Mad Men were driven by Don Draper’s infidelity and stolen identity. Less so in the latest season… …since he’s divorced… …but some of it continues to crop up. That’s not counting the other characters as well and all the things they do and hide. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/9 "2012-02-05T15:38:09Z")
[The Riches](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496343/) ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/10 "2012-02-05T15:52:40Z")
Three’s Company ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/11 "2012-02-05T16:04:12Z")
_Seinfeld_. Just about every episode involves one of the protagonists misrepresenting themselves or at least not being honest with the other people in their lives-indeed, that was the entire point of the series. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/12 "2012-02-05T16:15:01Z")
Bilko ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/13 "2012-02-05T16:57:18Z")
**That 70’s Show** Not only did they lie to each other, it was hard to believe they were even friends, as one of them would sell the other out in the blink of an eye. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/14 "2012-02-05T17:06:08Z")
Revenge ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/15 "2012-02-05T18:01:38Z")
I agree with _Lost_ and will add _Breaking Bad_. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/16 "2012-02-05T18:32:22Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I agree with _Lost_ and will add _Breaking Bad_. Oh, wow, yes! How could I have left off the main one? _Breaking Bad_ is even more the exemplar (among the shows I watch regularly) than _Sons of Anarchy_, but they both have the feature that if the words “I promise” are ever uttered, you can bet your car that whatever they promised will either happen or not happen by the end of the next episode. From the answers we’re getting to this question, I’m starting to wonder how near the top of the Writer’s Cheat Sheet, the concepts of dishonesty, disinformation, deception and lying are used to structure plots and scene dynamics. And what other concepts rank higher. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/17 "2012-02-05T18:42:55Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Oh, wow, yes! How could I have left off the main one? Lucy! You’ve got some 'splaining to do! ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/18 "2012-02-05T19:02:08Z")
It’s non-fiction, but _Undercover Boss_ is another. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/19 "2012-02-05T19:29:47Z")
_White Collar How I Met Your Mother Law and Order_ ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865/20 "2012-02-05T21:12:18Z")
_Lie To Me_. That was kinda the premise of the show. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-where-the-main-driving-force-is-dishonesty/611865.md?page=2)