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In business, especially during tough negotiations, no one likes to show their hand. Deals are made with poker faces. But it is always good to know how to spot a liar. Good liars don’t give away any obvious clues. But, a new study from the Harvard Business School and University of Wisconsin–Madison, gathered some insight into how liars give off more subtle clues.

For this study researchers asked study participants to play a commonly-used game in economics research in which one person was given a sum of money and asked to decide how much to share with another player, reports Inc. According to the game’s rules, the person on the receiving end could either accept or reject the money if they felt it was unfair, in which case both players got nothing. There’s also an opportunity wherein players could lie. “In the end, 30 percent of the players either flat-out lied about how much money they had or tried to avoid having the conversation,” writes Inc.

The study, “Evidence for the Pinocchio Effect: Linguistic Differences Between Lies, Deception by Omissions, and Truths,” was published in the journal Discourse Processes.

Source: WENN

After much speculation regarding the fate of NBC’s primetime soap opera, Deception, the network has officially confirmed that the thriller will not be renewed for a second season, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The murder mystery starring Meagan Good and Laz Alonso had a promising start, earning a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 year old demographic and 3.69 million viewers during the first episode; however, that success quickly diminished, averaging a mere 1.2 by the season finale.

Deception’s suffering ratings have been no secret and greatly contributed to premature reports and rumors of its cancelation. When asked about the rumors last month, actor Laz Alonso responded:

“We will find out in May if we got season 2. We have our fingers crossed, you know Megan and myself. We appreciate all the support we got this year. I mean people love the show and you know we will see what happens.  We have good feelings that we will be back for a season 2.”

Once the show’s cancelation was officially confirmed, Meagan took to her Twitter page to break the bad news to fans and express her gratitude for being given the opportunity.

She also shared a message regarding Deception’s cancellation to her Instagram page.

Source: Instagram

In an interview with theJasmineBrand, fine actor Laz Alonso talked with the site about the future of the NBC drama Deception, which he stars on alongside Meagan Good. The show was getting a lot of buzz when it started. Good looking cast, pretty good storyline, black lead–what could go wrong?  But in all honesty, ratings for Deception began to dip pretty quickly after its premiere in January, starting off strong with more than 5 million viewers and dipping to 3 million by the time the season finale came around. And as we know from NBC’s track record, if a drama isn’t clocking big figures consistently, they’re not going to put money towards any more episodes. Undercovers anyone? In the site’s interview with Alonso, he seemed just as confused about whether the show will get a second chance as we are, but he’s definitely keeping it positive and has his fingers crossed:

“We will find out in May if we got season 2. We have our fingers crossed, you know Megan and myself. We appreciate all the support we got this year. I mean people love the show and you know we will see what happens.  We have good feelings that we will be back for a season 2.”

He also opened up about rumors that he might be practicing celibacy and got inspired by Good and her husband, Devon Franklin. While he claims he didn’t plan to, he says that if he decides to, that’s his business, and he won’t make it public like some people we know…:

I wasn’t, but if it was something that I considered, that is something that I would keep to myself. That is something very personal.  But I was asked on a red carpet that Megan and her husband practiced celibacy before they got married, if that is something that I would consider and I said yeah. If it is something that meant a lot to the woman that I was in love with and that was a vow that she had with God, I would respect that and be patient. That’s what it was and it just got blown out of proportion.

Well, as for Deception, let’s keep our fingers crossed like Alonso since we can never grow weary of seeing such a good looking man on our television screen every week–especially a talented one. But alas, we’ll have to wait and see what NBC has in mind.

Click over to theJasmineBrand to see the video interview in full and see more of the actor.

Source: WENN

Deception co-stars Meagan Good and Laz Alonso have amazing on-screen chemistry. From their steamy love scenes to their throwback friendship, it’s only natural for people to wonder if there has ever been something more than friendship between the two young and attractive Hollywood stars. During a recent interview with Black Enterprise, Laz discussed the nature of his relationship with Meagan and if the two have ever viewed one another in a more romantic light. Check out a portion of his interview below.

On his busy schedule sometimes prohibiting him from having a social life: 

 ”It depends. I would say I have more of a social life when I’m filming just because you need that time to unwind more than when [you’re] not working. I’m more focused on working out, being healthy and cooking my own meals. When I’m working, I just don’t have time to do all that so [I] do tend to go out more for dinner and drinks, and really want to engage in social activity. But being an actor is very similar to being back in school again. You have a full day of things you have to memorize.”

“When you have 120 people that are relying on you to know your lines and deliver them with emotion and make it something believable, you can’t show up on set and not be prepared. This is NBC; this is the big leagues. Every minute that they go over because you weren’t prepared, it costs money. If it’s your fault why they’re going overtime, then you better believe you ain’t gon’ be working for too long in this business. You have to come prepared and play the role.”

On the type of love he has for Meagan:

“You always look out for the best interest of your co-stars, so it’s just being a friend and being protective. Sometimes [fans] start getting a little physical, and you got to let ’em know, like, Whoa! Slow it down; she ain’t going nowhere, but you got to stop trying to pull on her. Different fans show [a] different type of love, and Meagan’s fan base shows a very, very aggressive, strong love.”

On if he and Meagan ever had a “thing:”

“You know what, Meagan and I always had kind of like a younger sister-older brother kind of thing. When we did Stomp the Yard, this was back in ’06, she was a lot younger and I was just always really impressed with the stuff that she had done: her career path and what she had worked on before then. And then, I didn’t see Meagan again until Jumping the Broom [in 2011]. So four years had passed when I saw her again, and…she was an adult. It was like wow, you’ve done a lot in these four years. It was just good to see her playing an adult…playing Paula Patton’s maid of honor. It was just a different dynamic seeing her playing more mature roles.”

And there you have it.

Source: Anthony Dixon/WENN

We’ve been hearing talk of Deception‘s plummeting ratings for some time now. While many had high hopes for the NBC series starring Meagan Good and Laz Alonso, it appears that the show’s performance hasn’t quite met expectations. Although the primetime thriller started off strong with 5.62 million viewers on its first night, the success quickly diminished, pulling in a mere 3.08 million on February 4th. Numbers have been rather shaky ever since. The show’s March 18th season finale finished with 3.41 million viewers.

Now, TV by the Numbers, an entertainment website dedicated to analyzing the success of television shows by viewership, boldly claims that Deception ”is certain to be canceled.” The site says according to their renew/cancel index, they are sure that Deception will not be returning for a second season.

Considering the success of ABC’s widely popular political drama, Scandal, many predicted that Good’s show would’ve been shoo-in for television success.  While this certainly isn’t good news for Meagan, in the event that the show is canceled, we doubt she’ll have any trouble lining up other gigs. Just this month we told you that the 31-year-old Los Angeles native had been cast to play Ron Burgundy’s boss in  Anchorman: The Legend Continues. You know what they say: you can’t keep a good woman down.

So far there has been no word from the network regarding the future of the show, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Would you be sad to see this show go? Did you check it out at all this season?

We’re finally having the type of positive success on television as black women that we’ve been looking for, for many years now. Or at least, since reality television took over scripted comedies and dramas. No longer do we have to just sit and accept that there are black women on TV fighting, arguing and acting a damn fool, because we finally have the option to change the channel on any given day to watch other beautiful black women in leading and strong supporting roles on many television shows. While we lost Tia Mowry-Hardrict on The Game, we’re gaining Issa Rae soon, as she’s working with Shonda Rhimes on a new series, and we have these nine other beautiful sistas who are changing the game as we speak.

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Last week, Kerry Washington gave me yet another reason to love her. Not only is she a talented actress and an advocate, she proved that she understands how important it is for black women to support each other, even if other people consider these black women to be competitors. During the premiere of Meagan Good’s “Deception,” Washington reached out via Twitter to congratulate Good on the launch of her new show. Good was grateful and humbled that an actress she admired would take the time to compliment her. It gave me warm fuzzies too. Finally, it seemed that women, black women, were getting past this notion that if we’re in the same field, only one of us can be successful at a time. Kerry was showing us all that there is room for both.

And it wasn’t just Kerry who felt this way, “Deception” pulled in great ratings last Monday. When we shared  that news on social media, there were a few women who immediately jumped on the defensive, asserting that even though they hadn’t see it, “Deception” had nothing on “Scandal.” Ok that’s a valid opinion. But when I asked these women if there was room for both? They said no, there wasn’t. Hmm…warm fuzzies frozen. I just ended the conversation by saying that we were just happy to see two black women gainfully employed in the very competitive, racist industry that is Hollywood. The thing is, this belief that only one black woman can shine at a time is something that’s learned from a very young age.

Right now, and for the past couple of years, my nine year old cousin has been dealing with the same type of issue. My cousin, we’ll call her Sandra, who has grown up in a house full of older brothers and been surrounded by older cousins, is pretty advanced for her age. She’s still able to socialize with the girls her age. She’s interested in tea parties and Barbie dolls and all of that; but she really has no patience for goofy, obnoxious behavior… especially when she’s at school. She goes to a private school, where there aren’t too many other black girls there except for another one, Lisa, who’s close to her age, though they’re not in the same grade. Initially, Sandra and Lisa would talk to one another at school. They’d eat lunch together, play with each other at recess. But Lisa is a little immature. And her idea of fun and games usually includes something that involves harassing my cousin. Nothing violent but she’ll pull her clothes, irritate her and run away or attempt to boss her around.

Every other day, Sandra was coming home, telling my aunt about how Lisa was bothering her. After weeks of this, my aunt decided to call Lisa’s mother and see if she could resolve the problem. As two black women, she began the conversation suggesting that they both talk to their daughters about working on their friendship, so as not to inspire unnecessary and mean spirited competition between the few black girls in the school. Lisa’s mother responded with a simple, “No.” She would not do that. Instead of explaining why she wasn’t down with this idea or suggesting an alternative, she began to talk about her experience of being an AKA and having light skin and long hair. That’s all I know about that conversation because shortly after that completely unrelated and unnecessary sorority shout out, my aunt tuned out and shortly after that, ended the call.

Seeing that the situation with Lisa was beyond repair, my aunt told my cousin to tell Lisa that she didn’t want to hang out with her anymore because they couldn’t seem to get along. Lisa responded by saying that her mother didn’t think my cousin or her mother, my aunt, were Christians anyway… Sandra really doesn’t need friends like that.

Fortunately, for my cousin, she has other black friends, both girls and boys, from her baton twirling group and church. She knows that black girls can be friends. She knows that true friendship doesn’t mean one party is constantly being harassed and annoyed. She knows that just because one black girl, and eventually woman shines, it doesn’t mean the other is irrelevant. A few weeks ago, I came across a profound truth on Twitter from @BossChicks, that said “A real woman isn’t threatened by another woman’s shine, because she sees her own reflection in the success of another.” My cousin is only 9, but I hope this and other experiences with black girls and later women, teach her that while all black women won’t be here to see you succeed, you should never use that as an opportunity to shun other black women. If another black girl is doing it, it’s time out for getting discouraged or disgusted. If someone who looks like you made it, you know it can be done.

Source: WENN

It seems that being close friends with power couple Meagan Good and DeVon Franklin, in addition to his role in the 2011 rom-com Jumping The Broom could have possibly be rubbed off on Laz Alonso. In a recent interview with Sister 2 Sister,  the Deception actor discussed the success of the Franklins’ courtship and commitment to celibacy and how they’ve inspired him. He also shared his own views on celibacy and entertained possibly even practicing himself. Check out some of what he had to say.

On the decision to become celibate:

“I think it’s everybody’s choice. You know, people have different ways of going about their emotional and their personal lives. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer. It’s all opinion and what works for you. I think what worked for Meagan and DeVon has obviously worked very well because they’re madly in love with each other and they are a role model couple for me. I can’t really force feed my opinion down anybody’s throat. I just think whatever works for you works,” expressed the 38-year-old actor.

On the possibility of practicing abstinence: 

“I mean they [Meagan and DeVon] got married. So maybe I need to try that approach.

I think that it is absolutely beautiful how Meagan and DeVon can inspire those around them. Whether by merely provoking people to consider celibacy; which is something they may have never even considered before or making the decision to become celibate. We can’t say for sure whether or not Laz will be hopping the abstinence train anytime soon, but it’s cool that he’s open enough to consider it.

Check out footage of Laz talking celibacy on the next page. Have you ever practiced or considered practicing abstinence before?

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It seems actress Meagan Good has a new hit on her hands. The new TV show she is starring in, Deception, pulled in respectable ratings on its debut and helped NBC win the first Monday of 2013. According to EUR, the season premiere of the drama drew in 5.6 million viewers.

In the new drama, Good plays a San Francisco police detective trying to solve the murder of her socialite best friend. Good has appeared on a variety of TV shows but never starred in one. So this ratings news will  just confirm she can carry a show.

Good told Vibe shes ready for the comparison with Scandal, another TV drama with an African-American actress in the lead role. But she says the comparisons stop there. “[I]t’s a completely different story line and it has totally different characters. There are many different things happening with all of the characters on the show,” she tells the magazine.

In a show of support, Kerry Washington sent her congrats (via Twitter) to Good over the ratings success. Indeed, it’s great to see these two women encouraging and supporting each other when so often we hear about jealousy and backbiting. Kudos ladies!

But will Deception become as popular as Scandal? Did you watch?

Source: WENN

Kerry Washington was commended for being the first Black woman with a leading role on primetime television in over thirty-eight years after landing her role in ABC’s hit drama Scandal. Actress Meagan Good has also recently joined the primetime ranks with her new NBC thriller, Deception. Of course, as news of Meagan’s show hit the circuit, folks everywhere quickly began to compare the two primetime thrillers and one would think that Kerry may not have been so happy about giving up her title as the only Black woman with a primetime slot, but Kerry says not so! The Django Unchained actress recently took to Twitter to express her support for Meagan and just in time to stop any troublemakers looking to start rumors of a “secret beef” dead in their tracks.

“I’m sooooo happy for @MeaganGood and EXCITED for her new show #Deception – LOVE the billboards! Congrats Beautiful  XO,” Kerry tweeted.

“EXCITED for @meagangood tonight!!!! Sending hugs and prayers your way #DECEPTION.”

Meagan, both humbled and surprised by the love she received from Kerry, quickly replied.

“Wow…. Thank you so much … God is good.”

“That means a lot to me  Godbless you and your show is awesome!!! I’m blown away @ the grace of God.”

“Freaking @kerrywashington tweeted me her support/love–I so respect&admire her.Just means a lot #humbled. @kerrywashington Godbless you too!!!!! … And thank you again.”

The Deception star also recently expressed her love and admiration for Kerry as well as how thankful she was for her support in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. 

“It’s pretty amazing. I think she is so beautiful and so talented as an actress.I love everything that she does. For me it was like wow—I was really thankful that she reached out, and was offering her support and just showing love. She had told me before that she had seen me in “Brick” and had sent me a message I didn’t get. When I saw her in person she told me she supported me and wanted me to do well. I’m in awe because I think she’s fantastic.”

So much for that “there’s only room for one” theory!  It’s great to see these beautiful Black women supporting one another. I also love the fact that the shows are not in direct competition, considering they air at different times.

What do you think of Deception so far?

Jazmine Denise is a news writer for Madame Noire. Follow her on Twitter @jazminedenise