We all watch it - but should we believe anything we see on television?

UK daytime chat shows came under fire last week with a series of allegations that television companies used bogus guests to make programmes more sensational.

With the runaway success of Jerry Springer's outrageous NBC show, which regularly screens topics for discussion like "I'm really a man, but I haven't told my husband" - the pressure is on to draw audiences with wilder themes.

Even the more low-key quiz shows are not above a bit of fiddling. Media pundit Matthew Parris has revealed that Yorkshire TV's word game Countdown has had its producer whispering clever answers into the earpieces of celebrity dictionary "experts".

Do you think it matters if the viewer is being deceived?

Mr Parris thinks it is a con, "but only a minor one in the scheme of things. I do think they should be a bit more honest about it though".

He also said it had happened before with celebrity quiz show Have I Got News For You, where contestants were given the questions before the show, so they could come up with "wittier" answers.

A spokeswoman for Yorkshire TV which makes Countdown denied the viewers had ever been duped.

"We have never tried to hide the fact that the two people in dictionary corner have earpieces. The people in the audience are aware of that," she said.

But what do you think - Is it time TV stopped living in fantasy land?

Is TV one big con?

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