t
e's romantically involved with
a woman. And a man. Plus, he
cleans homes in the nude.
Story lines like these are go-
ing to fall by the wayside in the
months to come, according to
talk-show host Mark Walberg,
whose show can be seen daily at 2 p.m. on FOX-
TV2. .
In contrast, two topics Walberg thought had
something important to say were "Living With
HIV" and "Kids Carrying Guns."
"We met monogamous women who did not con-
tract this disease through gay sex or intravenous
drug use," Walberg explained. "They were living
with this horrible disease, and we stressed the
`living with.' What is normally a pretty down top-
ic was done in what I thought was a pretty posi-
tive light.
"When we talked about kids carrying guns, we
weren't dealing with gang members or drug deal-
ers. These were regular, good kids who are just
scared at school because everybody else seems to
be packing weapons."
Walberg, 33, who grew up in South Carolina
and attended Francis Marion College, chalked
up live-audience experience as a wai in-up come-
dian for other talk-show hosts, including Chevy
Chase and Bertice Berry. His show, which tar-
gets women 18-54, is promoted as bringing a new
perspective to daytime talk — with a host who is
a young husband and father.
Although often confused with rapper and
Calvin Klein underwear model "Marky" Mark
Wahlberg, but less so as time passes, the new host
has a very different background, moving up
through television as well as concert and theater
stages.
Walberg has been the on-camera announcer
for Lifetime's "Shop Till You Drop," host of ESPN's
sports magazine show "Burnt Toast," and guest
host for PBS's "Texaco's Star Challenge." He also
has toured with the Young Americans singing
group and earned college credits while perform-
ing in summer stock in northern Michigan.
While Walberg is toning down his ow topics,
he defends the rights of others to offer more lurid
subjects.
"Anybody who says something should or
shouldn't be on the air only makes me hedge a lit-
tle bit because that starts sounding like censor-
ship," remarked Walberg, whose show is
broadcast in 88 percent of the country. "The ulti-
mate control of what you watch and don't watch
is in your hands with your remote control."
On the other hand, Walberg has given a lot of
thought to the circumstances associated with the
death of a Michigan man after an appearance on
the "Jenny Jones" show. A male guest unexpect-
edly declared his love for a male friend, and was
allegedly murdered by the friend, who was out-
raged at the suggestion of a homosexual rela-
tionship.
"This horrible incident served as a wake-up call
to everybody in the business to really step up their
responsibilities on how we deal with our guests,"
No, I'm Not
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SUZANNE CHESSLER
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS