The Moment of Truth puts contestants to the test, the lie detector test that is, with a chance to win $500,000 dollars.  The challenge is simple, guests are strapped to a polygraph and asked 50 increasingly personal and embarrassing questions.  Then they are asked 21 of the same questions in front of their friends, family, and the audience. The answers must match the polygraph results (and be true) to advance in the game.  But they can change their answers or walk away at any point.  The show is hosted by Mark L. Walberg, and aired by Fox and the second season finale airs tonight.  Mark Walberg stopped by TV Talk with ShaunOMac to discuss what makes contestants play the game, and to talk about the shows future.

Shaun> I love the show; I’m not going to beat you up over the show!

Mark> You know what, I’ve been hit with almost everything.  So I’m glad you love the show but I’m open to whatever you want to talk about.

Shaun> To me, it’s like a talk show, but you give them money for answering questions!

Mark> Right, exactly! I even said that as I was getting interviewed myself by Extra or somebody.  I said, “When was the last time you did an interview where you submitted every question before the interview, then gave them a chance to change a couple of them or to stop at any time, and begged them to stop the whole time, then paid them money at the end?”

Shaun> I tell everybody to sit down and watch The Moment of Truth, cause it will tell you how bad people are that they will destroy their families and reveal their secrets all for the sake of money. 

Mark> I’m not exactly sure about that.  I think money is certainly at the top of the list of why people show up, but I think we have an increasing number of people that feel like the show helps them.  Or rather committing to the show allows them to say what they were afraid to say.  They can blame it on the show.  “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but its part of the game, so here goes”, when they really wanted to get it off their chest the whole time.

Shaun> I never really looked at it like that.  Like that lady last week, every episode you guys have, they bring out some sort of healing.  Like the woman who killed her son in the accident, right?

Mark> Yeah, I loved that episode.  Here was a woman who’d been through four marriages and it was a messy proposition.  At the end of the day, you just kind of looked at her as a really strong person.

Shaun> So tonight’s the season finale.  Last time you had a little hiatus, you updated everybody on the contestants and where they are now with their lives.  Are you going to do that this time?

Mark> I have not seen the edited version of the final episode, so I really have no idea.  But I don’t think so with these summer shows.  I think we’re starting to turn our focus to the fall, and we’re going to do new shows in July and September.  I have a feeling the shows going to be pretty off the hook. 

Shaun> They ran the preview last week, and you’re going to have politicians and celebrities, and sports stars, right?

Mark> I think they’re reaching out.  I think that’s the natural next progression of the show being in that arena, don’t you think?

Shaun> I think it would be fascinating to get some of these sports people and set them down and ask them about the steroids and everything else. 

Mark> I do too.  That’s a direction I kind of get excited about. 

Shaun> How do you describe the show?  It seems like sort of a talk show, game show hybrid?

Mark> I feel like on the surface, it’s a game show.  But as you get into it, the game play is the least of the issue, and it becomes what I talk about earlier: people saying out loud things that they have been harboring or feeling for a long, long time.  So it’s more talk show than game show.

Shaun> You can see the relief as people, like the woman in the first show are revealing stuff.  So it must be kind of therapeutic for you to see people releasing these burdens.

Mark> I think there’s an element of that.  I’m not going to go as far as to say I feel we’re doing great work here.  I do get the sense that for one reason or another, if you keep in mind that everyone on the show knows very well what they are getting into, when I asked them the question about whether the money is worth the pain they are causing, and they say it’s not about the money, we know the shows living on a different level.

Shaun> Will you be hosting the syndicated version of the show?

Mark> I think that’s a little premature, but if they asked me, I’d be open to it.  Certainly, there’s some talk about that in the not too distant future. 

Shaun> If it’s not with you, it’s not worth having on the air!

Mark> That’s nice to say, and I’m glad you’re not under a polygraph!

Shaun> I’m serious.  I followed you when you had your talk show.  You make people feel calm, and you always ask if they want to go on.  You lay it out for them.  So you do a great job of balancing this, offering the money, and keeping the show going on. 

Mark> Well, thank you.  I try not to judge the contestants and I don’t take their experience very lightly.

Shaun> Have you had a couple of experiences where you thought to yourself, “Just take the money and run!”

Mark> I say that out loud! Sometimes I’m sitting there thinking, “Oh boy, you just really don’t know what you’re getting yourself into here.”  I really try to inform them that while a $100,000 looks like a lot of life changing money, if they were to go home right now with $25,000 and without revealing the rest of this, they’re going to be really happy.  But they don’t really want to hit it at that point.

Shaun> We have a caller now, go ahead caller?

Caller> Hi Mark, how are you?  I’ve been a fan of yours since back when you were an announcer on Shop ‘Til You Drop.

Mark> That was one of the first things we did, and we had so much fun on that show, I’m still very good friends with Pat Finn.

Caller> I guess you’re now the current version of Wink Martindale or one of the other game show hosts.  Do you see kind of an evolution going on with the game show now?

Mark> First of all, thank you for putting me in that category.  But I’ll say this.  There is an evolution in that the way that we watch games and the things we expect from games are different than they were in the ‘70s, but what those guys did back then and what we try to do now is to be masters of ceremony and understanding what makes the game watchable.  Every game is different.  Every contestant is different.  As a host, you really want to try to make the show the star, and the guest the star, as opposed to you being the star, and I think the good guys always did that. 

Caller> Now days it seems like the hosts are more prevalent.  How important is for you to do that on The Moment of Truth, to make the guest the star of the show?

Mark> On Moment of Truth, it’s definitely a game.  There’s definitely game play, and the integrity of the game that matters.  But it becomes an intimate sort of talk show format, and it’s very loose. So I guess what I try to interject as far as my own personality into the show, is by keeping it loose.  I don’t read the questions before we tape.  I try to do it as dry and unrehearsed as we know how to do, and that way it allows me to really tune into what the contestant is doing and feeling, where their emotions are going so I can highlight it or smooth out a rough part.  It guides them through what can be very difficult decisions. 

Caller> Thanks Mark.  I really hope you guys have a celebrity version sometime, coming up.

Mark> Well, it looks like that’s in the works.  Thank you so much for your call, and I really appreciate the comment. 

Shaun> So Mark, what’s next for you?  Are you going to go back to The Moment of Truth, or are you working on something else?

Mark> Well, I’ve got Moment of Truth, and we’re taping some more very soon.  Then I’ve got Antiques Roadshow, where I’m currently taping my 4^th season, which is their 13^th season.  I love that show.  That’s the show that balances out my karma.  Then Russian Roulette is a show that I shot a few years ago, that’s back on reruns, so that’s back on the air.  As far as work goes, I’ve really got my hands full with these two shows, then I’m in the process of shopping a documentary that I directed about a young high-school/college-age singing and dancing troupe that goes around the world.  And I’m just getting back from taking my daughter from ballet, so I’ve got that going on too. 

Shaun> So any surprises coming up on the finale?

Mark> Well, I haven’t seen the cut, but this is Fox and they know what they are doing.  I’m always surprised when I watch the show.  So I would tune in.

Shaun> I think you should have all women as contestants.

Mark> Well, personally, I think the women tend to be a little more clean cut with their honesty.  Someone told me a statistic that men lie more often, but women lie better.  So I don’t know if there is any truth to that.

Shaun> And I love when you ask the question, then break to the commercial.  I’m sitting there kicking my chair! The way Fox does it with the cliffhanger, it’s almost like a soap.

Mark> Well, it does get dramatic, and leave it to Fox to make it as dramatic as possible. 

Shaun> We wish you well with the show, and would love to have you back some time to talk about your documentary.

Mark> I appreciate the interest and I’d love to talk to you anytime, so thanks for having me.