| Genre: | Reality legal programming |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Network: | Fox |
| Network2: | Lifetime |
| Network3: | Fox |
| Last Aired3: | present |
| Num Seasons: | 28 |
| Related: | The Hunt with John Walsh |
America's Most Wanted (often abbreviated as AMW) is an American television program[1] [2] whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Alternative Entertainment division of Fox Corporation. At the time of its cancellation by the Fox television network in June 2011, it was the longest-running program in the network's history (24 seasons), a mark since surpassed by The Simpsons, although the program was revived ten years later. The show started off as a half-hour program on February 7, 1988. In 1990, the show's format was changed from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. The show's format was reverted to 30 minutes in 1995, and then back to 60 minutes in 1996. A short-lived syndicated spinoff titled America's Most Wanted: Final Justice aired during the 1995–96 season.
The September following the initial 2011 cancellation, the show's host, John Walsh, announced that it would resume later that year on the cable network Lifetime,[3] where it ran until its March 28, 2013, cancellation.[4] This was reportedly due to low ratings and the level of royalty payments to Fox which holds the trademark and copyright. It was succeeded by John Walsh Investigates, a one-off special on Lifetime.
The show featured reenactments of dangerous fugitives that are portrayed by actors, interspersed with on-camera interviews, with Walsh in a voiceover narration. Each episode also featured photographs of dangerous fugitives, as well as a toll-free hotline number where viewers could give information at 1-800-CRIME-TV (1-800-274-6388), and they were allowed to remain anonymous. On May 2, 2008, the program's website announced its 1,000th capture. Many of the series' cases have some connection outside the United States or have not taken place in the United States at all. The series' first international capture was in Nova Scotia in 1989. With Walsh at the helm, America's Most Wanted began to broaden its scope. In addition to the regular segments narrated by Walsh, the show expanded its segments and correspondents.
The first two-hour quarterly special aired on Saturday, October 29, 2011, on Fox.[5] The second two-hour special aired on Saturday, December 17, 2011, the third two-hour special aired on Saturday, February 11, 2012, and the fourth and final two-hour special aired on Saturday, April 21, 2012.
On July 13, 2014, a successor premiered on CNN called The Hunt with John Walsh, which added more international stories to its predecessor.[6] The series ran until the end of its fourth season on November 19, 2017. From 2019 to 2022, Walsh hosted the Investigation Discovery series In Pursuit with John Walsh.[7]
In January 2020, Fox announced plans to revive America's Most Wanted.[8] The revival premiered on March 15, 2021, and was hosted by Elizabeth Vargas. In November 2023, Fox announced a second season. The next month, it was announced that Walsh was returning as host, along with his son Callahan. The second season premiered on January 22, 2024.[9]
The concept for America's Most Wanted originally came from a German show, Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst (German for File Reference XY ... Unsolved), that first aired in 1967, and the British show Crimewatch, first aired in 1984, with the US version conceived by Fox executive Stephen Chao and Executive Producer Michael Linder in the summer of 1987. Even earlier, however, CBS aired a three-month half-hour similar series hosted by Walter McGraw in the 1955–1956 season titled Wanted.
While Linder was shooting the pilot episode in Indiana, Chao and Fox attorney Tom Herwitz conducted a hurried search for a host. Chao's first choice was former police officer and best-selling author Joseph Wambaugh, but Wambaugh refused, saying he didn't believe a national dragnet would work in the United States. Chao also considered asking then-recently resigned U.S. Attorney (and future New York City mayor) Rudolph Giuliani, former Virginia governor Chuck Robb and former Nebraska governor Bob Kerrey before deciding a politician might use the show as a platform for personal political ambitions. Other potential candidates included former Marine Corps Commandant General P. X. Kelly, journalists Linda Ellerbee and Bob Woodward, and victims' advocate Theresa Saldana. Then, during a marathon telephone conference call, Herwitz suggested John Walsh. Walsh had gained publicity after his six-year-old son, Adam, was kidnapped and murdered in 1981. The crime had been the subject of the 1983 television film Adam, and Walsh's later advocacy had resulted in new legislation to protect missing children, as well as the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. After lengthy discussions, Walsh agreed to host the pilot episode.[10] [11]
America's Most Wanted debuted as a half-hour program on February 7, 1988, on the then-seven Fox owned and operated stations, located in New York; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Houston; Chicago; Dallas; and Boston. Within four days of the first broadcast, FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive David James Roberts was captured as a direct result.[12] He was a convicted killer who had recently escaped from prison by digging his way out with a small axe. This demonstrated the effectiveness of the show's "Watch Television, Catch Criminals" premise to skeptical law enforcement agencies. Ten weeks later, the program premiered nationwide on the Fox network and became the fledgling network's first hit series. In 1990, the show's format was changed from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. The show was cut back to 30 minutes in 1995, and back to 60 minutes in 1996. In 1994, an international version of the series aired on various international markets under the title Manhunter.[13] From 1995 to 1996, a short-lived syndicated spinoff titled America's Most Wanted: Final Justice aired.
The announcer heard on the show from 2004 until his death in 2008 was well-known voice-over artist Don LaFontaine. The first new episode aired after his death was dedicated to him. He was replaced by voice actor Wes Johnson, who served in the role until end of the show's run.
Notable writers have included Peter Koper and Greg Scott.
The show's first logo ran from 1988 to 1990, which consisted of an eagle sitting on a tree branch in a circle, with lines, stars, and zigzags below, and it has "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED" written on it. The show's second and final logo ran from 1990 to 2012, which would be used for the rest of the show's run. In 1996, the show was retitled America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back, which ran until 2003. The 2021 logo utilizes the popular motif of utilizing the Stars and Stripes of the American flag as the "E" in "America's".
The program was canceled[14] for a month and a half in the fall of 1996, per a decision made the previous spring in the wake of high production costs. In its place, Fox moved Married... with Children (then entering what soon became its final season) to 9/8c, with the new sitcom Love and Marriage following it at 9:30. Cops remained in its hour-long 8/7c block. However, protests from the public, law enforcement, and government officials, including the governors of 37 states, encouraged Fox to bring the show back, though low ratings for Married... and Love and Marriage ultimately sealed the return of AMW. Love and Marriage was canceled, and Married... was moved back to Sundays. On November 9, 1996, the show was retitled America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back, which ran until 2003.[15] The change was overseen by Fox executive Peter Roth, who promised to bring the show back.[16] For the next 15 years afterward, the America's Most Wanted/COPS combination made Saturday evening Fox's most stable night, along with the longest unchanged primetime schedule on U.S. television as of 2011.
On March 6, 2010, Fox aired the 1,000th episode of America's Most Wanted, and Walsh interviewed then President Barack Obama at the White House. In the interview, they discussed the Obama Administration's crime-fighting initiatives, as well as the impact the show has had on law enforcement and crime prevention.[17]
The show expanded its focus so it could also cover criminals in the War on Terrorism when, on October 12, 2001, an episode which featured 22 most-wanted al-Qaeda operatives was aired. The show was put together due to a request by White House aides after the same list of men had been released to the nation two days earlier.[18] However, the first show that focused mainly on terrorism aired after the September 11 attacks and was two hours long.[19]
On May 16, 2011, Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly announced that after 23 years, America's Most Wanted, in its weekly format, would be canceled. The final weekly episode aired on June 18, 2011, though Reilly said four two-hour specials would air on Fox in the fall 2011 television season. However, Walsh said he was looking to other networks to keep the show going, saying he had "many, many offers" from other networks. Fox News Channel confirmed that its chairman Roger Ailes had been in preliminary discussions with Walsh about bringing the show to Fox News, but said "nothing has been decided." On the final Fox episode, Walsh promised to continue the show elsewhere and told the Associated Press: "I want to catch bad guys and find missing children—and we're not done."[20]
During the 2010–2011 season, the show averaged an audience of five million.[20] Within hours of Fox's announcement of the show's cancellation, campaigns to save the show were started by fans through Facebook and Twitter, among other social networking sites.[21]
In September 2011, it was announced that Lifetime had picked up America's Most Wanted from Fox and it began airing on the former on December 2, 2011.[22] On March 13, 2012, Lifetime ordered an additional 20 episodes.[23] However, on March 28, 2013, it was announced that Lifetime had cancelled America's Most Wanted.[24]
In January 2021, Fox announced that it would revive America's Most Wanted, with a new host Elizabeth Vargas, with the full endorsement of John Walsh, who could appear if contractual requirements with Discovery for his series In Pursuit are relaxed.[25] The revival premiered on March 15, 2021, and included augmented reality components to show a person's profile in full, including a full-body render of suspects or missing children, as they were last seen or artificially aged, along with identifying features such as scars and tattoos.[26] The toll-free number for tips changed to 833-3AMWTIP (833-326-9847) & the website changed to AMWTips.com, as opposed to AMW.com; though the latter domain has remained under Fox's control since 1997. Tipsters' identities were anonymous and, as always, were eligible for a cash reward for information leading to the apprehension of criminal(s) involved. An extension series hosted by Nancy Grace, America's Most Wanted Overtime, was also carried on the Fox Nation streaming service.[27]
It was announced in December 2023 that John Walsh would return as host of America's Most Wanted, with his son Callahan Walsh serving as co-host.[28]
The second season premiered on January 22, 2024 to 2.16 million viewers.[29] Elizabeth Smart, whose 2002 kidnapping was broadcast on the original show, appeared as a guest to discuss child abduction.[30]
The AMW Dirty Dozen was John Walsh's list of notorious fugitives who had been profiled on the show who were at that time, still at large. It was similar in function, though not identical with, the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list; four of the Dirty Dozen were on the FBI's list.
These are the Dirty Dozen, as of January 8, 2013. Currently, there are 8 fugitives still wanted despite the idea of the list being John Walsh's 12 personal most wanted. The eleventh, Andre Neverson was arrested in 2018. Paul Jackson was arrested in 2015. Resort killer Beacher Ferrel Hackney was removed after his body was discovered in September 2012.[31] Alleged murderer William Joseph Greer has also been removed from Walsh's Dirty Dozen before despite him seemingly still on the run.
Given that a significant number of the fugitives on America's Most Wanted had yet to face trial in a criminal court, the show adhered to the presumption of innocence as afforded under the law. For this reason, in the cases where fugitives had not yet been convicted, John Walsh would always precede his narrative of the crime with either the terms "Police say...", "According to police...", or other such similar terms followed by a description of the crime to which the person had allegedly committed.
In a handful of rare cases, America's Most Wanted profiled persons who were involved in controversial cases or who had fled to avoid prosecution on what they believed to be unfair or even framed charges. One female fugitive, who had fled to Canada, later had charges against her dismissed even after being profiled on the show. In another case, a judge ordered a change of venue for a suspected child murderer after learning that nearly the entire county had seen the suspect profiled on America's Most Wanted and believed him guilty. During its entire run, Walsh refused to ever issue a retraction, and never updated viewers on any fugitives who were later found not guilty of the crimes to which they had been profiled.[49] [50]
The Simpsons season 1 finale "Some Enchanted Evening" featured a parody of America's Most Wanted called "America's Most Armed and Dangerous", which featured a profile of Ms. Botz (real name: Lucille Botzcowski), the Simpson's babysitter, who is nicknamed the Babysitter Bandit. In season six of The Simpsons, John Walsh appeared as the host of Springfield's Most Wanted, a fictitious version of America's Most Wanted which was designed to serve as a lead-in to the resolution to the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" cliffhanger from the end of season six. It was also referenced during the episode Lisa's Rival, in which the name of the character Millhouse van Houten is mentioned because he is going to be featured on the show. This event is reinforced by armed men who chase him multiple times in the episode.
In season six of The Golden Girls, the fictitious mobster The Cheese Man boasts that his most recent appearance on America's Most Wanted was the highest-rated episode ever.
In the 2019 science fiction action film , Sarah Connor reveals that she was featured in an entire episode of America's Most Wanted and is wanted in fifty American states, due to escaping Pescadero State Hospital, destroying Cyberdyne Systems and allegedly killing Miles Dyson 25 years earlier.
In an episode of the sitcom 30 Rock, Liz Lemon mentions that she once appeared on America's Most Wanted, playing a woman who was strangled on the toilet.