America’s Most Wanted
America’s Most Wanted is an American TV show produced by 20th Century Fox, and is the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network. Its purpose is to profile and assist law enforcement in the apprehension of fugitives wanted for various crimes, including murder, rape, child molestation, white collar crime, armed robbery, gang violence, and terrorism many of whom are currently on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. On May 2, 2008, the program’s website announced its 1,000th capture.
History
The idea for America’s Most Wanted originally came from a German show Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst (ger. file number XY… unsolved) that first aired in 1967, and the British show Crimewatch, first aired in 1984, with the US version conceived by then-Fox executive Stephen Chao and Executive Producer Michael Linder in the summer of 1987. It premiered on February 7, 1988 on seven Fox-owned stations. Within four days of the first broadcast, FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive David James Roberts was captured as a direct result. 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. Since its debut, it has become the longest-running series on the Fox Network. America’s Most Wanted reinvented the economics of prime time television with its low-budget reenactments of crimes. A typical hour of prime time programming in 1988 cost $1 million to produce. AMW’s initial budget was much lower than that, but the show’s reality-style format and nearly instantaneous captures (some fugitives were captured before the episode’s final credits rolled) contributed to its success.
After the program’s pilot aired, a lengthy search was conducted, and John Walsh was selected as the host of the show; other potential candidates included former Marine Corps Commandant General P.X. Kelly and victims’ advocate Theresa Saldana. Walsh had gained publicity after his six-year-old son, Adam Walsh, was kidnapped and murdered in 1981. Walsh and others had successfully advocated Congress for the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The show began profiling missing persons, especially children, in 1991. Some of the most notorious captures include John List, the Texas Seven, and the abductors of Elizabeth Smart, Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee. On May 2, 2008, the AMW website announced their 1,000th capture; a New York City Realtor named Dwight Smith, who was captured more than a week earlier.
The show was canceled for a month and a half in the fall of 1996 when Fox decided to air a Saturday night sitcom block consisting of Married… with Children, Martin and two new series: Love and Marriage and The Preston Episodes. However, protests from the public, law enforcement, and government officials, including the governors of 37 states, as well as low ratings for the shows replacing AMW encouraged Fox to bring the show back. Martin and Married… with Children were moved back to Sundays. Producers rechristened the show America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back. Since this time, the AMW/COPS combination has made Saturday evening Fox’s most stable night, along with the longest unchanged primetime schedule on American television currently.
The show expanded its focus to also cover criminals in the War on Terrorism when, on October 12, 2001 an episode aired featuring 22 most wanted al-Qaeda operatives. The show was put together due to a request by President George W. Bush, who had presented the same list of men to the nation two days earlier. In October 2002, the show did a special episode focusing on the serial sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C. area.
In the new millennium, America’s Most Wanted has seen continued success. Currently in its 22nd season, AMW has reported over 1000 captures.
The show usually ends with John Walsh saying, “…and remember, you can make a difference”, or, on occasion, “…and remember, you do make a difference.”
On the last week of January 2001, after AMW had helped capture the Texas 7 along with a large number of other wanted fugitives, Walsh concluded with, “You really made a difference.”
On December 20th, 2008, after AMW aired their top 10 fugitives of 2008, Walsh concluded by saying “You do make a difference…a very big difference.”