America’s Most Wanted

Network: FOX, Lifetime
Episodes: Ongoing (hour)
Seasons: Ongoing

TV show dates: February 7, 1988 – present
Series status: Specials now on FOX, series picked up by Lifetime

Performers include: John Walsh (host)

TV show description:
This series profiles actual fugitives with the hopes of having the public aid in finding them and leading to their capture; “watch television, catch criminals.”

The show is hosted by John Walsh. Following the abduction and murder of his young son, Adam, Walsh created the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In most episodes, Walsh to introduces a case and it is then serialized in dramatized segments. When fugitives are caught with the public’s help, Walsh highlights it on a subsequent program, along with a running total count of how many fugitives have been caught.

Along with fugitives, the show also profiles missing persons, especially children. After 9/11, it also expanded to profile War on Terrorism criminals, including the twenty-two most wanted al-Qaeda operatives, at the request of President George W. Bush. Walsh ends each episode with the catchphrase, “…and remember, you can make a difference.”

Image courtesy FOX.

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