After 22 years on the air, it appears that FOX’s America’s Most Wanted series may be in some trouble — and not because of fugitives from justice. According to MediaBistro, the show has lost nearly a third of their staff, including the TV show’s entire West Coast Bureau.
According to the report, host John Walsh fired Lance Heflin last August, his executive producer for 20 years. Steve Katz was hired as the new co-executive producer and “has not endeared himself to staff.” Numerous reporters and producers have either been laid off or have quit in the last 12 months.
One still-employed staffer calls it a “blood bath” while another isn’t sure how they’ll still get the show on the air each week.
From the report…
“John Walsh is only in the office twice a year,” a producer says. “He won’t interact with the staff. He has no interest in the stories we’re producing. He has no idea who any of us are, and he could care less who’s writing his scripts. We’ve made huge sacrifices to do this work because we believe in it, and we’re all being replaced by unpaid interns as a result.”
Another staffer remarked, “Everyone loved, trusted and respected Lance. In the last year, everything has fallen apart. There’s no way FOX will renew this show for another season.”
What do you think? Could America’s Most Wanted be on its way out? Would you miss it?
SORRY FOX, IF AMW GOES OFF, I’LL NEVER WATCH FOX AGAIN!!!!!
If Walsh is the problem, they need to get rid of him and keep the show going.
That is a shame to hear, but Walsh always gave off an a-hole vibe to me. I prefer the old days of AMW. Now, they have re-vamped it so much, it feels like you are watching a police drama. Strange….
I am a faithful viewer of AMW and would hate to see the show go off, but, this year the shows have been mostly a rehash of old shows. Maybe the show’s time has come.
i want to no where i be able to see amw ,juge judy,cop on a others channel. but i yant you still diffusse all that emisions.
bil from canada
He’s in i’t for the money, thats all!
I think this is such an important show! Because of this show, hundreds (?) of criminals have been caught and put behind bars, where they can’t hurt others anymore. I think it will truly be a “crime” if this show goes off the air!
I would say to keep the show if it is still helping. However, it might be time for John Walsh to step aside if his reasons for doing the show have changed. The firing of a strong and long time producer seems very suspicious.
It is a community service program. It has helped law enforcement capture many bad guys. If Fox can keep the Simpsons on forever, than they can also keep this on forever.
if Walsh does act like that, then hey fox cancel the show for sure! no reason to keep a show like that around with someone who could care less about it. and if it does go off the air why stop watching fox? its not fox’s fault the main guy is acting like that, its kindof a no brainer to end it.
I am surprised to hear that Walsh acts the way a producer says he does. He has always seemed to care so much about the show and what the show does . Of course this is just a rumor but if that part is true – shame on John Walsh. Does anyone remember when it was actually canceled not long after it started?
AMW is such a positive show and does good things for many people…it’s sad to see people writing negative things, when they don’t know the show or the people that work there at all. If someone really knew what they were talking about…they would leaves ther name, not get thier source from bitter people that didn’t get thier ridiulous raise requests and therefore speak neagtively about the show and John Walsh. Everyone has had cuts and it’s normal that AMW did too. Furthermore I know John Walsh and he is a good person and I am sure if he fired… Read more »
Wow, I hope it doesn’t get canceled! I’ve grown up watching this show. Think it does alot of good. Although as a young viewer ( @ 8), this show freaked me out! Think it helped set in my distrust of people. Besides the top people,CEO’s, or any boss NEVER really knows who’s really doing all the real work. Just how things are.
I will stop watching fox all together if they get rid of this show.
I hope AMW stays on the air. I watch every week. In fact, if I’m not home, I record it so I can watch it later. It has helped so many families get justice and it has taken so many scum off the streets. If anything, I would like to see it air MORE then once a week. I understand in the difficult economic times that people lose their jobs but Fox needs to keep this one going. They can take some of the money they spend on all these mindless reality shows and spend it on the ONLY reality… Read more »