"America's Most Wanted" Gets Second Chance on Lifetime
9/6/2011
by Lesley Goldberg


In a bizarre twist, Lifetime has picked up John Walsh’s long-running "America’s Most Wanted".

The crime-fighting show, which Fox canceled due to soft ratings and rising costs in May, will return for its 25th season this year on the female-skewing cable network.



“America’s Most Wanted is a seminal program that provides a very valuable service to both viewers and law enforcement agencies,” Lifetime Networks president and GM Nancy Dubuc said in a statement announcing the news Tuesday.

“For more than two decades John Walsh has been leading the fight against crime and it’s an honor to partner with him on bringing back this important show.”





“I’ve always believed there was something very special about America’s Most Wanted and that there should be a home for it on television, and I couldn’t be happier to now be able bring it back on Lifetime,” John Walsh said.

“We’ve often been called the court of last resort … now we are back in the game and ready to saddle up for another season to get justice for victims and put dangerous criminals behind bars.”



Fox will still air its four two-hour quarterly specials as planned.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/americas-wanted-gets-second-chance-231717

I'm glad this special and valuable show has found a new home and will continue to take a bite out of crime!

Thank you Lifetime for letting a part of Americana continue to kick the crap out of crime! :D

Although Lifetime has a history of airing Unsolved Mysteries, it never crossed my mind that the channel would pick up AMW. It just seemed an unlikely channel for the show. Nevertheless, I am happy to hear that AMW has been saved. :)

In spite of all this, does 20th Century Fox still own AMW?

In spite of all this, does 20th Century Fox still own AMW?

Yes. In fact, the show is distributed by 20th Television (Fox's distribution wing).

Thank you Lifetime!

Although Lifetime has a history of airing Unsolved Mysteries, it never crossed my mind that the channel would pick up AMW. It just seemed an unlikely channel for the show. Nevertheless, I am happy to hear that AMW has been saved. :)

It makes sense to me. Many women are big fans of AMW and other true-crime shows. What better channel to put it on then one geared towards a female audience? Not all of us like the romantic dreck and lifestyle shows. :lol:

Very glad to hear that Lifetime has picked up America's Most Wanted. A great move on their part to keep this important show going.

I'm also glad that Fox will still be airing the four two-hour AMW specials. The first one will be on October 29th.

I'm glad you guys posted the good news since I came here to start a thread myself!

As mentioned on another thread here, Lifetime will begin airing AMW on Friday, December 2 at 9:00 pm (Eastern Time). Although AMW had been a fixture on Saturday nights for a long time, I wasn't surprised to hear that Lifetime was leaning toward a Friday night slot. Airing on Friday nights will be nothing new for AMW, as it actually aired on Fridays during the early '90s.

anyone know what's going on with this show on Lifetime? Seems like it hasn't been on in many months.

btw, I loved the promos Lifetime did with this show. John Walsh kicking a chair and marching up to these youths: "You guys are in big trouble" while pointing a finger. That was great. I love John Walsh, he's such a bad-ass:lol:

I love John Walsh, he's such a bad-ass:lol:
Me too. I loved it when they arrested a bunch of pedos in a sting operation a few years ago and John Walsh marched up to each one of them and berated them. While I think AMW's production really decreased in quality, John Walsh is and always will be amazing. I respect him so much.

I want to watch the promo and see him kicking chairs! :lol: :lol: I will have to go looking for it online.

anyone know what's going on with this show on Lifetime? Seems like it hasn't been on in many months.

btw, I loved the promos Lifetime did with this show. John Walsh kicking a chair and marching up to these youths: "You guys are in big trouble" while pointing a finger. That was great. I love John Walsh, he's such a bad-ass:lol:

The people at the hotline say Lifetime has not renewed it yet, according to the AMW Facebook page. Typical of Lifetime. At the same time understandable - crappy crappy ratings.

I feared AMW would take a huge hit in the ratings when it moved from a major network to cable. Particularly with men since some might not want to be caught watching "Lifetime: Television for Women". I obviously don't mind though as i watched UM on there for years. And I can't think of a single person who doesn't love the Golden Girls.

anyone know what's going on with this show on Lifetime? Seems like it hasn't been on in many months.

btw, I loved the promos Lifetime did with this show. John Walsh kicking a chair and marching up to these youths: "You guys are in big trouble" while pointing a finger. That was great. I love John Walsh, he's such a bad-ass:lol:

According to what I have heard, AMW is currently in between seasons. Like its other first-run programs, Lifetime is designing AMW to have a season premiere and a season finale, which, of course, is different from how the series was run on Fox. Therefore, although it has yet to be made official, there will be another season of AMW. The latest first-run installment of AMW was announced as the season finale before its October 12, 2012 broadcast. So, it was not surprising that the show would be on hiatus afterward, although the hiatus has lasted longer than I anticipated.

Despite concerns or beliefs to the contrary, AMW has garnered satisfactory ratings for Lifetime. Research and published reports show that the series helped improve the network's Friday 9 pm timeslot.

I feared AMW would take a huge hit in the ratings when it moved from a major network to cable. Particularly with men since some might not want to be caught watching "Lifetime: Television for Women". I obviously don't mind though as i watched UM on there for years. And I can't think of a single person who doesn't love the Golden Girls.

Some of the eps were 0.4's which is way at the bottom of the TVbythenumbers published chart. Others were 0.3 or less. Lame stuff.

I love the Golden Girls too. I'm even watching the INSP channel (and I'm not religious) cuz they're playing Matlock. If they added NYPD Blue on one of these channels I'd be checking that out..LA LAW too.

I love the Golden Girls too. I'm even watching the INSP channel (and I'm not religious) cuz they're playing Matlock. If they added NYPD Blue on one of these channels I'd be checking that out..LA LAW too.

Same here. Not religious, but INSP has some good stuff. I recorded the whole run of "Our House" off there a few years ago. Unedited. Episodes ran like 46:30, which is pretty unheard of these days.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Americas-Most-Wanted-Canceled-1063277.aspx

After 25 seasons, including one season on Lifetime, "AMW" is ending due to lackluster ratings. But Lifetime may stick with host John Walsh. The cable network is developing a pilot called "John Walsh Investigates."

Exclusive: Lifetime Cancels "America's Most Wanted"
Mar 28, 2013
by Michael Schneider


Lifetime has decided not to pick up another season of "America's Most Wanted", TV Guide Magazine has learned exclusively. The decision effectively ends the groundbreaking reality series after 25 seasons, at least for now.

Separately, however, the cable network is looking to stay in business with AMW host and executive producer John Walsh. Lifetime is developing a pilot, tentatively titled "John Walsh Investigates", which would take a different approach to Walsh's ongoing crime fighting and victims' advocacy work.

And although they declined comment, Walsh's production company and Twentieth Television (which distributes the show) are said to still be examining their options on whether or not to shop AMW elsewhere.





AMW ultimately ran for 44 episodes on Lifetime, resulting in 36 captures. But by the end of its run, AMW wasn't making much noise in the ratings for Lifetime.

The show's final episode aired October 12 and averaged just 807,000 viewers. Walsh and the AMW producers had been talking to Lifetime about producing another round of episodes, but ultimately a deal was not reached.





Since its launch on the then-fledgling Fox network in 1988, AMW has helped law enforcement capture 1,202 fugitives worldwide. Among recent notable cases, a tipster to AMW helped authorities find the "person of interest" in the shooting of Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen.

"I've seen a lot of shocking stuff and a lot of tough cases," Walsh said at the time. "You can be a crime victim anywhere in America."

Fox ended the show's original run in June 2011 after 24 seasons, but ordered a handful of specials and allowed Walsh to shop the regular series elsewhere.





Lifetime, which has found success through the years with TV movies based on real-life crimes (as well as repeats of "Unsolved Mysteries") eventually picked up AMW for its 25th season.

AMW debuted on Lifetime in December 2011, and did well enough to earn a pickup of 20 more episodes in March 2012.

But as it has been off the air in recent months, AMW missed a number of high-profile stories, including the elementary school shootings in Newtown, Conn., and the Southern California manhunt for fugitive Christopher Dorner.





It's an end of an era, of sorts, for the two shows that made up Fox's Saturday night lineup for nearly two decades. As AMW goes off the air, Fox is also mulling the fate of COPS, which only aired sporadically on the network this season.

COPS executive producer John Langley told TV Guide Magazine that he would shop the long-running series elsewhere this spring should Fox decide not to pick up another season.





Don't count AMW out yet, however. The show was canceled twice by Fox — besides 2011, it was also briefly dropped in 1996 (and revived just days later after outcry from law enforcement and government officials).

AMW is still seen as an important vehicle for locating fugitives, even if the show doesn't command as large an audience as it once did.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Americas-Most-Wanted-Canceled-1063277.aspx

I really hope it gets picked up by another network or cable channel. It's too important a show to be cancelled for good. :(

I really hope it gets picked up by another network or cable channel. It's too important a show to be cancelled for good. :(

I couldn't agree more. Lifetime may have officially canceled AMW, but I personally don't believe the show is gone for good. If it does get shopped elsewhere, my preference would be first-run syndication (in which a series is sold to numerous stations across the country and shown at different times in different cities). In fact, each time Fox canceled AMW, there was the possibility of it coming back via first-run syndication (it happened with Baywatch, Too Close For Comfort, and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, just to name a few). Some distributors were interested in the idea when it was first canceled in 1996. When AMW got axed again in 2011, and before Lifetime picked it up, John Walsh remarked that it "could go into syndication big time" - a not-so-subtle hint that he was considering first-run syndication as a possible alternative outlet for AMW.

Exclusive: Lifetime Cancels "America's Most Wanted"
Mar 28, 2013
by Michael Schneider




It's an end of an era, of sorts, for the two shows that made up Fox's Saturday night lineup for nearly two decades. As AMW goes off the air, Fox is also mulling the fate of COPS, which only aired sporadically on the network this season.

COPS executive producer John Langley told TV Guide Magazine that he would shop the long-running series elsewhere this spring should Fox decide not to pick up another season.








If Fox tried any harder to tank "Cops" they'd have to run it at 3 AM between infomercials. This current short, little promoted, sporadic scheduled season is the kiss of death. Hopefully it has given Langley plenty of time to find a new channel because the writing on the wall could not be clearer. I just don't think a network like Lifetime can compare a shows ratings on their station to a top network like Fox. "Cops" draws a strong male demo and they might just think "Cops" is cancelled if Lifetime picked it up.

I couldn't agree more. Lifetime may have officially canceled AMW, but I personally don't believe the show is gone for good. If it does get shopped elsewhere, my preference would be first-run syndication (in which a series is sold to numerous stations across the country and shown at different times in different cities). In fact, each time Fox canceled AMW, there was the possibility of it coming back via first-run syndication (it happened with Baywatch, Too Close For Comfort, and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, just to name a few). Some distributors were interested in the idea when it was first canceled in 1996. When AMW got axed again in 2011, and before Lifetime picked it up, John Walsh remarked that it "could go into syndication big time" - a not-so-subtle hint that he was considering first-run syndication as a possible alternative outlet for AMW.


I wish they'd allow them to play cases from 1992, 1996, etc. still unsolved. But Fox won't allow that.

I wish they'd allow them to play cases from 1992, 1996, etc. still unsolved. But Fox won't allow that.

Why not?

Why not?

Somehow they will claim they legally own the rights to that footage (much like Fux did on the forbidden site ).

Somehow they will claim they legally own the rights to that footage (much like Fux did on the forbidden site ).
Oh, I see. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO to them!!

Exclusive: As "America's Most Wanted" Ends, John Walsh Mulls His Future. Could CNN Be Calling?
Apr 10, 2013
by Michael Schneider


"America's Most Wanted" may be coming to a close, but John Walsh isn't getting out of the crime-fighting business. In his first interview since TV Guide Magazine broke the news that Lifetime had canceled AMW, Walsh says he's mulling several options for his next move in TV.

The host says he has a meeting scheduled this month with new CNN boss Jeff Zucker about possibly joining the news network. "He knows my passion," says Walsh, who once hosted a syndicated talk show for Zucker at NBC.

"Maybe Jeff will say there's room on this channel, especially with CNN's international reach," he says. "They ask me constantly to go on Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and Piers Morgan. Maybe I can come up with some kind of hybrid show that might serve those purposes... I hope that maybe with the blessing of Lifetime that I might be able to do something."





Walsh is still committed to Lifetime, which picked up "America's Most Wanted" after Fox canceled it in 2011. He's currently working on the Lifetime project "John Walsh Investigates", which will focus on three cases per episode "that really meant a lot to me."

Among the stories Walsh will tackle in the "John Walsh Investigates" pilot: The case of convicted murderer and sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan and the mystery of what happened to three boys who disappeared under the watch of their father, John Skelton.

"It will be a little tougher and edgier than 48 Hours," Walsh says. "They let me pick the stories."





"America's Most Wanted", which caught 1,202 criminals over 25 seasons, has been off the air since October.

"Lifetime had to pay pretty heavy duty license fees to use the name America's Most Wanted. That's something Fox trademarked and copyrighted before I even did the show," says Walsh, who calls it "smart TV business."





But that's also why Walsh says it's likely he'll be moving on from AMW to a new brand in which he'd have more control.

"I think it would be easier," he says. "Fox has been great to me. But with the America's Most Wanted brand name comes the license fee and the obligation to Fox. And that comes off the top. Not to disrespect Fox in any way or their support to me, but maybe it's time to make it something else. I'm in that thought process."





Walsh says he is most proud of finding 60 missing kids, including Elizabeth Smart, during his tenure. But he's frustrated with not being on the air, particularly when unsolved crimes hit the headlines.

When law enforcement was hunting for fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner earlier this year, Los Angeles Police Department chief Charlie Beck reached out to Walsh, not realizing AMW was off the air.

"I couldn't really do much for LAPD except to put that creep on the front page of our website."





Walsh also wants to help solve the recent murders of district attorneys in Texas.

"This DA case is really disconcerting because they don't have any suspects," he says. "I could get something on Friday night and on the website immediately. It' s very frustrating."





The host says he still believes execs should bring a show like AMW back to TV.

"Whether it involves me or not, it should be on a network. In a 600-channel universe, whatever they call it and whomever the host is, it gets horrible people off the streets and saves lives."

As for Walsh himself, "I'm not ready to throw the towel in yet. It's very hard to turn down these people who are constantly reaching out and saying, 'Catch this guy, find justice for me.' We are the court of last resort."

http://www.tvguide.com/News/John-Walsh-Investigates-Lifetime-CNN-1063837.aspx

I wish Mr. Walsh nothing but the best in the next chapter of his life and career.

Last week, John Walsh was interviewed on CBS, in which he talked about AMW and emphasized the importance of it. Regardless of his future, and even if the show is truly behind him, he believes it should continue.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505270_162-57579022/americas-most-wanted-host-john-walsh-on-lifetime-cancellation-show-needs-to-be-on-tv/

To be honest, I share his consensus that AMW should be on television. Considering the tragedy that occurred in my home state yesterday, I have to say that the show could not be absent at a worse time. :(

^ I couldn't agree more.

it's such a mistake for these idiots to be ending the show... :(

^ I couldn't agree more.

I'm glad to hear it. :)

The imporatance of shows like AMW can never be stressed too many times. In fact, one example of that is a statement that John Walsh made back in 1996, when AMW was first canceled: "We don't do UFOs. We save lives."

^ That's so true, and no one knows it better than Mr. and Mrs. Walsh, who were able to use the tragedy of losing Adam into good by helping others.