Random Question: America's Most Wanted

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

It was brought to my attention a few weeks ago that America's Most Wanted was being cancelled. Again. I don't really remember much in television news pointing out that, on May 16th, the cancellation was announced. The final episode ran last night. 

America's Most Wanted was on the air for 23 years, well over half my life. I've never seen it, though I regularly watched Unsolved Mysteries for several years, which some people find to be similar. The purpose of AMW is to help apprehend criminals who are involved in various types of crimes. And, it works. Four days after the first broadcast, a capture was made. There have been over 1100 episodes (and there is an endless amount of material available for future programs... crime hasn't stopped) shown, and 1153+ people have been captured as a result of the show! How can you cancel a show that results in this??

Back in 1996, the show was cancelled, mainly because of production costs. However, 37 state governors, 80,000 law enforcement officers, and hundreds of thousands of viewers all wanted the show back on the air... and six weeks later, it returned. Shortly after the announcement of "the end," fans began rallying together again, hoping that this is not truly the end.

Four two-hour specials are still planned for the Fall. FOX has said that other networks have offered to pick up the show (Saturday nights on FOX have a long-unchanged lineup and some of the steadiest ratings out there), and maybe that'll happen. But, for now, it's unknown what's going to happen.

Do you ever watch America's Most Wanted? Do you think that it has run its course, or should it be preserved (possibly in another form?)?