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''America's Most Wanted'' is a long-running TV Show produced by 20th Century Fox and running on Fox that profiles Fugitives wanted for violent crimes, often including those currently on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. The fugitives' crimes include Rape , White Collar Crime , Murder , Armed Robbery , Gang Violence , Terrorism , Drug Trafficking , and Child Molestation . The program was conceived by then-Fox executive Stephen Chao and Executive Producer Michael Linder in the summer of 1987 and premiered on February 7 , 1988 , on seven Fox-owned stations. The first broadcast led to the capture of FBI 10 Most Wanted Fugitive David James Roberts (an escaped multiple murderer) in Staten Island, New York within four days and demonstrated the effectiveness of the show's ''"Watch Television, Catch Criminals"'' premise to skeptical law enforcement agencies. Ten weeks later, the program premiered on the entire Fox network and became the fledgling network's first hit series. ''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 $115,000 per episode, but the show's reality-style format and near-real time captures (some fugitives were captured before the episode's final credits rolled) contributed to its success. The host of the show, John Walsh , was selected after the program's pilot had been completed and after a lengthy search. Walsh gained publicity after his six-year-old son, Adam Walsh , was kidnapped and murdered in 1981 . Other potential candidates included former Marine Corps Commandant General P. X. Kelly and victims advocate Theresa Saldana . The show began profiling missing persons, especially children, in 1991 . As of April 10 , 2006 , 886 fugitives have been captured and 48 missing persons (including children) have been recovered alive. Among the most famous examples is John List , a mass murderer who was on the run for 18 years, but was captured on June 1 , 1989 , 11 days after his case was broadcast. The show was cancelled for a month and a half in the fall of '' to strong and consistent ratings, making Saturday evening Fox's most stable night. 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 Men . 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. The main premise of the show is based on the German show '' Aktenzeichen XY... Ungelöst '' (''File XY... Unsolved''), which has been airing since 1967, and the BBC's '' Crimewatch UK ''. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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