The original America’s Most Wanted was a cultural touchstone, running from 1988 to 2011 on FOX and hosted by John Walsh. The series is responsible for catching over 1,000 criminals and bringing them to justice. So it’s no surprise that FOX is bringing back America’s Most Wanted, this time hosted by Elizabeth Vargas. We asked Vargas a few questions about the reboot, including the differences between it and the original show and why it’s worth bringing back after a decade off the air.
What makes this new version of the show different from the original?
Elizabeth Vargas: Well, just the technological advances that have happened since the show went off the air 10 years ago are astonishing. People are able, via social media, with cellphones, to access and communicate in ways that they couldn’t 10 years ago. I mean, it’s actually kind of amazing what people are able to do. And this is a show — I mean, listen, I have a long history of doing a lot of crime reporting and in-depth investigations and documentaries and that sort of thing. The fact that this show takes the added enormous step of also empowering the audience to help bring justice for the victims of these crimes is a real extraordinary thing. And the fact that we’re going to be able to use technology, whether it’s 3D technology or green screens or avatars, and that people can pull up on their phones anything and everything, empowers the audience all the more. So we’re really, really excited. I’m really excited to be part of this relaunch of the show.
What makes this a good time to bring the show back?
I think the fact that we have made such incredible advances in what we could do technologically makes this show intriguing. Listen, this show has a storied history for FOX TV. It ran for 25 years. It was an enormous hit. People loved the show because they loved the fact that it gave you the added power, the added bonus, if you put it, of being able to actually do something about these crimes. We know that there are whole cable networks dedicated to nothing except crime stories. There is an insatiable appetite for it. But this show takes it one step further. It’s not just watching a story that is unbelievable and sometimes tragic and sometimes very disturbing. This show takes you a step further, in that we are enlisting our audience members to help us, to help law enforcement, to help the FBI, the U.S. Marshals be able to catch this person and finally bring justice to a case and to some survivors who are desperately in need of it.
How do you source your featured cases?
We’re working constantly with the FBI, with the U.S. Marshals’ office for people who’ve been fugitives. We didn’t want to do just one particular case or in one particular area. They span the country. They involve everything from murder to terrorism to kidnapping. … And we’re working very closely also with Interpol on this, which is also new from the show last time, so we have that added tool as well.
America’s Most Wanted > FOX > Premieres March 15