John Walsh said goodbye this weekend — and thanked viewers of “America’s Most Wanted” for helping bring almost 1,200 fugitives to justice over more than two decades.
In a brief, on-air farewell, Walsh told his audience: “You’ve saved lives and gotten people justice.”
After 23 years on TV, the series aired its final weekly episode on Fox last Saturday.
Fox has cited the high cost of producing the show, which premiered in 1988, as the reason it was canceled last month.
Still, Fox News Channel is reportedly in talks to keep the show alive and bring it to the all-news cable channel, perhaps as soon as next year.
Fox News chairman Roger Ailes “has had preliminary discussions with John Walsh, and he’s a fan of ‘America’s Most Wanted,’ ” said Fox News spokeswoman Irena Briganti. “But nothing has been decided.”
“I’m fighting hard to keep this franchise going,” Walsh told the AP last week. “It’s a television show that gets ratings and saves lives, and we’ll find somewhere to keep going. We’re not done.”
A decision on a new TV home could be announced within two weeks, he said.
Walsh, 65, began his crime-busting crusade in the aftermath of the abduction and murder of his 6-year-old son, Adam, in 1981.