Upcoming in "The Hunt With John Walsh" Season 1 2014

www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/bc-beat/john-walsh-saddling-back-new-cnn-show/132278

My worst fear has unfortunately been confirmed- the debut episode will feature ONLY Shane Miller with future episodes showing only two fugitives at most. John Walsh explained things got too frantic for AMW towards the end by trying to air too many cases.

I can't say I'm thrilled about that aspect but at least fugitives will be on the air again. I guess it will be up to us to pick up the slack on the other cases.

MAJOR PIECE OF INFO

The CNN site just revealed a hotline number for The Hunt at 1-866-THE-HUNT.

www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/06/us/the-hunt/

Just happened to catch John Walsh be interviewed by Erin Burnett on her show. He talked about Shane Miller, how the power of the television viewing public has made a difference in capturing so many fugitives and finding so many missing people (Also incorrectly stated the "17" people off the FBI 10 MW List he's caught, but that's another story) and commented about the Georgia hot car death story. Walsh did say his "opinion" and said it wasn't the opinion of CNN, but that the father is guilty.

And nowhere was gun control discussed, so hopefully some of the gun debate talk on the internet regarding this new show can die down for now.

Another interview with John Walsh in the New York Post. He once again mentions how The Hunt will not show as many cases (it basically sounds like the premise of John Walsh Investigates but with fugitives). However, one quote I did find interesting:

“It sort of lost the quality television that we started out with. It became overwhelming and I lost track of the fact that we couldn’t be the clearinghouse for every unsolved case,” he says. “The re-creations were two-minutes long, you never got a sense about the victims, never got a sense of what was going on. We were old and tired.”

Now I hate to be a killjoy with a new show coming we're all excited about. But I sort of disagree. Most of us here thought AMW IMPROVED in quality when it went to Lifetime. We felt it declined on Fox between 2009 and 2011 when they started showing only two or three fugitives with really odd non-fugitive choices such as a missing student in Japan *possibly* murdered that couldn't be proven and spending money travelling there and other places to do so. The show's ratings were good on Lifetime too and it was only canceled due to Fox playing hardball with AMW's license fees (this was confirmed to me from a source). The Hunt is doing what Fox did in 2009-2011 with limited cases except the only difference here is I'm assuming it will be a much better production quality.

Yeah, they can't be the clearinghouse for every case and I sound like a broken record but one or two a show will mean only a select few of people who need that court of last resort will get it- especially with 8-episode seasons. (I understand it's cable but if The Hunt was a year-round show it wouldn't matter to me as much- I stress I realize that cable is different from broadcast) He mentions all the people telling them they need him and then chooses only about a dozen families to try to get justice? I hope that didn't sound too harsh. He's still my hero, don't get me wrong, but I'm disappointed in that. I'm wondering if they can have some sort of a compromise. Short blurbs right before a return of a commercial break, a 15 seconds of shame or web-exclusive cases at least. We have about what, 10-12 fugitive cases this year? AMW would sometimes air 10 cases on a show and not get a capture.

I agree with Walsh the focus needs to be on the victims but less fugitives equals less chances at a capture. What are the odds 50% or more get caught this season? Even if the ratings are good if the captures are minimal, the show will be considered a failure.

Sorry, I know I'm ranting, but I am disappointed that he thinks too many cases is the reason AMW "declined" in quality. Too FEW cases is the reason it declined on Fox but in my opinion rebounded on Lifetime. I'm really excited for The Hunt and can't wait, but I'm only airing these concerns because I hope they can find some sort of a compromise to broadcast more fugitives even if they stick with the format itself.

But as I said earlier in this thread, AMW did start out showing only David James Roberts in 1988.

nypost.com/2014/07/09/former-americas-most-wanted-host-back-to-catch-the-bad-guys/

I noticed that too. The only thing is that makes it look like Jacob Wetterling is a fugitive and not a missing person.

I am curious to see what episode they put him in, Victor Barnard would make sense since it's also a case from Minnesota.

The Hunt got it's first tv review. The reviewer supports the whole fugitive-hunting idea, but thinks The Hunt would be more suited for TLC or Investigation Discovery. He feels that CNN is trying to do something like a Lifetime movie and isn't airing "news".

Apparently this reviewer knows nothing about CNN's push for more original programming in an attempt to revamp their brand.


variety.com/2014/tv/reviews/tv-review-the-hunt-with-john-walsh-1201258773/

Also, AMW was never really a hit with the critics either. They might have appreciated what it did but they never went out of their way to praise it which they should have. It's really a show for people who understand the cause and is a public service show as opposed to entertainment shows. Critics can't critique this show like they're dissecting art. And it's not really a show most critics would understand unless they truly were as dedicated to the cause as the viewers.