Fascinating Facts About The Groundbreaking TV Show America’s Most Wanted

AMW Received Thousands Of Tips Each Week

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America’s Most Wanted received, on average, between 3,000 to 5,000 calls per week from viewers. To help people effectively call in a tip, executives changed the last two digits of the hotline each year during the show’s first few seasons to coincide with the year that the episode aired (for example, 1-800-CRIME-88, 1-800-CRIME-89, and so on).

In 1994, the hotline was permanently changed to 1-800-CRIME-TV until it was shut down in 2014. Linder said they did not receive a lot of crank calls, although hang-ups were common. He believed people just wanted to see if an actual person would answer the phone.

You’ll be surprised by what happened when Fox tried to cancel the show! Read on to learn more.