After hosting the long-running show “America’s Most Wanted” for a quarter century on Fox, then Lifetime, John Walsh retired in 2013.
But within months, he signed on to do a similar show called “The Hunt” on Atlanta’s CNN.
And now Walsh has become a spokesman for the Justice Network, an Atlanta-based TV network that debuted in January and can be seen in Atlanta on WXIA-TV’s HD-3 channel and Comcast Channel 213. The network apes the ID Network, focusing on recycled crime shows such as “Alaska State Troopers,” “Body of Evidence” and “L.A. Forensics.”
Walsh, 69, is flying into Atlanta every few weeks to tape video highlighting fugitives via PSAs that air hourly on the network along with photos of missing children.
“Nobody in the television business has the guts to commit time to show these pictures,” he said recently while in Atlanta.
After so much time on TV, he has become a natural in front of the camera. He emotes just the right amount of anger, frustration and determination in his voice and facial expressions whenever he talks about criminals that disgust him, even when reading off a teleprompter.
Walsh said he’s thrilled “The Hunt” has worked on CNN. He admitted being skeptical at first that this was the right home for him. Then one of the first featured fugitives (“a dirtbag child molester” as Walsh called him) was caught and killed thanks to the show.
“I got to call the family” of the victim, Walsh said. “I got to say, ‘You don’t have to look over your shoulder anymore.’”
Ultimately, he said, four fugitives from the show’s first eight episodes were captured or shot dead.
“The Hunt” has far better production values than “America’s Most Wanted” and focuses on just one or two cases an hour. “Near the end, I thought ‘America’s Most Wanted’ was feeling old and tired. It was getting formulaic,” he said.
He also likes that CNN will repeat episodes, something Fox seldom did with “AMW.” That increases exposure.
“The Hunt” returns for a second season this summer after the eight-episode test run. CNN is giving Walsh 16 more episodes.
Walsh believes that even fugitives who never get caught will get their due — after they’re dead. “I believe in the Buddhist philosophy that you’re held accountable for your actions,” he said. Of course, he’d prefer they be held accountable in the here and now so they don’t cause more destruction, especially pedophiles, rapists and serial killers.
He is very much a visible celebrity but not in a Kardashian way. People come up to him to talk about their own situations or to thank him for what he does.
On the other hand, Walsh does get death threats. But he said he doesn’t live in fear of retribution by bad guys. “I believe it comes with the turf,” he said. “People threaten cops. People threaten DAs. I still believe these guys need to be caught and pay for what they’ve done.”
