With the help of PR efforts touting host John Walsh as a trustworthy authority on crime, America's Most Wanted regularly enjoys high TV ratings in its bid to find fugitive criminals..

There's no shortage of TV shows today claiming to deal with "reality." At 16 years and counting, America's Most Wanted (AMW), one of the longest-running shows on television, is arguably the genre's most successful enterprise. But as any viewer can tell you, the reality AMW portrays is decidedly different than ...