Neverending Television

America's Most Wanted, 1988
Four days after AMW premiered, viewer tips led to the capture of fugitive David James Roberts, a convicted murderer who had escaped from prison and been on the lam for 20 years. Since then, some 1,000 criminals have been captured with the help of John Walsh, an anti-crime activist turned TV host whose own personal tragedy (his 6-year-old son was kidnapped and murdered in 1981) inspired his sense of justice. If you're on the run and the FBI is after you, you do not want Walsh to pick your name out of his hat.

• ER's Long Goodbye