• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, March 15, 2021

From somewhere far back in the rear of the storage closet of old ideas comes a revival of the Fox catch-a-criminal series “America’s Most Wanted.”

The show dates back to 1988, the earliest days of the Fox network, where it remained until 2011.

It was once one of the network’s longest-running shows, right up there with “Cops” and “The Simpsons,” both of which also dated back to the network’s beginnings.

Of the three, “The Simpsons” has been the last one standing, until now. That changes this week, on Monday night (March 15), when a new “America’s Most Wanted” takes up residence on the Fox schedule at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Original host John Walsh is nowhere to be seen in the press materials for this new one, which is hosted by former ABC News star Elizabeth Vargas (pictured above).

Once upon a time, this show made news on a more or less regular basis as it took credit for the eventual capture of a number of the “most wanted” fugitives who were profiled on the show.

Whether or not this new version will succeed in the same way is an open question. The fact is, without a show such as “America’s Most Wanted” on TV, it was easy to forget that there are still people out there who are “most wanted” by law enforcement.

Another open question: Whether a revival of this show was “most wanted” by anybody.