AMERICA'S LEAST WANTED

AMERICA'S MOST WANTED (1988-2012) FOX
AMERICA'S LEAST WANTED
Cracked #252, March 1990
w: Matt Sweeney
a: Rob Orzechowski

One of the original reality shows before they became at least half of basic cable programming.

The premise was that each week host John Walsh would report from headquarters who the most wanted criminals were that week, seeking tips from the home audience.

There was a switchboard hotline with a number to call if you had any tips.

The people here are the cast of Married: With Children. The balloons are wrongly placed, but you get the idea.

There were always re-enactments of the crimes.

There were often sight gags of MAD publisher William Gaines in Cracked in the late 80s, alluding to the fact that unlike MAD they let artists keep their own art and copyright. They would also gloat over the fact that they were able to lure MAD's MADdest Artist Don Martin away.

A big controversy in the late 80s and early 90s under George H. W. Bush's presidency was the legality of flag burning.

The male prisoners in that last panel are Hudd & Dini, Cracked's imitation of Spy vs. Spy, about prisoners who were always trying to escape. The female prisoner is Zsa Zsa Gabor, an actress who went to jail for slapping a cop.

There was a rumor when the show was on that when people reported criminals, the people they actually saw were the actors that portrayed them in the re-enactments, though I have yet to have this confirmed.