![]() ![]() While there was no shortage of cases, a solid hour of them might prove emotionally taxing for viewers. Cosgrove and Meurer knew they had something, but there were a few missing pieces.įor one thing, it was hard to continue doing specials based strictly on missing persons. They were also a ratings success for NBC. The Missing specials resulted in 25 people being found and reunited with their families. At the time, the concept of “stranger danger” and kids profiled on milk cartons was in the cultural zeitgeist, and Cosgrove and Meurer believed a show exploring these types of cases could be something rare for primetime television-a public service. ![]() In 1985, they created a series of specials for NBC titled Missing…Have You Seen This Person? Hosted by Family Ties star Meredith Baxter and her then-husband David Birney, the specials profiled children and adults who had disappeared. ![]() That fact didn’t go unnoticed by producing partners John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer, who met while working at the same production company in the early 1980s. It was likely the first program of its kind, but it wasn’t popular, and the format went dormant for about 30 years. Wanted featured real victims and law enforcement officials in a telecast that urged viewers to help them capture fugitives. In fact, the closest thing viewers had ever seen to a reality-based crime show was a series called Wanted that aired on CBS for one season in 1955. Aside from some Geraldo specials, shows about real people involved in crimes just weren’t common. In the mid-1980s, primetime television didn’t leave a lot of room for reality programming. ![]()
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