Dog the Bounty Hunter

show_name	Dog The Bounty Hunter
caption	Cover of the season one DVD
format	Reality
camera
runtime	30 minutes
creator
executive_producer	Daniel Elias Boris Lee Krutonog
starring	Duane "Dog" Chapman Beth Smith Leland Chapman Duane Lee Chapman II 'Baby' Lyssa Chapman Tim Chapman Justin Bihag
narrated
country aired	USA
network	A&E Network
first_aired	August 30 2004
last_aired	November 2 2007
num_episodes	100
website	http://www.dogthebountyhunter.com/
imdb_id	0424627
tv_com_id	29908

Dog the Bounty Hunter was a reality television show, chronicling Duane "Dog" Chapman's operations at his job, Da Kine Bail Bonds in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dog is joined by his wife and business partner, Beth Smith Chapman, his sons Leland, Duane Lee, associate Tim Chapman and his daughter Lyssa Chapman. His nephew Justin Bihag also appeared during the first season. Besides Hawaii, episodes have been filmed in Dog Chapman's home state of Colorado and the city of San Francisco.

Background :

The show is aired on A&E Networks in USA and on Virgin 1 and Bravo in the UK.

While the program mostly follows Chapman and his team in pursuits against actual criminals who violated the conditions of their bail, it also shows his life as a husband, as a father to some of his twelve children, and as an ex-convict. Chapman and Smith were married on May 20, 2006.' Dog' to Marry on 'Bounty Hunter'. MSN TV. 20 March 2006. Dog's compassionate side is frequently on display, as he looks for ways to coach his catches back to the right path.

The program spun off from their appearance in the show A&E Network's Take This Job, a program about people with unusual occupations. Both shows are produced for A&E by Hybrid Films, a New York-based production company. The concept of the program is to follow a family of bounty hunters as they capture fugitives.

The family also runs a bail bond business, Da Kine Bail Bonds, and has locations in Oahu, in Kona on the Big Island and also on the mainland in Denver, Colorado. The office on the Big Island is owned and run by Duane's son, Leland Chapman. The Oahu office is located at 1381 Queen Emma St. in Honolulu.

Chapman had a daughter named Barbara Katie who was killed in a car accident the day Duane and Beth married. Despite the death, the wedding ceremony commenced and the special episode was aired August 2006.http://www.aetv.com/dog_the_bounty_hunter/dog_episode_guide.jsp?episode=181033 Episode Guide: To Love and Cherish. A&E TV.

At a legislative hearing in Honolulu, where he appeared to oppose a bill under consideration that would effectively remove his ability to capture fugitives, he claimed to have captured 7000 fugitives.DePledge, Derrick. 'Dog' at Capitol to fight bill restricting bounty hunters. Honolulu Advertiser. 10 February 2006.

2006 arrest and extradition proceedings :

At approximately 6:00 am Hawaiian time on September 14, 2006, Duane Chapman, his son Leland and his associate Tim ChapmanDog The Bounty Hunter Official Site were arrested by US Marshals at the request of the Mexican government, on charges of bounty hunting, which is illegal in Mexico. On June 18, 2003, the Chapman trio captured convicted fugitive rapist Andrew Luster (heir to Max Factor cosmetics) who was wanted on 87 counts of rape. He had fled to Mexico. Duane, Leland and Tim have since been released on bail ($300,000 for Duane and $100,000 each for the other two).

On February 16, 2007, the second district court in Guadalajara denied a request for an injunction preventing extradition. The court ruled that Duane, Leland, and Tim should face trial on one count of "deprivation of liberty" in violation of the country's anti-bounty-hunting statutes. There have been multiple legal defense fund raising accounts set up for Duane, Leland, and Tim including one set up by Tanja "Doe," a victim of Andrew Luster.

On August 1st, 2007, the ruling was appealed by the prosecution to overturn the decision. In Mexico most rulings such as this are automatically appealed and it can take some time for a decision to be made on the appeal. However, On August 2, 2007, the First Criminal Court in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico dismissed all criminal charges pending against Dog, Tim and Leland Chapman on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired. The order effectively cancelled all pending charges. The ruling, however, was appealed by the prosecution in order to overturn the lower court's decision. A&E was told that in Mexico, rulings against the prosecution are generally appealed as a matter of principle.

On August 4th, 2007, on an episode of Larry King Live, while Duane "Dog" Chapman was talking, it was announced that the charges against Duane "Dog" Chapman, Leland Chapman, and Tim Chapman on the Andrew Luster case, had been dropped by the Mexican government.

Audiotape of Chapman using racial slur :

Tucker Chapman: I don't even know what to say.}}

In 2007, during this taped conversation with his son Tucker, Chapman used strong language, including the word "nigger," when referring to Monique Shinnery, his son's black girlfriend. The audiotape, which Tucker sold to the National Enquirer,http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_en_ce/people_duane_chapman;_ylt=AtVkiGl3DCSPcrHGCbH0Jn6s0NUE has led one civil rights leader to call for Chapman's popular Dog the Bounty Hunter show on A&E to be canceled. After the tape was made public, A&E announced it was suspending production for the series pending an investigation. Civil rights leader Roy Innis said that Chapman "should not have a show".

On 1 November 2007, Chapman issued a public statement apologizing for his "regrettable use of very inappropriate language."Lawyer: Son of TV bounty hunter sold 'N-word' tape. 2 November 2007. Chapman also claimed that the statements were taken out of context and that he was "disappointed in his son's choice of a friend, not due to her race, but her character." His lawyer claimed Chapman's son sold the recording of his father's conversation to the National Enquirer for "a lot of money."

On 2 November 2007, A&E announced it is removing the show from their schedule "for the foreseeable future." on the same day Yum Brands announced pulling ad support for the TV series.

On December 21 2007, Roy Innis, the chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, one of the first to call the A&E network to have the show taken off the air, met with Alecia Colon of The New York Sun and Chapman. Innis stated for the daily news paper, "After meeting with him and his wife, Beth, and hearing his side of the story, we realized that the controversy had unjustly spiralled out of control without context."

In popular culture :

Duane Chapman's book You Can Run But You Can't Hide was to be set for a February 2007 release, but after his arrest, and extradition case, his book was released on August 7, 2007.. As of August 20th, the book is number one on the Hardcover Nonfiction list of the New York Times Best Seller list.
Dog and his crew were parodied in the tenth season South Park episode "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy." Cartman portrayed Dog, but was a hall monitor rather than a bounty hunter. In this episode, Cartman would chase around students accusing them of "hallway infractions" and attacking them with bear mace, which is the weapon of choice for Dog and the rest of his crew. Cartman also gave the students he "caught" moral lectures, spoofing the philosophizing Chapman does with fugitives while transporting them to jail.
Dog was parodied in American Dad! episode "Joint Custody" when Roger dresses up as Dog, when he was trying to hunt down Jeff Fischer.
Dog appeared as himself in the season two finale "The Trial" of the NBC show My Name Is Earl capturing Joy Darville in Mexico.
Dog appeared with his wife Beth on the one hour special of . Dog tied Criss up to a chair and lowered him into a hot tub. After four minutes, Criss loosened himself and stood up.
Heavy metal artist Ozzy Osbourne sings "Dog, The Bounty Hunter" as Dog's theme song. The song can be heard on Ozzy's Prince of Darkness box set (CD #4)

DVD releases :

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date	Additional Information
The Best Of Season 1	7	January 25, 2005	Features Dog's episode of Take This Job, Cast Bios, and Promos.
The Best Of Season 2	7	March 28, 2006	Features Cast Bios and a Pop Up Dog Hunting Quiz.
The Best Of Season 3	8	February 27, 2007	Features a Photo Gallery.
The Wedding Special	1	December 12, 2006	Features 5 featurettes titled: The Drama Of Dog's Wedding Ring, Dance Lessons, Shopping With Beth, The Bow Wow Vow, and A Tribute To Dog & Beth.
The Arrest	1	September 25, 2007	Features Additional Scenes.