Luster tracker gets TV show
Cable network to air reality series featuring Duane 'Dog' Chapman
By Jessica Keating,
jkeating@VenturaCountyStar.com
July 7, 2004
The bounty hunter who calls himself "Dog" is finally having his day.
A year after a Ventura County judge ruled Duane "Dog" Chapman would get no part of the $1 million bail forfeited by convicted rapist Andrew Luster, whom Chapman sniffed out in Mexico, a cable network has offered the theatrical bounty hunter a different kind of compensation: his own reality-television series.
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"Dog the Bounty Hunter," a 12-part series, will begin airing Aug. 31 on the A&E Network.
Chapman did not return calls Tuesday to his Hawaii office. A network representative, meanwhile, declined to discuss specifics of the show.
Chapman grabbed headlines last year when he tracked then-fugitive Luster to his Puerto Vallarta hide-out.
The bounty hunter was hailed by some as the reason Luster, convicted in absentia on rape charges, is now serving a 124-year sentence in state prison.
But others in the bail-recovery industry have criticized Chapman's motives. They say "Dog" is a different kind of hound.
"There's so much nonsense, but the TV media just eats it up," said Bob Burton, director of training at the Chicago-based National Institute of Bail Enforcement. "He's show and tell."
According to Burton, Chapman doesn't have much of a reputation in the world of bail enforcement. His colleagues don't like Chapman's mullet haircut, his tight, black shirts or any other part of the former felon's he-man image.
"We don't view him as a threat, either personally or professionally," Burton said. "But I am concerned that he will be shown as an over-macho, overblown example of people in our business."
In a written statement, A&E promises to show the "wild-and-woolly" life of Chapman and his wife and business partner, Beth Smith.
Each half-hour segment will feature the home and professional life of Chapman, as well as his relationships with Smith and his 12 children.
