- Justin Bihag
- Garry Chapman, Beth's son
- Bonnie Chapman, Beth's daughter
Production[edit]
The program spun off from Chapman's appearance on the show
Take This Job, a program about people with unusual occupations.
[1] Dog the Bounty Hunter captured an audience immediately by drawing viewers into the interaction of Chapman and his family/team, mixing street smarts, romance, arguments, teamwork, adrenaline-laced arrests and a philosophy of hope and second chances.
[1]
Viewers are taken along as Chapman and his family/team locate and arrest people who have broken the terms of their bail agreements. Bounty hunts and arrests segue into the rides to jail, during which Chapman and his team show compassion and strongly counsel the fugitives to start over, leaving behind drugs and/or crime to become dependable members of their families and society. Rounding out most episodes are scenes featuring Dog, Beth and their large family of children, grandchildren and friends.
As the show progressed, viewers were taken further behind the scenes during Baby Lyssa's training as a licensed bail bondswoman and bounty hunter; Dog's capture of
Andrew Luster and the ensuing arrests of Chapman, Tim and Leland in
Mexico; the deaths of Beth's father (Garry Smith) and Dog's oldest daughter (Barbara Katie Chapman); Chapman and Beth's 2006 wedding; Baby Lyssa's wedding and the birth of her second child; and the shock and fear of the family after Dog, Tim and Leland were arrested by federal marshals in
Hawaii to await possible extradition to
Mexico.
Chapman and Beth freely invited viewers into their lives, sharing personal stories about Chapman's 1976 imprisonment; his ex-wives and custody battles;
Season 4 hiatus[edit]
Production and airing of the show was halted by A&E on November 2, 2007, after an audio tape was released, featuring Duane Chapman using the word "
nigger" repeatedly in a discussion about the word itself with son Tucker regarding Tucker's black girlfriend's probable sensitivity to the word. Tucker had sold the tape to the
National Enquirer, and it quickly was picked up by numerous print and broadcast media outlets. This media exposure led Duane to make an apology on
CNN's
Larry King Live for his lack of sensitivity on the matter, and vowed to educate himself and make amends. On February 19, 2008, A&E announced that the show would return.
[3] Reruns of
Dog the Bounty Hunter, along with never-before-seen episodes from season 4, began airing on June 25, 2008, and the show continued, along with special episodes about the arrest and fallout from the Luster situation.
Season 6 shooting[edit]
On April 21, 2009, during filming of Season 6, Chapman was allegedly shot at with a handgun while his crew, along with bail bondsman Bobby Brown, were attempting to arrest a fugitive named Hoang Nguyen in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The suspect escaped on a motorcycle and was captured by Chapman about six hours later. This is contrary to evidence shown in the A&E airing of the episode titled "Easy Rider", on December 16, 2009. According to Chapman's website and
TMZ, Nguyen was arrested and charged with attempted murder related to the shooting attempt of Chapman and the Chapman family. On May 15, 2009, the
El Paso County, Colorado Assistant
District attorney dropped the attempted murder charge against the alleged shooter due to lack of evidence and conflicting statements by Chapman, his son Leland, and bail bondsman Bobby Brown. The prosecutors also state that they have not received the requested video footage from the incident, which was allegedly filmed by the television crew.
[citation needed] In March 2011, Nguyen filed a lawsuit against Chapman, Brown, and Chapman's sons Duane Chapman II and Leland Chapman. In the lawsuit, Nguyen claims he lost his job as a result of the incident and had to relocate. He also says he was injured by
pepper pellets that were allegedly fired at him. Chapman's attorney, James A. Quadra, told
Celebrity Crime Reporter the lawsuit has no basis "in law or fact".
[4] The lawsuit was in
mediation the first week of March 2011 with a trial date on November 28, 2011.
[5]
Lawsuit and sons quit[edit]
In 2011, Leland and Duane Lee quit working with their father and stepmother and severed ties with their family.
[6] The March 21, 2012 episode showed Duane Lee telling Beth "You want me fired, you gotta fire me," and then Leland weighed in, saying "I quit too."
[7] In January 2012, the two brothers confirmed leaving the show.
[7] Leland now operates his own bail bond company on the Big Island of Hawaii and heads Bounty Hunter Tactical Supply Co.
[8] while Duane Lee moved to Florida.
[8] Beth tweeted, "It will take 6 weeks to get through the whole thing tonight's jus [sic] the beginning."
[7]
In September 2011 Bobby Brown, who appeared in 30 episodes, sued A&E Television Networks, Hybrid Films, and D&D Television Productions in Colorado federal court, claiming he was promised to be a full cast member, but received only $6,000 for his contributions.
[9] The lawsuit is for "the misappropriation of his publicity rights as well as claims of breach of contract and promises
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