Dog the Bounty Hunter

One of the best attributes of reality TV is that it allows viewers to get a glimpse of events that would seem extraordinary.  By developing shows around fascinating characters, viewers are able to see a different part of life that would at least provoke some kind of reaction.  A&E’s hit reality TV show, Dog the Bounty Hunter, is one of the most exciting shows on television right now.  Although other reality TV shows like Survivor may claim to have more drama, this show about a bounty hunter chasing bail-jumping criminals is easily the most riveting show on television.

Dog the Bounty Hunter revolves around the world of Duane ”Dog” Lee Chapman, the self-proclaimed ”greatest bounty hunter in the world.”  Considering his pedigree of capturing over six thousand bail-jumping criminals, it is difficult to criticize his claim.  Although the show draws a great deal of its success from showing a profession and a way of life that most viewers find extremely exotic and exciting, any show that simply revolves around a job will eventually get boring.

Very few individuals make their livings through bounty hunting and the job itself isn’t very lucrative.  However, the work of professional bounty hunters and bail enforcement agents (BEA) provide a great service to society.  It is estimated that the work of 8,00 BEAs and professional bounty hunters are responsible for the arrest of 30,000 to 40,000 criminals each year, which has no cost to taxpayers.  Rather bounty hunters generally make between 10 and 15 percent of the bail posted by the criminals that they catch, however, as Dog the Bounty Hunter shows, very often professional bounty hunters are not paid this sum.

Rather, the main reason why Dog the Bounty Hunter has become such a prolonged success is due to the charismatic presence of Chapman.  The owner of Da Kine Bail Bonds in Honolulu, Dog is a highly intense but charismatic.  Although he may be menacing while on the job, the show also takes great pains in showing Dog’s lighter side as he hangs out with his friends and family.  Already a television presence that has been featured on The Learning Channel’s Secret World of Bounty Hunters and Court TV’s Anatomy of a Crime, Dog is also responsible for the capture of some of America’s most notorious criminals.  His list of captures includes: Quinton Wortham, Capital Hill rapist; Wayne Williams, Atlanta child murderer; and William Scaterie, white supremacist and convicted murder of Denver radio shock jock Alan Berg.

With exotic Hawaii as its backdrop, Dog the Bounty Hunter feels like a real-life classic cop show like Miami Vice with storylines straight out of America’s Most Wanted.  With the magnetic presence of Dog, a new kind of celebrity that has the charm to actually warrant the exposure provided by being on a hit reality TV show, Dog the Bounty Hunter has many things going for it.   A fascinating look at how a professional bounty hunter is able to keep a close bond with their family and also hold on to their sanity in such a stressful job, as well as a fast-paced look at the pursuing of a criminal on the run that resembles a sports event, Dog the Bounty Hunter is a great show that tracks a man that has been described as a modern-day Billy the Kid.