‘Dog’ takes bite
out of reality TVIsle bounty hunter Duane
Chapman says he'll star
in a CBS show about
hunting bail jumpers
Hawaii bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman, who gained international exposure this summer with his capture of convicted rapist Andrew Luster, is set to star in a CBS reality show, "Beware of the Dog."
STAR-BULLETIN FILE / JULY 2003
Bounty hunter "Dog" Chapman says filming of his TV pilot is to start next month.
Chapman said the hour-long pilot is expected to begin filming next month and will air in November. The show will be produced by Lighthearted Entertainment's Howard Schultz, a producer of another reality show, "Extreme Makeover."
"Beware of the Dog" will follow Chapman, owner of Da Kine Bail Bonds in downtown Honolulu, hunting and capturing bail jumpers, mostly on the mainland. According to Chapman and his longtime companion Beth Smith, "Beware of the Dog" will be based in Hawaii, where "a few" upcoming "hunts" are planned.
"The plan right now is I will host, hunt and capture," Chapman said.
The show also will include Chapman's brother, Tim, and son, Leland, 26, who runs the family bail bond business in Kona. Chapman's involvement was tied to network guarantees that a large part of the show will be filmed in Hawaii, he said.
Neither Schultz nor CBS were available for comment.
"CBS and I agreed that the show will reflect my life in that Hawaii is my decompression chamber," Chapman said. "On these mainland hunts you get spit on, but then I come home and go to the beach."
Though Chapman is in "negotiations" to do the show, Smith and Chapman said it's "a done deal" and insist the pilot is perfunctory.
"This will be a series," Smith said. "CBS doesn't put a bunch of money into reality pilots ... then not commit to a series."
"Beware of the Dog" will film six to 12 episodes this first season, Smith said. The couple declined to say how much money they will receive for the show.
The search for fugitive Luster ended on June 18 with an early-morning confrontation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, after Chapman had spent more than five months on the case. The bounty hunter was accompanied by his son and brother, and a two-man camera crew.
The group snagged Luster -- great-grandson of cosmetics magnate Max Factor -- but as the men wrestled the fugitive, Mexican police arrived. In Mexico, bounty hunting is considered a form of kidnapping and is illegal. All six men were detained.
Luster was deported to California, where he had been convicted in absentia of drugging and raping women in his Ventura County home.
Chapman was arrested by Mexican authorities, prompting a flurry of media attention. He left Mexico on bail, and warrants for his arrest are outstanding.
Chapman, an ex-convict, former motorcycle gang member and a born-again Christian, was interviewed by Playboy magazine for an article to appear in the magazine's 50th anniversary edition. He is also scheduled to appear in A&E television's "Take This Job," The Learning Channel's "Secret World of Bounty Hunters," and Court TV's "Anatomy of a Crime."
Producer Schultz was part of a Lighthearted Entertainment crew filming Luster's takedown and befriended Chapman following his arrest. Schultz, who named Chapman's show, came to Honolulu earlier this month to discuss the deal and "promised not to show Dog in a negative light," Smith said.
Most of the pilot -- tentatively titled "The Hunt for Andrew Luster" -- will feature the never-before-seen videotaped capture but also include the hunt's planning in Hawaii, mostly at Makapuu Point and Chapman's downtown office, he said.
"Dog sat out (at Makapuu Point for days) doing the investigation on his cellular phone," Smith said. "He ... pieced the entire investigation right where he feels closest to the Lord."
Chapman knows one place the show will not take him for a hunt.
"None will be in Mexico," he says. "I'm still very wanted down there."
