DOG: The Bounty Hunter
A&E Home Video
Cast:
Extras: Bonus Episode, On-Air Promos, Biographies
Rating:
With reality TV shows being all the rage, A&E Television has produced a show last year that features Duane ’Dog’ Chapman an ex-convict turned bounty hunter who is reportedly one of the most successful bounty hunters around. Well, given that there’s not much reality in reality shows I don’t believe any of that for a second, but hey, it is still fun. Looking like an aged WWF wrestler with a partner that looks like an outdated and inflated 80s porn model the show is a riot, really. We get to follow Dog on his quest to track down criminals and delivering them to justice. His methods, his posse, his mouth, his encounters are highly entertaining and make for some great encounters with some notorious and often desperate bad guys. It also shows however, how TV can turn even the most mundane arrest into a sensational experience. Real or staged, you be the judge, and there can be no doubt that the ’lawman on a mission from God’ is also a bit deluded. But as long as it brings in ratings… why not?
A&E has put together here a DVD here with 7 of the show’s best episodes, handpicked by Chapman himself. It is a good mix from the show’s first season that contains some highlights that make for intriguing viewing. The image quality is very good with strong colors, solid black levels and good shadows. No edge-enhancement mars the image and the compression is also without flaws.
The DVD comes with a stereo audio track that is also fairly good, though gets garbled a bit in some of the action situations. Not a problem, though, after all it is a reality show, so it adds to the frenzy of the moment.
Also included on the DVD is the episode ’Catch ‘Em If You Can’ from A&E’s ’Take This Job’ TV show, which focuses on Duane Chapman, and on-air promos for the show as well as some biographies.
I typically find reality shows tedious to no end but ’Dog’ is actually fun here and there. Duane Chapman’s track record speaks for itself, of course, and the show’s given him renewed notoriety. Not that he really needed it, but it’s always fun getting your own TV show, I suppose, no matter what biz you’re in. So strap in and enjoy the ride with the Chapman’s as they take you to the wild side with their practiced-for-TV machismo.