'Dog's Most Wanted' Reportedly Drew Nearly 1,7 Million Viewers for WGN America on Premiere Night

The day finally came for the much-awaited premiere of WGN America’s “Dog’s Most Wanted.” The show attracted a large viewership on its first day of showing, with reports making the rounds that about 1.7 million people watched it.

The long wait for the return of the bounty hunter to television screens is finally over, and those who have been eagerly anticipating its release trooped out in their numbers to catch a glimpse of their favorite show.

The show would be the first Bounty Hunter series without Beth Chapman, who died in June.

DOG’S MOST WANTED GETS WIDE VIEWERSHIP ON THE FIRST DAY

The story of Duane “Dog” Chapman and his family have come a long way. It focuses on the family and their activities as they hunt down runaway criminals wanted by authorities.

The show has endeared the family to many of its viewers, and this showed with the outpouring of condolence messages when the matriarch of the family, Beth Chapman died in June, following a battle with cancer.

Beth died while the new series was still being produced, meaning it would be the first time the Bounty Hunter series would run without her presence. It wasn’t thus surprising to see a large number of viewers for the first episode, but few would have expected the high numbers posted.

It is reported that the premiere of "Dog's Most Wanted" had a total of 1.7 million viewers making it the WGN America’s highest viewed show since 2017. “Dog’s Most Wanted” also attracted a high buzz on social media as it was among the most trending topics on Twitter.

BETH CHAPMAN MAKES ONE FINAL APPEARANCE ON TELEVISION

The premiere episode of the Bounty Hunter’s new installment would have a moving part that shows one of late Beth’s final days. In a preview clip of the premiere, Beth and her husband, Duane Chapman learns that her cancer is unresponsive to treatment.

They learn this news from her doctor while Beth, Duane, and their daughter, Cecily were driving. The doctor advised Beth to start chemotherapy as soon as possible, but she chose to process the information and get back to him.

The doctor then told her that it was her decision to make, as he only wanted to let her know her results, and was confident she and Duane would come to make the right decision.

DUANE REFLECTS ON SEEING HIS LATE WIFE IN NEW SHOW

The bounty hunter spoke to TMZ about the new episode of his show and was emotional about his feelings. Duane “Dog” Chapman admitted that he hadn’t seen the final edit of the show, as he found it hard to watch footage of his wife after she died.

The reality show star also spoke about the theme of the series and gave an update on the theft that occurred in his Colorado storefront in August.