‘Dog’s Most Wanted’ Dominates Status as WGN’s No. 1 Original Series

Dog’s Most Wanted has officially been crowned WGN America‘s No. 1 show. The series wrapped up its run earlier this month, with the first season chronicling Duane “Dog” Chapman and his wife Beth hunting down some of the country’s most sought-after criminals. The series also documented the last months of Beth’s life. The beloved reality star passed away in June after a long battle with throat and lung cancer.

Deadline reports the series averaged 797,000 total viewers 2+ live+3 day each week, which is a 49 percent increase from the network’s average for other shows, and 27 percent up from the network’s No. 2 program, Gone.

In the 25-54 demo, the series was +124 percent above the WGN original series average, and +186 percent above the No. 2 show.

Dog went from a motorcycle gang member and spending time in prison to becoming a celebrated bounty hunter pursuing and capturing FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitive and Max Facor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster.

Making headlines led to the creation of his hit television show Dog the Bounty Hunter, which aired over 300 episodes in 10 years. Dog’s Most Wanted was originally set to premiere in 2020 but was pushed up to a fall premiere to honor Beth Chapman following her death.

The Season 1 finale caught up to the day of Beth’s death, and the memorials held in her honor in Hawaii and Colorado. Dog also revealed during the episode what happened during his wife’s final hours.

He revealed how the family gathered at 2 p.m. Hawaii time on June 25 to say goodbye after pulling the plug on Beth. He said that while it’s common for patients to die an hour after being taken off the machines, Beth took much longer.

After a few hours had passed, the doctors told the family they should go home and rest. They promised they would notify them the minute Beth started to breathe more slowly so they could be there to say goodbye.

“At 5:30 she said she’s starting to breathe slow. Then they called me right back and said ‘Dog, she stopped breathing. And I’m like, can I make it there in time? I’m 15 minutes away. ‘No.’ So 5:36, she was pronounced passed away.”

“She passed away peacefully. And the hospital asked me ‘Are you going to come up here’ and I said no…” he said. “I’ve said my final goodbyes for a month. And I really don’t want to see her dead, because I want to remember her alive.”

The series has not been officially renewed for Season 2, though Dog has previously teased “no mercy” for future fugitives.

“Wait ’till you see Dog without Beth,” Chapman teased on PEOPLE Now in October. “No more mercy. I mean, once I catch them, they’re gonna get mercy.”