The home of the world’s most famous bounty hunter is an ocean-view retreat with high walls, security cameras and the trappings of an active family: photos of children, posters of his popular reality show, mementos of a well-lived life, bicycles by the garage, three dogs, a squawking rooster and a parrot.

This is where Duane "Dog" Chapman ponders the successes in his life — his many captures, his high profile in reality television, his best-selling autobiography. But it’s also where Chapman, along with his wife, Beth, is celebrating a second chance he was never quite sure he would get.

Starting tonight, CMT will unveil the newest incarnation of the Dog franchise: "Dog and Beth: On the Hunt." The network will air a two-hour preview tonight, and on April 21 will debut the 11-episode first season. (Both will air at 5 p.m. in Hawaii.)

The new series comes less than a year after A&E canceled the couple’s original show, "Dog the Bounty Hunter," after eight successful seasons.

"To listen to everyone else, this doesn’t happen," Duane Chapman said on the lanai of his Hawaii Kai home. "But I’ve always said I’m on a mission from God. He decided my path, and I went to God and said, ‘Are you done with me? Is this it?’"

CMT answered the questions for him.

After the couple’s A&E show was canceled last May, the Chapmans drew up a list of 11 networks they wanted to negotiate with. But CMT scooped them up in August before they spoke to anyone. The Chapmans felt an instant bond with network executives.

"We were lucky we got another chance," Beth Chapman said. "They told us awesome things and that we did things that changed TV. We were celebrated, not tolerated."

"Dog and Beth: On the Hunt" will follow the Chapmans across the United States as they work with bail bondsmen to improve their business and their ability to catch elusive criminals. Duane Chapman has said that some of his motivation for the show is that his previous series created the illusion that bounty hunting was easy and safe.

It’s not. Chapman calls it the most dangerous job in America, which may be a stretch, but he does have his reasons.

The killing of two young bail bondsmen in Bakersfield, Calif., a year ago, young men who idolized Dog, shook the bounty hunter. Their case serves as the emotional opening of tonight’s preview special.

Chapman wants to prevent that from happening again if he can.

"We hunted with our family in Hawaii," he said. "Now we are going across the country helping other families. Now instead of retiring and taking my secrets to the grave, I’m helping those guys who need help. We are the most successful family of bounty hunters in the world."

Just because they’ve switched networks doesn’t mean the Chapmans are going to change their philosophy. Once they’ve scared their prey absolutely witless — national television shame is a powerful tool, Beth Chapman said — their captures are going to include sermons on forgiveness.

"We didn’t change," Beth Chapman said. "We just changed channels."

Duane Chapman recently turned 60 but shows no hint of slowing down. His health is good, he works out every day and tries to watch what he eats, he said. His handshake is viselike, but the bounty hunter admits he should probably smoke less. He still sports his trademark long blond hair and open shirt to expose a massive chest.

The new show will succeed, Chapman said.

"Absolutely," he said. "No doubt in my mind. I absolutely have enough faith that this will take me through my older years."

Already there has been talk of a second season, but Beth Chapman said no decision has been made.

"I think that the Dog the Bounty Hunter brand has been a very successful brand," she said. "People can’t get enough of it. They want the hope of a second chance. They want faith in something."

AND that’s a wrap …

Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.