‘Dog’s Most Wanted’ shows Beth Chapman’s last days

You have questions. I have some answers.

We’ve been watching old episodes of “Dog the Bounty Hunter” on Justice Network. Beth, his wife, was so pretty. Let us know about her death. And is Dog ill now?

Beth Chapman, the wife of Duane “Dog” Chapman, died in June 2019 after a recurrence of throat cancer. Her final days were chronicled on the series “Dog’s Most Wanted.” A mid-January profile of Chapman in the New York Times said that after Beth’s death Dog suffered a pulmonary embolism. Since then he has worked at losing weight and cutting back his smoking. “But sunblock and quitting tanning salons aren’t happening,” the Times said of the man with “beet-red tanned skin.” He still has trouble sleeping and eating well and he has gout. But the Times reported that Chapman has plans for another TV show and wants to write a book about Beth. As for the scandal around his use of a racial slur, he is still apologizing for it, telling the Times that “I was wrong.”

I know the actress Bridget Hanley played a role in the TV series “Here Come the Brides” in the late 1960s. I’m wondering what other TV shows she was in.

For those of you tuning in late, “Here Come the Brides” aired on ABC in 1968-70 and was inspired by the movie “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” In the series, the operator of a logging camp arranged for 100 women to come to Seattle so the men there would keep working. The cast was noteworthy for a couple of rising stars, David Soul and Bobby Sherman. Hanley played Candy Pruitt, the “straw boss” of the women according to “The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable Shows.” Before that show, she had been a regular on “The Second Hundred Years,” a 1967-68 comedy about a prospector (Monte Markham) who thawed out after being frozen since 1900. She would be back in a series a decade later, co-starring with Barbara Eden in “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” a comedy inspired by Jeannie C. Riley’s hit song of the same name. She also guest-starred on an abundance of comedies and dramas according to the Internet Movie Database, up to 1996, as well as working in theater. During “Brides,” she married E.W. Swackhamer, a director on the series; they remained together until his death in 1994.

We have been enjoying the Netflix series “Anne with an E,” loosely based on the story “Anne of Green Gables.” Three seasons were produced. We read that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Netflix were unable to agree on continuing the series. What information do you have as to why the fourth season has been canceled and if there might be any chance of its resurrection?

There’s always a chance of a show getting revived these days; the fans of “Anne with an E” are certainly lobbying for its continuation. But the issue here goes beyond one show into one of who will make and profit from shows. Before breaking up with Netflix, the CBC became concerned that working with the international giant was hurting its own operations in Canada.

“A number of countries have done deals, as we did, with Netflix,” a top executive told the Content Canada podcast, “and over time we start to see that we’re feeding the growth of Netflix, or we’re feeding the growth of Amazon, rather than feeding our own domestic business and industry.” It’s akin to how local retailers struggle against mega-corporations including online ones, or the battles we’ve seen between Netflix and movie-theater owners as the streaming service has become a major player in the film business.

And speaking of Netflix …

I enjoyed “Virgin River” so much, but the ending left you hanging. Will they do another series? I did buy some of the sequel books titled “Virgin River” but I want shows!

Netflix has ordered a second season of the show based on the books by Robyn Carr. Look for it later this year.