Ironically for the producers of the A&E hit series "Dog, The Bounty Hunter," the past year has brought a lot of exciting developments for the Chapman clan, but it's the type of excitement no one is looking for.

Duane 'Dog' Chapman's daughter was killed just before his wedding to longtime companion Beth, and he, Tim and Leland were arrested on charges related to their apprehension of fugitive Andrew Luster in Mexico.

The resulting publicity has been good for the show, and provided the material for a couple of high-rated specials. But the question long-time fans might have is whether or not all of the distractions will get in the way of the show this season.

Based on the first two episodes, it's a mixed answer. The show is certainly as entertaining as ever. But Dog Chapman is definitely off his stride, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the upcoming episodes.

Much of the story in the these episodes revolves around the apprehension of a fugitive who happens to have the same birthday as Dog's recently deceased daughter. That information throws Dog a bit, and leads him to take the coincidence as a sign that he needs to make sure this woman is brought in safely and nicely.

She turns out to be quite difficult to track down, and there are a number of false leads and clues before she's finally captured late in episode two. That part of the show is classic "Dog, The Bounty Hunter," and it will no doubt please fans to watch the chase unfold.

But it's also apparent that the Chapman clan is still a bit rattled by everything they've went through in recent months. They seem to be almost pretending to be the same old Dog and Beth, even though they can't seem to quite pull it off.

The upcoming court battle in Mexico isn't mentioned at all, which is peculiar, given all the press coverage in the case. I suspect a number of people will be tuning in to see if there's any update on the case, and ignoring it seems to be an odd creative decision.

The other disappointing aspect to the episodes is that some of the editing is very choppy and erratic. In one early chase scene, both Dog and Beth switch back between two sets of clothes, so it appears the scenes weren't shot in the same order they were aired in the episode.

There's also one reasonably large plot point that is built up in episode two, before being completely ignored. I won't give it away in this review, but someone promises to help them track down a fugitive, and then she just disappears at one point, never to be seen again.

If you're a fan of "Dog, The Bounty Hunter," you'll love the new season. It's just what you expected to see: lots of chases, arguments and reconciliation's.

But for those of you who were hoping to get some real insight into the Chapman family life, you're going to be disappointed in these two episodes. They don't offer much in the way of inside information, which does bother me a bit.

Of course, it won't bother me so much that I won't watch the show.

UPDATE: I heard from Beth Chapman, who assures me the arrests will be mentioned in next week's episodes. According to Beth, these premiere episodes were taped before the arrest.

The fourth season of "Dog, The Bounty Hunter" premieres on A&E on Tuesday, April 10th.