I recently had some free time in the midst of preparing myself for finals, and I decided to turn on the television. It was late, so there wasn’t much on, but as I flipped through the channels, a blonde mullet caught my eye. The mullet belonged to Duane “The Dog” Chapman–known to many as Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Mullets intrigue me, so I watched. What I found out surprised me immensely.

I learned that, although a show may appear to be mindless entertainment, there is knowledge to be gained in the unlikeliest of places–places such as a bounty hunt.

It’s Dog’s job to hunt down criminals who have skipped out on bail after Dog loaned them money to post bond.

He always finds the criminal, and after calling him “brotha'” and telling him to “go with God,” takes him back to jail.

From this, I learned that people should always pay their dues. What if everyone could just borrow money and skip out on the responsibility that comes with his or her loans? The lesson here is that people can’t. If you have a responsibility, you can’t evade it forever, so you should take care of it now.

Dog also teaches us to think of others. When he transports criminals, he usually lets them interact with their family before they are taken in. Of course the family cries, and so does the criminal.

This really sends the message that people’s actions affect not only them, but everyone around them. We should think of others before doing something that may end up hurting them.

If you watch the show long enough, you can find out that Dog has a plethora of children and a new wife named Beth. Some of the children–and Beth–work together with Dog in their family bail bond business. The job is high-stress, and sometimes there can be arguments and blowups, but there is also teamwork and love involved. This shows people that, regardless of the arguments that may arise at times, we should stay close with our family members because, in the end, we can rely on them.

The last thing you usually see on the show is a conversation between Dog and the criminal he caught. For a little while, Dog will talk to the criminal about his experiences with God and how he was previously a drug dealer himself. The criminals relate to Dog and seem to want to make a change for themselves.

From this, I learned that everyone is human and people make mistakes, but if someone wants to change his or her life, that person has the power to do so.

Who knows? Maybe that person, too, could become a bounty hunter and teach people lessons with a reality television series.