by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
Many shows have made the jump from cable TV to broadcast television thanks to syndication. Rife with content edits, shows like Sex and the City and The Sopranos lose much of their appeal when they make the switch, leaving audiences just tuning in wondering what the initial buzz was all about. Showtime’s original series, Dexter, arrived on network TV for the first time last month. Thankfully, even with the necessary edits to make the series suitable for primetime, the retooled version of the hit show is still better than just about everything on television right now.
Orphaned at age three, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) was adopted by Harry Morgan (James Remar), a cop who discovers over the years that the young boy he’s taken into his home has sociopathic tendencies. Instead of sending him away or taking him to a shrink, Harry teaches young Dexter to turn his murderous compulsions on those who deserve it – criminals who slip through the justice system.
Thanks to the “Code of Harry,” Dexter feeds the monster within him while making his corner of the world a little safer for the rest of us. Dex meets many of his victims through his day job as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, and many of his friends are the cops who are essentially charged with catching people like him. One of those police is Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), Dexter’s adoptive sister. The only person Dexter hasn’t charmed is Sergeant James Doakes (Erik King), a gruff Homicide detective who finds the seemingly innocent blood spatter analyst exceedingly creepy. Away from the office, Dexter has a semi-romantic relationship with Rita Bennett (Julie Benz), a divorced mother of two who is recovering from her ex-husband’s abuse.
Season one of Dexter centers on the hunt for the “Ice Truck Killer,” a meticulous monster who drains his victims’ blood before dismembering them and dumping the body parts in various locations around Miami. The murders fascinate Dexter from the beginning, but when the killer begins communicating with him through the crime scenes, Dex makes it his mission to find the Ice Truck Killer before the cops do.
Dexter premiered on Showtime in 2006 and got rave reviews from critics. Since then, the show has won several awards, including 2 Emmys for Outstanding Main Title Design and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, and has been nominated for many others, including a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series- Drama. Dexter can also boast that it’s the highest-rated series in Showtime’s history, with its second season averaging 2.4 million viewers on a weekly basis. A third season is currently in the works and is expected to air this fall.
Meanwhile on broadcast television, Showtime’s parent company, CBS, was looking to fill some programming void after the WGA went on strike and decided to put America’s favorite serial killer on primetime. The decision ruffled the feathers of the Parents Television Council, a nonprofit advocacy group who has since called for affiliates to preempt the show when it airs. Thankfully, our local affiliate has ignored the PTC, allowing those who don’t subscribe to Showtime a chance to get to know Dexter and his twisted world.
As much as I respect what the PTC stands for (I am a parent with two small children, after all), I’ve seen the first two seasons of Dexter in their uncut glory and two of the edited CBS episodes and, while I agree this isn’t “family programming,” the controversy is hardly warranted. First, for a show about the life and times of a serial killer, much of Dexter’s violence is inferred and the gore is pretty minimal, even the unedited episodes. That which remains should be taken care of by my second point- Dexter airs at 10 pm on Sundays. Little ones should long be snug in their beds by then, giving the adults the show was made for a chance to unwind in front of the TV and watch Dex deliver some vigilante justice.
Unlike the bastardized versions of Sex and the City currently airing on network TV, Dexter doesn’t require nearly as much editing, so the show holds up extremely well to censor tinkering. The only big difference is the dialogue dubbing. Characters like Deb and Doakes, who curse nearly every other word, are given new, primetime-friendly lines, some of which are pretty funny, especially if you’re familiar with the uncut versions. Hearing Doakes tell Dexter, “I’m watching you, mother lover,” made me giggle profusely. Another downside to the show being on CBS is the commercial breaks. The series flows a lot better when viewed without them. Still, if you’ve never seen Dexter before and can’t afford to get your hands on the DVDs, watching the show on network TV, edits, commercials and all, is still better than not experiencing this one-of a-kind series.
Article Published in the 03-08 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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