It looks like early speculation was correct. CBS is "repurposing" the 12-episode first season of Showtime's hit series Dexter. The NYTimes' TV Decoder reports the network-friendly version will air on Sundays beginning February 7th at 10 pm/9 Central. Dexter has been a critical and ratings darling for Showtime, helping it surpass HBO as the pay-channel du jour for compelling scripted drama at water coolers everywhere.
This gives you one solid month to speculate as to what the censors will have to cut to fit into the time limits and decency standards of broadcast network television. The 10/9 time slot will allow some leniency, and with splatter and gore as staples on shows like CSI and Criminal Minds for years, there may not be as much editing as one would think necessary, save for commercial breaks.
While I'm sure Dexter purists will deride this decision, it could prove beneficial for the show. Record setting ratings for Showtime are still a far cry from network ratings. Even if the show "fails" at CBS, it will still likely get more eyes onto the product than Showtime can. And if they like what they see, they may seek out the DVDs or Showtime to see what they're missing. I like the move, so long as the edits don't take away too much from the show.
CBS Corporation is taking advantage of their subsidiary Showtime during the strike and I admire it. They have gaps to fill in their schedule, and I have to admit, I'd rather see a great show from a pay channel reach a wider audience, even if it is PG-13, than another umpteen gazillian crappy reality and game shows. And let's not forget basic cable. ABC aired episodes of ABC FAMILY's hit Kyle XY the past two summers. I think The Shield would be well-suited for FOX. Hell, start with Season 1 and it's still better than most of what's on network TV.
NBC has USA, Time Warner (CW) has TNT, FOX has FX. There's plenty of programming out there ready for primetime. In the immortal words of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, I say to thee networks ... "Make it so!"
Sesame Street's 40th: Five funniest characters
Sesame Street's 40th: Five biggest controversies
Press Kits Unwrapped: The Prisoner
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-07-2008 @ 2:48PM
Lenny said...
Even edited, this, as you say, is better than reality sludge. Any chance for this wonderful show to reach a wider audience is a good thing. Maybe I can even convince my wife to give Dexter a go.
Reply
1-07-2008 @ 2:54PM
Steven Rubio said...
Call me a purist, then. This is a fine idea for anyone who is interested in the bottom line, a terrible idea for anyone who cares about the artistic side of television. It will be just as bad as the butchering of Sopranos, Sex and the City, Queer As Folk, Dead Like Me, Six Feet Under, and The Wire. Dexter will not reach a wider audience, because the people watching on CBS will not be watching Dexter, but a version of Dexter. It is not beneficial for the show, because, guess what, the people watching on CBS will not be watching Dexter.
"I like the move, so long as the edits don't take away too much from the show."
So you admit that edits take away from the show, it's just a question for you of how much. Just to emphasize my purist stand, how can you like a move that takes ANYthing away from the show?
Reply
1-07-2008 @ 3:10PM
Joey Geraci said...
I am skeptical that CBS will find 7-14 minutes of most Dexter episodes (especially in the first season) that were unnecessary/bloody, but in the long run, I don't see how this move can hurt Dexter and/or Showtime. Worst case scenario, the show bombs on CBS, which can't really hurt the show's fate on Showtime.
Hopefully CBS will fill the episodes will less commercials rather than more (hoping for 46-47 minutes of content), and spend a decent amount of time marketing Dexter before February.
1-07-2008 @ 3:17PM
Jason Hughes said...
I won't say that I'm thrilled that the edits are taking away from the show, but I like the fact that the show, in any form, can reach a wider audience. Then, after an episode or two maybe some of those people will seek out the DVD set to see what they've been missing and then catch the real deal on Showtime. If even a small percentage do that, Dexter's ratings go up and sales of the DVDs go up and that helps the show.
It's like putting movies on television. They have to cut nudity, change some language and edit for time, but the movie is being presented to more people than it otherwise would have and if they want to watch the real deal they can go rent the movie and see it how it was meant to be.
Not everybody has Showtime, much less cable. Maybe they want to try it but are reluctant to pay for the DVDs or the channel. They can now sample it for free, albeit edited and decide if they want more. It's not perfect, but I still like it.
1-07-2008 @ 3:22PM
BigTed said...
Frankly, I don't think anything on "Dexter" is as gross as what they show on "Bones" every week.
The only problem I can see is that, if they also broadcast the second season, the character of Lila will be extra-annoying without the constant display of her naked boobs to distract us.
Reply
1-07-2008 @ 3:41PM
khamel said...
i might be in the minority but i dont really mind the censoring of shows that i've already seen (six feet under, the wire, sopranos) because the swearing/sex/violence isn't really the point. good shows will be able to show their quality in spite of the cuts. my only problem is when cuts are made to a show for timing, i.e. 52 minutes having to become 46 or what bbc america did to spooks aka. Mi5. When i finally started watching the unedited version it made alot more sense. Other than that, if the show gets more people to buy the DVDs of Dexter or subscribe to showtime, more episodes will be produced and we'll all be happy.
As this strike has shown, the studios could care less about 'TV as art' so i'd rather let them butcher (ha) Dexter after the fact and allow it to have a season 4-5-6 rather than have it die after the next season.
Reply
1-07-2008 @ 3:53PM
Oreo said...
Khamel, the point of this show is he's a killer so editing is not good.
It's better than reality crap, but what would be even better is if CBS paid the writers and ended the strike!
Reply
1-07-2008 @ 4:18PM
Steven Rubio said...
It isn't just about sex and violence. It isn't even just about the edits to make the show fit into the CBS time slot. It's also about the commerical breaks that will be stuck in where breaks were never intended. It won't be watered-down Dexter, it will be Different Dexter, and what's the point of that? Don't have Showtime? Don't want to buy the DVDs? Rent them.
People keep saying that this gives people a chance to sample Dexter. But what they will be sampling will be a butchered version of Dexter, not the real thing. So their sampling is pointless. Perhaps you'll get this: Dexter prepares to go see his "sponsor." His sister tells him not to, using the f-word several times, only in this version, her speech will be edited. Then Dexter will see his sponsor, and her nude scenes will be edited. Then they'll go to a series of commercials for State Farm, Campbell's Soup, Levitra, and Ford trucks. Then they'll return to edited scenes of Dexter killing someone.
And when they're all done, they'll have also edited out another five minutes to fit the timeslot, resulting in future episodes making less sense than they should because of the missing material. So you have editing for content, editing for time, and the insertion of advertisements at inopportune moments, justaposing serial killing with buying a car.
So, tell me again how this helps the show?
Reply
1-07-2008 @ 5:39PM
Paul said...
I would be in favor of them re-running some of the shows that have been canceled. Black Donnellys for instance - they never gave that show a chance. With no new shows, why not re-pilot some shows that many fans liked but never made it. Wonderfall's would be another good one.
Reply
1-07-2008 @ 7:59PM
Midnight13 said...
Everyone is talking about "Dexter" reaching a wider audience. "Dexter" is Showtime's number one show right now, its not in any danger. They want a great show to reach a wider audience they should air "Brotherhood" on CBS. Apparently CBS did air "Brotherhood"'s series premire, maybe they should show the first full season. "Brotherhood" better get a third season.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 12:34AM
Lenny said...
Steven, get the stick out your backside for a moment, step back and realize this is a TV show, not some work of art. Even Dexter on Showtime has been edited by someone to both fit the time and the story they chose. It's different Dexter from what the author of the script probably intended, but you still managed a fanboi crush on the show.
It's gonna be alright and new viewers will discover Dexter. Some of them will start watching it on Showtime, but others will enjoy the edited version CBS airs because they would otherwise find the original too offensive. It reaches a wider audience, picks up viewership and the world won't come to an end.
You say it's not just about sex and violence, but your examples bemoan the removal of the f-word, boobies and a bit of redacted gore. Apparently your main concern is that the average CBS viewer will be turned off by the lack of "effin severed nipples!!"
Remember, it's just a tv show, it ain't art, so calm down.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 1:10AM
Urkel said...
This may seem selfish, but I hope this fails as a CBS show. Dexter is such a fantastic show and if it got popular then it would get network executives dirty hands in it and become a watered down money machine. Who needs that.
Some shows really do exist best as a 3 season series with a definite ending. Dexter may be one of those that should die peacefully and become a timeless memory.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 1:29AM
Zac said...
Even though it will air at 10 p.m. EST, it'll still air an hour earlier in CST and MST. I bet that the PTC will their panties in a bunch after the 1st episode is aired.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 2:34AM
Brent McKee said...
I'm sure that groups like the Parents Television Council are warming up their FCC complaint network even as we speak about the repurposing of "Dexter." Actually I know they are. because their press releases say that they will send in complaints if there is anything that they find objectionable. Of course they find the whole idea of a series with a serial killer as the protagonist (or as they put it to make it sound more shocking, "the hero") objectionable, but they'll be watching for anything that could possibly be construed as obscene or too violent.
The big problem is the time. The PTC has been successful in getting CBS fined for an episode of "Without A Trace" because it aired before 10 p.m. - in the Central and Mountain Time Zones. The show was airing in the third hour of the evening but as I said it was before 10 p.m. More recently they have launched a complaint campaign over an episode of "Las Vegas" which aired before 10 p.m. in the Central and Mountain Time Zones in which you saw the side of a stripper's naked breast (for about five seconds).
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 7:19AM
Bash said...
I think it is a work of art. It shows what is possible on TV without censorship. You know: CENSORSHIP. "Dexter" displays the exact amount of gore and nudity I like to watch as an adult. It doesn't disturb me like splatter movies do and it has nudity together with story (!), something you won't get in any porn movie. You can say it isn't art but you simply can't discuss away the fact that it uses forms of storytelling that directly caters to the mature audience without annoying said audience and in todays TV landscape I call that art because all the rest is a huge chunk of garbage on a city dumpsite. CSI Miami has become so idiotic it hurts. Bones insults my intelligence. CSI NY is boring. CSI is the only thing that comes close but Dexter is so much better than all those shows so it hurts me to know that there wont be any tits, asses et cetera on "regular" TV but blood blood blood which will result in people thinking Dexter is just another bloody murder story which it definitely isn't. The underlying storyline is the feelings of a killer and you can't just take the primal instinct of mating away from the primal instinct of killing and survival. That just sucks a**.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 11:10AM
The Pepto Pimp said...
It just so happens that I'm an editor and I work for CBS. I've never seen Dexter, but my GF tells me it's pretty graphic with it's violence. Guts and gore is one thing, but violence is a whole other can of worms. I can't wait to see what the production company delivers. We have a saying around here: "You can show all the blood and guts you want, but DON'T show a nipple."
The PTC-Trace thing and Janet Jackson really cut this network's balls off.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 12:07PM
eric f. said...
Unless a buttload of overdubbing takes place all we will hear is "Hey Dexter, bleep the bleep bleep."
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 1:34PM
Midnight13 said...
When I watched Dexter's first season its important to note that though it deals with dark material, and while there does tend to be lots of blood, what the viewer sees on camera is not so graphic. This is not "Hostel" or "Saw" we're talking about. When Dexter works on his victims most of the time the scene cuts away, either to a close up of his face, or the camera pans away from him or it simply goes to the next scene. When I first saw this, I thought, that's pretty tame considering its Showtime and if they wanted to get really gross and bloody they could. Often the only thing we see when Dexter butcher's his victims is the cutting of the cheek for a blood sample.
Reply