TVSquad

Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM are launching a new premium cable channel next year that will likely strip Showtime of much of its theatrical movie content. Showtime was originally a sister company to Paramount until 2006 when Viacom president and CEO Les Moonves split the two companies into separate entities.

One of the reasons cited for this move was by the Showtime's vice president of corporate public relations Stu Zakim. He stated that the network no longer wanted to pay "outrageous license fees" for theatrical content.

This is actually a natural progression for the bigger name cable channels. As they develop more original content, they no longer need to rely on the movie studios to provide content for them. This is a far cry from the early days of cable television when HBO and Showtime were known as the channels from which you could watch R-rated movies in the comfort of your own home.

In this news item of paramount importance, we as readers, viewers and fans learn that Dexter Morgan is dating his sister, Deborah. It seems they have been seen romantically dining together, even celebrating.

What confusion will this lead to? When Dexter looks at Deborah longingly on camera, will he be wishing they were on a date? Or does he have the lust for a kill? Will they write the dating into the show? Will Dexter and Deborah become the first brother-sister couple on the air?

Get some perspective, people. Michael C. Hall and his co-star, Jennifer Carpenter are dating. Real life. Fictionally, they can still be siblings without a conflict of interest. Let's just be happy for them that they may have found true love, shall we?

When I first saw Paul's post about the Ten toughest Bald guys on TV, I immediately brainstormed who I thought they'd be before I read the post. Boy, was I surprised, not only at some of Paul's choices, but more importantly, his omissions. I was inspired enough to write my own list.

For some of my list, I agree with Paul.

1. Hawk (Spenser for Hire)
I was so glad to see Hawk on Paul's list, as he was one of the first ones to come to mind. However, I would not agree that he is a stereotype. He was deep and sensitive, loyal and protective, none of which fit the stereotype of bad ass for me. Although am I biased because I read the books, which perhaps have Hawk as a far more developed character than the series did?

2. Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek :TNG)
Total agreement here. Again, not a stereotype. His great leadership skills helped to make him the tough guy that he is.

Too many anguished nights have I spent watching Showtime's Dexter, wondering aloud, "Why can't I control Dexter's actions through my Xbox like so much Lara Croft?", and I know you have too. Believe it or not, we freaks are in luck, because it looks like there's going to be a Dexter video game. Finally! Another few months without it and I would have killed someone.

Okay, I think I have reached my sarcasm quota of the day, so let's get serious here. Dexter is a fantastic show and I have watched it faithfully through its run so far. However much I enjoy it, I cannot imagine it becoming a video game, let alone playing it. The show is built around blood, self-tortured deception, and internal monologue.

There's a new guy running the show for ABC's drama Dirty Sexy Money and his name is Daniel Cerone. Cerone replaces Josh Reims. As executive producer, Cerone will be working with creator Craig Wright (Lost), as well as Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters), Matthew Gross and Bryan Singer (House) -- so the show's got lots of first-class pedigree. Now they have to put it all together for the show.

For a group that has the word "television" in their name, they sure do seem to have a lot of problems with it.

The Parents Television Council is calling for advertisers to boycott Dexter, saying that CBS didn't do enough editing of the show when they broadcast the Showtime drama on its own network last Sunday night. The PTC says that CBS broke their promise when they said they were going to edit the show to network standards and that "depictions of violence were barely altered from the Showtime network original format."

The Saturn Award nominations are in, and many popular sci-fi and fantasy shows made the cut. Returning favorites like Lost, Heroes, and Dexter were recognized by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, as were newcomers Pushing Daisies and Journeyman.

With seven nominations, Lost is ahead of Dexter and Heroes, which received five and four nominations, respectively. Heroes was the big winner last year, taking home awards for Best Network Series as well as acting awards for Masi Oka and Hayden Panettiere. Both actors received nominations this year, along with co-star Greg Grunberg.

Obviously I'm not going to go into an entire review of this episode of Dexter, as we've already done that once during the show's premiere on Showtime. Also, I gave my thoughts on the CBS version of the series last week. However, I do want to open up a post for newcomers to the series to discuss their thoughts.

I have to wonder if this move by CBS will result in more subscriptions to Showtime once viewers have been hooked, bought the season one and two DVDs and have caught up with things before the show picks up again later this year (I think).

Are you going to keep tuning in? Were you as blown away by the series premiere as we were? Let yourself be heard in the comments.

I've been a fan of Dexter since its premiere two years ago, and it's yet to disappoint. When word came that CBS would be airing (at least) the show's first season, I had mixed feelings. I was glad to see the show get more exposure, and seeing that Showtime/CBS has such faith in the series shows promise that we'll see many more seasons of this series to come. However, I'm somewhat afraid that its success on CBS might remove the show from Showtime, meaning an overly-edited and watered-down version of the show.

Recently I got to take a look at a screener of the pilot that will be airing on CBS (this coming Sunday), and to put my fears to rest, I played my season one DVD in my laptop as the screener played on my TV, both synced to the same moments.

The nominees for Best Actor in a Drama are not all from the movies like the Best Actress nominees are, but they are still a damn fine group of actors. I am glad that I don't have to vote officially for the Golden Globes, because I really think this is a very hard group to choose from. I have to say that my top three contenders are Michael C. Hall, Bill Haxton, and Hugh Laurie-- and not just because of their performances last year, but also because of their bodies of work as a whole. I don't know whether that is entirely fair or not, but I don't live in a vacuum. However, that is not to take away from the other two nominees, and the group as a whole are:

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.

December 16th's season finale of Dexter racked up 1.4 million total viewers according to Zap2It.com, making it the most-watched single airing audience ever for the channel. Said viewers surpass the previous record held by the November 18th episode of Dexter. Pop quiz: Has Dexter been renewed for a third season yet? Duh!

With Dexter the most talked about pay channel series going, even CBS is exploring that option to repackage it for air as a strike option, I would say it's a pretty hot commodity. No one would cancel a popular show like that in the middle of its successful run with no real reason to do so (*cough*The 4400*cough*)? That would be stupid!

Showtime planned a special treat for Dexter fans when the current season wrapped up.

The cable network has teamed with Meebo to launch a website (www.sho.com/site/dexter/chat.do) that shows the fans additional, behind-the-scenes content.

From immediately after the season finale, the website features a video of the executive producers and the talent in a discussion about the show. Michael C. Hall, the actor who plays the title role, appears in the video as well as cast members C.S.Lee and Eric King.

(S02E12) So, was it good for you too? I've read all of your gripes about the season, in particular the past few episodes, and I see where you were coming from. However, there's something about this show that makes me more quick to suspend disbelief and allow a few things to slide so I can enjoy other aspects of the show.

(S02E11) When we first saw Dexter lock up Doakes in the cage, and then seeing how many episodes were left, I was initially afraid they were going to start this out way too early and draw it out too much. Now we see where we were being taken, seeing Doakes slowly chip away at Dexter's confidence. We got to see how effective Doakes really was. I'm sure his many years of interrogating suspects at the station helped him out in that regard.