Showtime’s Dexter to Fill Gaps on CBS

LOS ANGELES, January 8: The serial-killer drama Dexter, which recently wrapped its second season on premium
cable network Showtime, is being repurposed by CBS to help fill its schedule in
the midst of the writers strike, with the first season premiering Sunday,
February 17, in a 10 p.m. slot.

The move marks the first time a full season of a premium
cable drama series has made the transition to network television. Dexter’s 12-episode first season will be edited for network
television and will broadcast on 12 consecutive Sundays.

The series, based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, stars Emmy and Golden Globe
Award-nominated Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under) as Dexter Morgan, a likeable forensics expert for
the Miami Metro Police Department who is also a serial killer. However, Dexter
operates with his own moral code, in that he only kills murderers who can’t
otherwise be brought to justice.

The season-two finale on Sunday, December 16, averaged 1.4
million viewers, the largest audience ever for an original Showtime broadcast.
The series has been honored for the past two years with American Film Institute
Awards for Top 10 Outstanding Programs, and Hall has received several nods for
his role as Dexter, including two nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best
Performance by an Actor in a Drama Series (2006, 2007), a Screen Actors Guild
Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and a
Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.
Additionally, he is the recipient of a Golden Satellite Award and a Saturn
Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.

“We’re excited to work with our corporate cousins at
Showtime on this unique programming opportunity,” said Nina Tassler, the
president of CBS Entertainment. “Dexter
is a high-quality, compelling series that will be new and original programming
for most CBS viewers. It’s also a great match with our existing lineup,
affording us the opportunity to promote this critically decorated series in
CBS’s top-rated crime dramas.”

“We’re thrilled to have the chance to expose Dexter to a wider audience on CBS,” said Robert Greenblatt,
the president of entertainment at Showtime Networks. “I think it will be very
compatible with their lineup as well as be a great opportunity to promote our
brand on a platform that reaches every home in America.”

—By Kristin Brzoznowski