Dexter Appears on CBS Feb. 17; Expect More Problems With Language Than Gore
I've been assured by the good folks at CBS that I'll get a look at their edited version of Showtime's serial killer drama Dexter before it debuts at 10 p.m. Feb. 17 on CBS.
And I'm going to go out on a limb with a wild guess. The CBS editors will have bigger problems with language while getting a version of their explicit show ready for commercial television than any gore or nudity.
Fans of Dexter know that it can be brutal stuff; Six Feet Under alum Michael C. Hall shines as a serial killer who works for the Miami Police Department as a forensic technician, killing murderers who escape traditional justice in his free time. When CBS announced plans to air Dexter's first season on the broadcast network -- likely a reaction to the writer's strike, since CBS Corp. also owns Showtime -- some people assumed the show's sweaty love scenes or gory depictions of killing would be a problem.
But based on the work preparing explicit HBO shows such as Sex and the City and The Sopranos for he world of syndicated reruns, I'm thinking cutting down the cursing will be the hardest part. Especially on the Sopranos, watching mobsters substitute "freakin' " and "friggin" for the four-letter f-word has been painful -- if they clip similar dialogue on Dexter, his sister Deb and nemesis Sgt. Doakes will literally have nothing to say.
See what I mean in this clip here:
The Feed is a blog on TV, media and modern life by St. Petersburg Times TV/media critic Eric Deggans. Possibly the most critical guy at the Times, he has served as music, media and TV critic at various times over 10 years.
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Right. In 2005, Viacom -- the company which owns both CBS and Showtime -- was renamed CBS Corp., while a subsidiary was renamed Viacom. forgot about that.
Posted by: Eric Deggans | January 25, 2008 at 01:09 PM
CBS Corp, not Viacom, actually owns Showtime.
Posted by: | January 25, 2008 at 01:05 PM
sopranos didn't prepare alternative dialogue in advance. At least, in the early episodes they dubbed over the curse words, the way they do with films shown on commercial TV. But there's so much cursing in the show, that the overdubbing can be very distracting....
Posted by: Eric Deggans | January 24, 2008 at 02:55 PM
Didn't the "Dexter" producers prepare scenes with alternate dialogue all along, like the "Sopranos" and "Sex in the City" producers?
Posted by: Kelvin Childs | January 24, 2008 at 02:41 PM
Motherfather ship!
Posted by: Steven Tamayo | January 24, 2008 at 08:17 AM