The original Dexter series premiered in 2006, with its first episode airing on October 1 on Showtime. The crime drama introduced Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, a Miami Metro Police bloodstain-pattern analyst who secretly hunts murderers.
The first season ran for 12 episodes and adapted elements of Jeff Lindsay's 2004 novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Its central mystery involved the Ice Truck Killer, while the show established Dexter's double life and his relationship with his adoptive sister Debra, girlfriend Rita, and the memory of his father Harry.
The 2006 date refers to the original American Showtime premiere. It is sometimes confused with later broadcast dates: CBS aired an edited version beginning in 2008, and the sequel series Dexter: New Blood began in 2021. The original series ultimately ran for eight seasons, concluding in 2013, but its first episode and first season belong to 2006.