What network aired the original Dexter series?

The original Dexter series aired on Showtime. The American crime drama premiered on the premium cable network on October 1, 2006, and its eight-season original run concluded on September 22, 2013.

Showtime developed Dexter around Michael C. Hall’s portrayal of Dexter Morgan, a Miami police-department bloodstain-pattern analyst who secretly hunts people he believes escaped justice. The series was based initially on Jeff Lindsay’s novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter, although later television seasons largely followed original storylines.

Showtime’s subscription-cable format allowed the series to use darker material, graphic violence, and morally complicated storytelling that would have been difficult on a traditional broadcast network. The network’s identity became closely associated with Dexter, alongside other acclaimed original dramas such as Weeds and Homeland.

A frequent mix-up comes from Dexter’s later availability on other platforms and from a heavily edited CBS broadcast that began in 2008. CBS did air a broadcast version, but Showtime was the network responsible for the original series. Showtime also aired the later continuation, Dexter: New Blood.