CBS aired an edited version of Dexter season 1 in 2008. The broadcast brought Showtime’s premium-cable serial-killer drama to a national free-to-air network audience.
CBS began airing the edited episodes on February 17, 2008, during a shortage of original programming caused by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. The network removed or softened elements such as profanity, graphic violence, sexual material, and scenes involving dismemberment. The broadcast was rated TV-14 and sparked criticism from the Parents Television Council.
The original version of Dexter season 1 had premiered on Showtime on October 1, 2006, and consisted of 12 episodes. CBS’s decision was notable because Dexter became the first program in roughly two decades to move from a premium cable channel to a national broadcast network. The edited run also attracted a substantially larger audience than the Showtime broadcasts.