Dexter was made for premium cable. The violence is graphic and disturbing, but not gratuitous, the episodes are littered with colorful profanity, and the protagonist is a sociopath, serial killer who fully demonstrates the theme that some people deserve to die — and die painfully.
When CBS announced that it would air Dexter on broadcast television during prime time, my reaction was like everyone else familiar with the show… how?
Even before we consider content issues, time must be addressed. The pilot episode of Dexter, (teleplay by James Manos, Jr.) as aired on Showtime, ran just under 53 minutes less the end credits. A one hour show on broadcast television typically runs anywhere from 41 to 43 minutes once you take out the commercials and the end credits. How did Dexter get down to 43 minutes?
The answer is, they didn’t. As aired on CBS, Dexter clocked in at just over 48 minutes. This was accomplished by tightening the editing: enter the scene a second later, leave a second earlier, cut some of the banter and it adds up to a fairly significant chunk of time.
In terms of content, the most notable change was the lack of profanity:
“What the fuck?” becomes “What the hell?”
“Are you boning her?” becomes “Are you dating her?”
And most embarrassingly:
“Mother fucker” becomes “Mother lover.”
Sergeant Doakes will suffer the most from these changes since much of his character is revealed through his aggressive use of profanity.
While many scenes were significantly trimmed, no scenes were cut entirely. All the ‘Killing Room’ scenes were intact because, by design, much of the violence and gore on Dexter is suggested but not seen.
The only editorial change of note comes after the death of Jaworski, a rapist-murderer who was found innocent because of a technicality. CBS trimmed three seconds of Jaworski’s bloody dismembered leg as Dexter packs it up for disposal. Even so, we still get a good look at that leg for nearly two seconds.
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CBS also chose to cut the following two crime scene photos from a murder case in the subplot.
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The remaining photo was still provocative enough for us to get the point.
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One juxtaposition was lost as a result of the cuts. About 23 minutes in (Showtime version), Dexter walks the streets of Miami looking at young lovers out enjoying a Friday night. Dexter opines:
When it comes to the actual act of sex, it always just seems so undignified.
On Showtime, the camera pans to reveal this:
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On CBS, this is as close as we got to seeing some hand on crotch action:
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It can be argued that most of these changes were made for time and, despite some sanitation, had minimal impact on Dexter’s themes, characters, tone and texture.
In 1993, NYPD Blue sparked controversy with its cutting edge use of profanity with regular use of words like “asshole,” “bitch,” and “tits.” NYPD Blue also pushed the bounds of permissible nudity. However, the controversy quickly faded because each episode reinforced the theme that good people sometimes have to do bad things to keep the rest of us safe. Sipowicz may be a bigot and an alcoholic, but deep down, he’s a good man who will do anything to make the world a safer place for the rest of us.
Dexter’s true subversiveness lies in its themes. The audience is asked to empathize with and, at times, root for a cold blooded murderer.
Without remorse, without consequences, crime does pay for Dexter. Unless you’re a child murderer or a rapist-murderer, the world is a safer place because of him. Dexter may be a sociopath, but he’s our sociopath.
