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Dexter to Slay Showtime Twice More

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:32:58 -0700

Dexter Morgan's got a little more killing to do on Showtime. The network has just picked up two more seasons of Dexter, ensuring it will be around at least through season five.

The third season is airing right now on Showtime. Season four will start shooting in the Spring in Los Angeles.

Dexter's already broken a ton of records for Showtime: It's the network's highest-rated drama, and on DVD, it's the network's best-selling show. It's also gotten boatloads of critical acclaim and nabbed five Emmy nominations this year. In a statement, Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt said:

"I thought at best we would attract a devoted cult audience but soon realized that, ironically, this show is so thematically rich and layered with humanity that audiences of all kinds have flocked to it."

So, Dexter fans, are you glad you won't have to say goodbye to your favorite serial killer anytime soon? Do you think the show has enough good material for another two seasons?

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Link Time! 9/18

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:30:38 -0700

Read an excerpt from Juliana Hatfield's memoir. — Rock and Roll Daily
Rainn Wilson talks about planning a vicious attack on Ricky Gervais. — E! Online's Watch With Kristen
Five steps to fixing Saturday Night Live. — The TV Addict
BET presents . . . an award show without women. — Popwatch
Grey's Anatomy gets the Lolcat treatment. — TiFaux
Do you buy Nicole Kidman as an action star? 'Cause she might become one. — Cinematical
Which female novelists would make your list of the funniest writers ever? — Jezebel
Check out this Dexter-inspired townhouse! — CasaSugar
Do the books about Carrie Bradshaw as a teenager = too much of a good thing? — The Frisky
Handicapping which Fall TV shows are likely to be axed first. — Vulture

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First Look: Dexter's Third Season

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:30:26 -0700

I was lucky enough to be in the room yesterday at Comic-Con when Showtime debuted a first look at Dexter's upcoming third season. It's just two minutes long, but it includes a bunch of fantastic teases for some of the upcoming action, including the appearance of Jimmy Smits as attorney Miguel Prado, who becomes a friend of Dexter's.

A friend? Really? Yup, Dexter may be becoming a bit more emotionally full this season, and his evolution (along with "family values") will be one of the season's main themes. "Dexter's playing catchup," said executive producer Clyde Phillips, "and he may be catching up faster than he may have planned." He's also going to set some major events into motion in the season premiere that will change him forever — at least one of which is hinted at in the trailer below. And is that some Rita/Dexter lovin' I see? (There were lots of cheers when that part of the trailer aired at Comic-Con.) To check out the trailer for yourself, and see a couple of other tidbits from the panel, just

TV Casting News: Smits, Hopper, Cole

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:29:39 -0700

The TV upfronts may be nothing more than a fond memory, but there's still a trickle of casting news coming in about Fall shows — both on networks and on cable. One of these stories involves a recently displaced actor whose show's cancellation bummed some of you out, while another puts a veteran film actor in the lead of a series based on an Oscar-winning movie. Read on:

Smits Joins Dexter
Jimmy Smits, seen most recently in the CBS show Cane, will be staying in Miami for his next role: Smits will play an attorney on Showtime's Dexter. His character is described as ""an ambitious, charismatic assistant district attorney who comes from one of Miami's most politically powerful and beloved families" and forms an unlikely partnership with Dexter. No return date has been set for the show, but it's expected to premiere sometime in the Fall.

Hopper to Crash
Dennis Hopper, best known for his film roles, will lead the cast of the TV adaptation of Crash, the Oscar-winning film that is being made into a series for Starz. It looks like the show is less of a direct adaptation and more of an "inspired by" sort of situation, as none of the characters match directly to the film counterparts; Hopper will play Ben, a veteran music producer searching for one more great hit. The series is expected to premiere in October. It will be Hopper's first TV project since his stint on the short-lived E-Ring several years back.

One more bit of news about an Office Space favorite, so

What Are You Most Excited to Watch on TV Tonight?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 07:30:00 -0800

For one of the first times since the writers' strike began, I'm actually having trouble deciding what to watch on TV tonight. NBC has the season finale of American Gladiators and the premiere of the Knight Rider movie (and possible series), while ABC has the final pre-strike episode of Brothers and Sisters. Meanwhile, CBS has the premiere of its cleaned-up version of Dexter, and Fox has new episodes of all of its animated shows. That's in addition to regular goodies like The L Word and The Wire. So I'm wondering: What will you be tuning in tonight? Photos courtesy of NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox

What Are You Most Excited to Watch on TV Tonight?

Dexter on CBS — I've been wanting to watch it forever.

Brothers and Sisters on ABC — I'm so glad it's new.

Knight Rider on NBC — I loved it before, and maybe I'll love it again.

Animated shows on Fox — I can't go wrong with a classic.

HBO or Showtime — I love Sundays with The L Word or The Wire.

Something else (tell me below)

No TV for me!

Link Time! 2/14

BuzzSugar — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:30:23 -0800

FilmExperience is excited about today's news that Amy Adams will be one of the performers at this year's Oscars, singing "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted, while Kristin Chenowith will sing another song from the film, "That's How You Know."
Stereogum has found some funny Valentines for your indie sweetheart.
Pop Candy also rustled up some Get Smart and The Office e-valentines if you want to have a very Steve Carell-y V-Day.
TV Squad's Annie Wu danced with Stephen Colbert at a Colbert Report taping. Jealous? Who, me?
The MTV Movies Blog has outed Nicole Kidman as the person who will play CIA agent Valerie Plame.
Give Me My Remote has clips of Dexter cleaned up for CBS.
I Guess I'm Floating rounds up a whole bunch of covers of Arcade Fire's "Black Mirror."
Cinematical has a list of movies that make you glad to be single, including Sleeping With the Enemy and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Pushing Daisies photo copyright 2008 ABC, Inc.
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CBS Starts Recruiting Viewers for Dexter

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:31:36 -0800

The first season of Dexter will begin airing on CBS Feb. 17, and CBS is ramping up its efforts to recruit viewers over to the dark side. A bunch of new promos have popped up on the network's YouTube channel over the past day or so, and it's interesting to see how CBS is marketing the quirky, bloody Showtime series to network viewers.

They're not steering clear of the blood, that's for sure. One of the videos, a rundown of things to expect if you've never seen Dexter before, even starts with a semi-obnoxious voice shouting out the show's common elements: "Bodies! Blood! Guns! More blood!" (For the record, that two-minute video goes on to include things like "Haircuts!" and "Walking!" I'm not sure if it's awful or totally brilliant in that "made for the YouTube generation" sort of way.)

Another video contrasts Dexter's happy, innocent side with his crazy, murderous side, and the third one is basically a love letter from the show's women to Michael C. Hall. I'm wondering, if you've never seen Dexter before, would any of these promos make you want to check it out? To watch the videos, just

Will You Watch Dexter Edited for CBS?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:30:10 -0800

As was speculated earlier, the Showtime series Dexter is heading to CBS to patch some holes left by the writers' strike. The first-season premiere will air Feb. 17 at 10 p.m., with the next 11 episodes from the first season filling that time slot for the following 11 weeks. It's the first time a full season of a cable series has been broadcast on network TV. So here's my question: Will you watch an edited-for-network-TV version of the serial killer series? Or would you rather hold out for the real thing? Photo courtesy of Showtime

Will You Watch Dexter Edited for CBS?

Yes — I've been dying for a chance to see Dexter.

Maybe — We'll see how desperate I am by February.

No — I've already seen the first season.

No — I'd rather get it unedited on DVD.

I wouldn't watch the show no matter what.

Other (tell me below)

Buzz News Roundup, 12/21

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:28:34 -0800

Fox has announced the schedule for the first weeks of American Idol, with the auditions starting Jan. 15 and the first live show airing Feb. 21; details are at The Futon Critic.
Rainn Wilson will host the Independent Spirit Awards in February, Variety reports.
According to Zap2It, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (formerly Eko on Lost) has been cast in the live-action G.I. Joe movie.
Lou Reed will be the keynote speaker for the South by Southwest in 2008, writes Billboard.
Stephen Colbert is the AP Celebrity of the Year, the Associated Press reports.
A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila is getting a spinoff called That's Amore, writes the New York Daily News.
MTV is making an original musical called The American Mall from the High School Musical producers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A Gossip Girl-inspired reality show appears to be in the works, TV Guide reports.
The season finale of Dexter became Showtime's most watched broadcast ever on Sunday, according to Zap2it.
Variety reports that Shirley MacLaine will play CoCo Chanel in a Lifetime miniseries.

Photo courtesy of Fox

TV Tonight: Dexter and Extras

BuzzSugar — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:00:00 -0800

It's a big night for finales on cable TV, as Dexter wraps up its second season and Extras finishes its run forever with a movie-length special.

(Side note: If these two shows were a celebrity couple, everyone would totally call them "Dextras." OK, moving on.)

The Extras movie is packed with guest stars, but it has a lot more going for it than that. The special picks up a year after the second-season finale, with Andy acting even more obnoxious than usual. As funny as Extras can be, at least one critic who's seen this special says it's dark and mean-spirited — but wonderful. Anyone who saw Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's somewhat dismal and yet completely fantastic sendoff to the British version of The Office probably won't find that surprising. HBO has a preview interview with Gervais and Merchant with a few scenes from the show.

Dexter, meanwhile, finds Lundy and the FBI closing the case of the Bay Harbor Butcher — but that doesn't mean Dexter's out of the woods yet. In case you're not already in enough suspense, you can watch a scene from tonight's finale right now if you just

Showtime Shows Could Come to CBS

BuzzSugar — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 07:30:00 -0800

Dexter and Weeds on network TV? It could happen if the writers' strike goes on long enough, according to CBS president Les Moonves.

Moonves said Tuesday that CBS could bring some Showtime shows onto the network to round out the midseason schedule during the strike. Dexter would be the first show to get a CBS tryout because it would fit well with the network's many other crime series, Moonves said. Other Showtime series, including Weeds and The Tudors, are also up for consideration.

On the one hand, this could turn into a positive side of the strike: more people getting to see quality Showtime shows without waiting for the DVD or mooching off a friend who subscribes to the channel. But on the other hand, I can hardly imagine how heavily something like Weeds would have to be edited for broadcast in a primetime network slot. It worked OK when Sex and the City moved to TBS, I suppose, but at least that was still cable.

Would a watered-down network version of Weeds or Dexter be worth watching? I suppose I'd prefer that to yet another ridiculous reality show, even if the shows weren't up to their original standard once they were edited. What about you?

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Dexter and the Dark Defender

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 05:30:00 -0800

If you're a fan of Showtime's Dexter, then you probably already know about the Dark Defender, a superhero based on the serial-killer-with-a-soul whom Dexter discovered when investigating a murder at a comics shop a couple of weeks back. But what you may not know is that Dexter's doppelganger has his own Web series. The Dark Defender is a series of highly stylized recaps of this season's Dexter episodes, starting with the season premiere. Only two installments have been done so far, but Showtime promises there are more on the way.

The episodes are less than two minutes each, but they're an interesting blend of freaky and compelling — just like Dexter itself. They're also not a bad way to get caught up on the season's cases so far. Can a real Dark Defender comic book and action figure be too far off? To watch two installments of The Dark Defender, just

TV Tonight: "Dexter" and "Brotherhood"

BuzzSugar — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:30:00 -0700

In addition to "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters," there are a couple of big premieres on Showtime tonight: "Dexter" and "Brotherhood." Both are returning for second seasons, and both are worth a look.

For the uninitiated, "Dexter" — the reason they've been dying all those fountains red around the country — focuses on a Miami Police blood-spatter expert who just so happens to be a serial killer, enacting his own vigilante justice by offing other murderers. It's a creepy premise with a great central character, played perfectly by the wonderful Michael C. Hall.

"Brotherhood" didn't get much buzz in its first season, but it made up for that in critical acclaim, and its new position right after "Dexter" might get it some more notice. The Peabody Award-winning show is set in Providence and revolves around a family of politicians and Irish Mobsters pursuing a skewed version of the American Dream.

Will you be watching either show? To watch a trailer for "Brotherhood" and a collection of highlights from season one of "Dexter," just

Link Time! 9/27

BuzzSugar — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:21:58 -0700

TV with MeeVee has pictures of the fountains being dyed red around the country to promote "Dexter."
The MTV Movies Blog says that Wes Anderson wants to do a stop-motion animation version of The Fantastic Mr. Fox, with George Clooney and Bill Murray lending their voices.
Cinematical writes that Anna Sophia Robb will be playing a lead part in the Escape From Witch Mountain remake, which looks like it will be more like a new movie than a remake.
Pretty Much Amazing tracks down Feist's many ads and wonders if the singer is selling out.
Head over to YumSugar to talk about "Kitchen Nightmares" and the first part of the "Top Chef" finale.
Film Experience has posted a very tender homage to Olivia Newton-John's career in honor of her birthday yesterday.
Give Me My Remote points us to a video interview with Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski talking about Jim and Pam.
Popwatch's list of the top 15 TV opening credits includes "The Simpsons," "Get Smart" and "The Twilight Zone" among others. They invite you to tell them what shows' openings are missing from the list.
If you were hoping to see Kristen Bell in "Legally Blonde" on Broadway, the TV Addict has bad news: It's not happening.
NBC is hosting live blogs tonight for "My Name is Earl," "The Office" and "ER."

Watch "Dexter" and "Brotherhood" Online Now

BuzzSugar — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:45:27 -0700

Two of Showtime's most critically acclaimed series, "Dexter" and "Brotherhood," return on Sunday for their second seasons. Wondering how you're going to fit the premieres into your already crowded TV schedule? Just watch them now! Showtime has made the two episodes available early — just go to this site and enter the password Killer Shows. Then be sure to come back here and tell me what you think!

Photos courtesy of Showtime

Watch the First Season of "Dexter" — In Two Minutes

BuzzSugar — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:37:35 -0700

I'm trying to get caught up on "Dexter" before its second season starts Sept. 30 on Showtime, but it's nice to know I have a backup plan in case I run out of time to watch all 12 episodes. Showtime has helpfully condensed the season down into a two-minute summary, giving new fans all the information they need to dive right in for season two. Granted, it's not 77 "Sopranos" episodes in seven minutes, but it still gets the job done if you just want the highlights or need to refresh your memory. To watch,

First Look: "Dexter" Season 2

BuzzSugar — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:30:00 -0700

Thank goodness the first season of "Dexter" is on iTunes now, because Showtime's gone and reminded me of all the awesomeness I've been missing by releasing a teaser trailer for the second season, which is scheduled to start in September. Tell me: Is there anything creepier than the intense look in Michael C. Hall's eyes as he prepares to plunge a needle into his latest victim's neck? I also love the disconnect between the happy, jaunty music and the dark speech Dexter's giving. When the new season starts, will you be watching? To check out the trailer, and a montage of conflicts between Dexter and Sgt. Doakes — the only person who realizes there's something a little off about Dexter — if you

Great New TV on iTunes Today

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:48:24 -0700

Even though I have a video iPod, I never really got the point of watching movies or TV shows on it until recently, when I got this dock that lets me hook my iPod up directly to the TV. So now I'm trolling the iTunes store every Tuesday for new releases, and today — maybe as an early Fourth of July present — there are some great goodies. Here's what I'm contemplating downloading for this holiday weekend:

"This American Life" — The Complete First Season
I was positively giddy about this show, which take the magic of the "This American Life" radio show and adds gorgeous, movie-like visuals to its stories. If you're not sure where to start, creator Ira Glass recommends episodes two ("My Way), three ("God's Close-Up") and four ("The Cameraman").

Two more great shows, so