2101 replies to this topic

[Prettyeyes]

Since I'm a big Michael C. Hall fan, I'm looking forward to Dexter, his new Showtime series debuting in October, in which he plays a forensics expert for the Miami Polica Department-who also happens to be a serial killer who only kills bad guys. Other co-stars include Julie Benz, aka "Darla" from BtVS and Angel and ex-Oz alums Lauren Velez, Erik King and David Zayas.

Chat about all things Dexter here.

[NeenerNeener]

Loved the books and the premise. Here's hoping the writing for the show is as good.

[Cress]

Matt Roush liked it.

[DarknessReigns]

This is one show I'm really looking forward to. Love all the buzz the show and MCH are already getting.

[tribefreak]

Hey,


I was looking around imdb and found a preview for Dexter! This is the costume designer's website for the show.


Watch it here!

I must say, i kinda like it. I can't wait till October.

[Puds38]

Although lately both HBO & Showtime have disappointed me with their new shows, I'm a MCH fan so count me in as well.
ETA: Link to Showtime site.

Edited by Puds38, Sep 3, 2006 @ 5:22 PM.

[Puds38]

Big Love, Weeds, Lucky Louie, Huff, the cancellation of Rome & Deadwood, the continual neglect of The Wire the IMO over-hype of Entourage.

[needsleep05]

Puds, I disagree with you about WEEDS, but I'll buy you a beer for the ENTOURAGE comment.


Anyway, I'm really excited for this. The few reviews I've read have been great.

Here's another review from TV Squad.

[xyzzy]

I'm really looking forward to this. It looks like MCH has a strong grasp on the antisocial and charismatic nature of the character. The first book emphasizes Dexter's role as something of an interested student of humanity--he does not understand the behavior around him, so he studies and practices perfect emulation in order to prolong his time as a free, practicing serial killer. It will be interesting to see how MCH handles that aspect of Dexter.

[Kris_AB]

Dunno if I'll be able to fit it all in before the show's October 1st premiere, but I wouldn't mind reading the books (two of them? More?) and refreshing myself on the psychology of sociopaths (to be fair, I know that not all sociopaths are created equal. There're degrees of it, apparentely).

Does he kill simply for enjoyment, or does he appreciate some sense of justice in it and is all pro-capital punishment to the extreme?

It's not like this guy's gonna be a complete robot in his private scenes, is it? Around other folks, there'll be his acting as a regular joe I figure, but I'm guessing he'll get to sorta be himself when no one's around. Sociopaths aren't completely emotionless, are they? Isn't it just that they're very (if not completely) self-centered and narcissistic? So they'd still feel genuine emotions if an event effects them personally, right? While the make-up of their brains tends to lead their type to destructive behaviours, they aren't automatically serial killers every time.

I used to think sociopaths and psychopaths were the same thing. The average viewer probably hasn't thought much about it or read up on it either. I wonder if the show will delve into the differences.

Edited by Kris_AB, Sep 4, 2006 @ 9:36 PM.

[xyzzy]

Sociopaths aren't completely emotionless, are they? Isn't it just that they're very (if not completely) self-centered and narcissistic?

Sociopaths (people with antisocial personality disorder) lack empathy, have no attachment to any sort of moral code, and are generally indifferent to punishment. This is mostly true of Dexter in the books, but he hasn't gone totally over the edge thanks to the influence of his foster family. It's not that he doesn't experience emotion, it's just that his ability to label his own emotions or identify emotions and motivations in others is stunted.

In the first book, it is revealed that Dexter's police officer foster father recognizes his adopted son's problem and deliberately steers him toward killing animals and then unrepentant free criminals in a series of vigilante serial killer homeschooling sessions. I'm not convinced that Dexter himself empathizes with the victims of his victims all that much, but I've only read the first book.

[RangerGirl]

I can't wait for this show. I've been a huge MCH fan since the early days of Six Feet Under, and when that ended I was praying he'd continue to be offered good work, because he is just astounding. And then I read about the Dexter pilot, and it sounded really interesting and different and I was hoping it'd get picked up - and then it did. And I did a small strange dance of joy.

I'm trying to decide whether I'm better off reading the books before the series starts, or whether I should go unspoiled and let the show be my first experience of the story. Does anybody know how faithful the series writers are going to be to the books, in terms of specific storylines and developments? Are they sticking to the same chronology, or just taking the basic character and concept and sort of running with it?

[Chase82]

I've read both the Dexter books, and from what I understand the pilot episode is a pretty faithful retelling of the first novel. Which means I'm spoiled for all the plot twists and revelations of the pilot. I don't mind, but if you don't like being spoiled you should wait.

I don't know what they're going to do from then on out. There are only two novels altogether, so unless they're planning to stretch the second novel's plot way out (which really wouldn't be practical as it's just not that complicated) they have to get original pretty fast.

Edited by Chase82, Sep 5, 2006 @ 4:57 PM.

[AnnieGirl]

Michael C. Hall looks exceptionally HOT in this Showtime promo photo!

[RangerGirl]

Oh. Dear. God. He really, really does. My fangirl response appears to have gone into sudden overload. Ahem.

I think I will wait to read the books, then - it'd be nice to have one show I'm not spoiled for.

...Is it October yet?

Edited by RangerGirl, Sep 7, 2006 @ 8:49 AM.

[Illyria B]

I'm really looking forward to this pilot and I hope it can live up to my expectations, I need a new good show to watch this fall.

That promo photo looks just amazing, but it looks nothing like MCH, I would never have guessed that was him. And I don't think it's negative, I don't want to be reminded of SFU when watching this.

[CheshrKat]

This is the number one show I'm most looking forward to this fall, and it's entirely because of my devotion to MCH. I thought he was criminally overlooked all those years on SFU in favour of Peter Krause, and so I'm way too excited to see him lead a show of his own. That, plus the whole concept looks fabulous.

I'm just really happy that we'll be getting the show here in Canada on TMN without any delays.

[aks]

ITA with the ones who are looking forward to this show the most this fall. Most pilots for the fall shows have been a disappointment (luckily, a couple of midseason replacements seem a whole lot better), so I hope Dexter will live up to what sounds like a fantastic premise.

[emziez]

I am quite convinced MCH might be the greatest and most underrated actor on television, I would watch him in literally anything. Though he will always be David to me, I'm happy to see more of him. He fully deserves his own show.

One thing is for sure, the man is all about those dark roles. But he does them proud.

[Dead Cell]

Does anyone know if Showtime will be putting this on iTunes when its airing?

[Puds38]

I don't understand why people watch a show for an actor/actress.

Because you like that actor. I know for me I have watched many tv shows or gone to see films for one particular actor and loved the movie/film or gotten to notice others actors because they were in the film.movie/play as well. Hollywood does this as well, it's part of the reasoning behind calling someone a box office draw. Fan loyalty accounts for much of what goes on in hollywood.

[Puds38]

What I'm saying is that the actor may be what attracts people to a project. They spark enough interest for people to give it a look. An actor is more than just a tool. There are plenty of shows out there with good actors stuck with bad directors, writers etc....and vice versa. There are also plenty of quality shows that get overlooked & eventually canceled because it featured a cast of unknowns.

So yeah, I'm watching Dexter to see MCH, but if the show is a flop, I'll switch the channel. But the truth of the matter is I probably wouldn't have given it a second look if it wasn't for MCH.

[Kris_AB]

The fact that Michael C. Hall was attracted to this project might make some of his fans think it could be worth checking out. He was on Six Feet Under, he knows quality, and as far as I know he can probably afford to pick and choose a bit after a successful five-season run on that series. Does the whole follow-an-actor-around trend make a bit more sense from that perspective? Good actors will usually try to go after good scripts (unless they owe someone a favor and need to do a TV-movie-of-the-week, or they wanna have some fun with a summer blockbuster of the mindless variety), so at the very least, when an actor I really like is in a movie or show where the concept sounds bearable, it makes me wanna give it a try.

When a movie or series catches my eye, I usually look up who's directing, who's writing, what the cast is like. I look at what all those folks have done previously, especially the director and writer(s). If they've produced things I've seen but hated thoroughly, I probably won't check out their new stuff no matter how appealing the cast looks. If they've made some good stuff and some bad, seeing actors I like might tip me over the fence on to the "give it a bit of a chance" side.

No, of course most folks won't stick around if the show's complete crap (unless you're in it for the eye candy).