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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Showtime President: "Dexter's DNA will change this year"



Showtime's new president David Nevins spoke to Hitfix about all the network's shows including Dexter. Click below to read what he stated about season 6 and Dexter's future on Showtime:

"Dexter" is your biggest hit. It's done very, very well for you. But that is a show where it seems, no matter who is behind the wheel, it has certain things it does each and every year. Last year, we were told, "This will not be like any other year. We're not going to have a big bad who winds up strapped to Dexter's table," and that's pretty much what happened with Jonny Lee Miller's character. You said in the executive session that that's a show you'd like to see go on for many more years to come. 

As a programmer, I believe in change. I'm not scared of change. I know where they're going this season and have some sense of where they could go in subsequent seasons. Just as you have to keep seeding your network with the next new thing, in long-running shows you have to make changes, and I think sometimes people get very conservative about, "Don't mess with the formula. It works." In the same way I think it's good to mess with your programming formula, I think long-running shows mess with the formula. The difference between "ER" and "Ally McBeal" is that "ER" changed a lot over the years and ran for 14 years, versus "Ally McBeal," which burned bright, didn't change and went away. I think "Nurse Jackie" and "Dexter" both are into that moment where they need to mess with what they're doing. There's going to be some things that happen over 
this season of "Dexter" that can change some of the DNA in the show.


How are you going to know when it's time for "Dexter" to go? 

It's a creative partnership between actors, writers and a network, and it's a decision you all make together, when you feel like you've run out. 

8 comments:

  1. I think we are all very well aware that most shows that last as long as ER degrade in their later years. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find any show that ran over a decade where the end of the series was even close to the quality of the beginning. I hope Showtime doesn't plan to dilute the potency of Dexter just to make a buck. Changing the "DNA" of the show is all well and good - just don't do it to keep it on the air and making money.

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  2. Why do people keep asking when the show is going to end? Every interview I read I hear that question. Why is that so important? Stop asking them!

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  3. I agree anonymous number two. I say let them do their thing and worry about the end when we come to it. As of right now, I totally think this coming season will be the absolute very best of the series we have seen yet. And they have said on more than one occasion that they havent even discussed the end yet so they should just leave it at that and continue producing the best freaking show television has ever seen, EVER!!!! I may I add to this, just because he brought up Nurse Jackie. I think it was a HUGE mistake keeping Nurse Jackie and cancelling United States of Tara. USOT was an AWESOME, highly original show. While Jackie was good for the first season but has grown more and more stale. And Weeds ....I mean really ...that show hasnt been good for a few seasons now. But Tara had so much going for it. And a boatload of potential for future seasons. I hated seeing Tara get canceled while stale ass shows like Weeds and Nurse Jackie get renewed year after year and continue to get worse and worse. But as long as Dexter is still here, Im good. All hail Darkly Dreaming Dearly Devoted Deeply Disturbed Demented Daddy Dexter.

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  4. they have discussed the end before, Michael C. Hall has discussed the end before, i keep waiting when they announce the seventh season will be the last! so it's a fair question

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  5. The question keeps coming up because people don't want the show to degrade. After Season 5 the writers have to step their game up. But it's good to know that they're going to further change the formula. Season 4 changed the show's formula completely.

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  6. I also think that a show needs to change if it wants to last for years and years. It's good not to be afraid to mess with things and change them. But still I hope they don't change Dexter beyond recognition, I hope they keep it fresh to last at least for 2 or 3 years more, without changing the essence of this awesome show. Then I hope they give it a great ending and don't let it degrade and decay like it happens with many other shows, even the ones which were really good at the beggining.

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  7. Jessie, I agree. Its almost like people want it to end, which I don't get. Every season has been brilliant in its own way. This show will never get stale as long as someone is on his table.

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  8. To me, this just means Deb will find out, which will alter the show dramatically.

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