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Showtime has always kinda been unwanted step-child to HBO's first-born, straight A honor student. With shows like The Sopranos, Sex and the City and The Wire, HBO has been the place for television excellence, but lately, with crappy shows like John From Cincinnati and Tell Me You Love Me, HBO seems to be losing it's mojo. Thank God Showtime is ready to fill the void with some really great shows...

Like Dexter. I finished Season 1 last night. When I started watching the series, for some reason I expected a black comedy about a sympathetic serial killer (no idea why, actually. I like inventing things in my head), and while there are some very funny moments, the show is really a crime drama. By day, Dexter works as a blood analyst for the Miami PD and analyzes blood spatter to help solve crimes. He also dates a lovely mother of 2 cute kids and has a foulmouthed sister he can't open up to. In his spare time, he kills really rotten people (Dexter realized at an early age he liked to kill things and his foster dad - who also happens to be a cop - decided it was okay...as long as the murder was justified). This, of course, sets up a real moral dilemma...not so much for Dexter, but for the audience, who find themselves rooting for this psychopathic. The season plays kinda like a grisly Veronica Mars (or CSI, if you prefer), with one season long mystery mixed with smaller crimes solved in each episode. The season long mystery is a really good one (eat your heart out, Bruckheimer).

The real reason to watch the show, though, is Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under fame. He is amazing as the hollow Dexter who feigns emotion to seem "normal." He's so charming, you can't help but like him, even as he ritually murders his victims. The supporting characters in the show are good (mostly. Some of the cops are rather annoying), but Michael C. Hall is truly fantastic (and freaking gorgeous. Seriously, like, how did I not know this before?!?! And, fellas, the chick who plays his sister is pretty hot, too...I'm looking out for you. No worries).

The new season of Dexter starts next Sunday. I don't have Showtime, but I'm seriously considering adding it (who am kidding...I'll just download it from the internet...legally, of course), but if HBO doesn't shape up, I maybe be sending my hard earned TV money over to the step-child.