Dexter (episode) - CBS Broadcast Controversy

CBS Broadcast Controversy

In December 2007, CBS announced that it was considering Dexter for broadcast over the public airwaves, making Dexter the first show in 20 years to air on a broadcast network after it had been shown on a premium cable channel. However, the Parents Television Council (PTC) publicly protested the decision, because of the show's graphic violence. In a 2008 press release, PTC president Tim Winter stated the following:

We are formally asking CBS to cancel its plan to air the first season of Dexter on its television network. This show is not suitable for airing on broadcast television; it should remain on a premium subscription cable network. The biggest problem with the series is something that no amount of editing can get around: the series compels viewers to empathize with a serial killer, to root for him to prevail, to hope he doesn’t get discovered. Dexter introduces audiences to the depths of depravity and indifference as it chronicles the main character's troubled quest for vigilante justice by celebrating graphic, premeditated murder.

— Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council

Although some critics objected to Dexter's edited broadcast, CBS, in response to the PTC, moved it up to a later timeslot and replaced expletives, using substitutes such as "frickin'" and "mother lover". Also, the scene in the car, in which Dexter inappropriately touches Rita thinking of bloodless bodies was removed. In addition, bloody scenes were cut out by the network, as well as giving the show a TV-14 Rating. While the PTC was still against CBS airing the episode, CBS eventually broadcast the episode on February 17, 2008.