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After a sojourn in the Pacific Northwest, Dexter is headed back to Showtime.
The premium cable outlet has ordered a 10-episode Dexter limited series that will reunite star Michael C. Hall and original showrunner Clyde Phillips. The show will be a continuation of the original, eight-season series, which ended in 2013 with Hall’s Dexter Morgan going on self-imposed exile as a lumberjack and living a solitary life.
Production is scheduled to begin early next year for planned fall 2021 premiere.
“Dexter is such a special series, both for its millions of fans and for Showtime, as this breakthrough show helped put our network on the map many years ago,” said Showtime Entertainment president Gary Levine. “We would only revisit this unique character if we could find a creative take that was truly worthy of the brilliant, original series. Well, I am happy to report that Clyde Phillips and Michael C. Hall have found it, and we can’t wait to shoot it and show it to the world.”
The rather open-ended conclusion to the series led to widespread speculation about a spinoff, with then-Showtime head David Nevins saying in 2014 that the network had discussed it but would only move forward if it “[felt] like a new show” and Hall was involved.
Phillips served as showrunner for the first four seasons of Dexter, leaving in 2009. During his tenure the show earned three Emmy nominations for best drama series and four Writers Guild Award nominations in the same category. He signed an overall deal with Showtime and CBS Television Studios earlier this year, leading to further speculation about a potential Dexter revival.
Shortly after the widely derided series finale, Phillips told E! Online that his vision for the series finale would have involved Dexter about to be executed for his crimes, and “in the gallery are all the people that Dexter killed” — which obviously would have cut off paths to a revival starring Hall.
Hall, for his part, received five straight lead acting Emmy nods for playing Dexter and won Golden Globe and SAG Awards for the role in 2010. His recent credits include Netflix’s Safe and feature The Report.
Phillips and Hall will executive produce the Dexter limited series with John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Bill Carraro and Scott Reynolds.
The show is the latest of several revivals Showtime has mounted in recent years, joining Twin Peaks: The Return, The L Word: Generation Q and Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, the latter of which was canceled after a single season. Generation Q has been renewed, and David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks revival was only intended to run for one season. Separately, Starz is developing a sequel to former Showtime series Weeds with producer Lionsgate TV.
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