
Season four aired its season finale on December 13, 2009, to a record-breaking audience of 2.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched original series episode ever on Showtime at that time. The show has received myriad awards, including two Golden Globes won by Hall and John Lithgow for their roles as Dexter Morgan and Arthur Mitchell, respectively. The first four seasons received universal acclaim, but reception dropped considerably as the series progressed. The series enjoyed mostly positive reviews throughout its run. In February 2008, reruns (edited down to a TV-14 rating) began to air on CBS in the wake of the shortage of original programming ensuing from the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, thus the reruns on CBS ended after one run of the first season. Subsequent seasons evolved independently of Lindsay's works. It was adapted for television by James Manos Jr., who wrote the first episode.

The show's first season was derived from the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004), the first in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay.

Hall), a forensic technician specializing in bloodstain pattern analysis for the fictional Miami Metro Police Department, who leads a secret parallel life as a vigilante serial killer, hunting down murderers who have not been adequately punished by the justice system due to corruption or legal technicalities. Set in Miami, the series centers on Dexter Morgan ( Michael C.
