Blood on its hands

It seems impossible to believe, but starting tonight CBS, scrambling for something new amid the writers strike fallout, is going to air Showtime's critical hit "Dexter" -- and network television may never be the same again. Following the exploits of Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a blood splatter expert with the Miami Police Department who is, oh, yeah, also the world's first, and possibly only, serial-killer-for-good, "Dexter" takes viewers to the sheer and crumbling edge of TV's moral universe and double dares them to look over. Based on novels by Jeff Lindsay, the narrative is a rare and unapologetic examination of good, evil and all that dwells between. The writing is terrific, Hall's performance is astonishing, and the rest of the cast are no slouches either. But even with the network violence alert being on a fairly constant "24"-and-"CSI" level 4, "Dexter" is something else again. Not because of the actual acts, most of which are committed off-screen, but because of the depth of the psychology. Dexter is a self-identified psychopath, struggling to live by a code of ethics, an admirable perhaps even lovable monster but a monster nonetheless.

Still, to hear the network tell it, the only real issue was with the language, which they toned down. There is no denying that "Dexter" is a brilliant television show, but like "The Sopranos," it pretty much defines the difference between cable and network fare. Whether the unlikely crossover will damage the product or the viewers or simply elevate the standard of network narrative remains to be seen.

(CBS, today, 10 p.m.)

-- Mary McNamara