Some people call it “time-shifting”: watching a television show on your own schedule, instead of during the network broadcast. Usually this is done through the use of a digital video recorder, like TiVo.
Me, I don’t time-shift, I “year-shift.” I’ve discovered the joy of watching TV series by renting a season at a time on DVD. In this way I can decide when to watch: I can have a multi-episode marathon, or watch one episode a night for several nights, or take a few nights off if I’m busy. I’ve found that by watching this way, much of the drama and suspense is preserved between episodes, and I lose interest far less quickly.
The series that I’m currently watching is Showtime’s Dexter. Based on the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, it’s the story of a serial killer who only kills bad guys. HE works by day as a blood spatter analyst for the police department, and so has a unique perspective on crimes both his own and those committed by others.
I’m enjoying the series very much, but I do think that I liked the book more. It took me about 4 episodes of the show to warm up to the character Dexter, while in the book I liked him almost immediately. Still, the series is well worth watching. Season 1 follows the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter pretty closely. I’m told that Seasons 2 and 3 do not correlate to any of the Dexter books, so if you want even more Dexter, you can read Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter in the Dark. Book #4 in the series, Dexter by Design, is due to be published in September.
We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. LibraryThing also links to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post:
Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, Vintage trade paperback
Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay, Vintage trade paperback
Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay, Doubleday hardcover, September 2009
(all information is for the U.S. editions).
image credit: just Luh via Flickr
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I’ve seen the first season of Dexter and really liked it, then they switched the day or time or something and I haven’t caught any of the other seasons. They do crazy stuff like that here in Denmark all the time, just up and switch days and times. I am still not use to it even after living here 11 years! lol
I am one of the few bibliophiles out there who also happens to love movies and TV. Every medium has it’s limitations and opportunities and I have no problem with watching every incarnation of “Pride and Prejudice” or “The Four Feathers!” My current TV-on-DVD selection is the Hamish MacBeth mystery series starring Robert Carlisle (from “The Full Monty”.) That said, even with a Netflix account and TiVo, finding the time to watch TV or a movie is extremely difficult!
As for Dexter in particular, I’ve read the published titles and plan on reading “Dexter by Design” when it comes out, but the TV series may have to wait. I’ve only got 500 slots available on my Netflix account!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Dexter! Am totally obsessed with the show, and having a hard time waiting until August for new episodes. I haven’t read the books yet, so they are now going onto my “must read” list.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dwexter, but I agree with year-shifting. David Simon, who created HBO’s The Wire, once said that seeing a season’s episodes back-to-back may be the best way to watch.
ABSOLUTELY LOVE Dexter! We watch it weekly- can not wait for the DVD’s to come out. BUT then we buy the DVD’s anyway! Hubby got me hooked on LOST, so I had to ‘3 year-shift’ until the current season to catch up and then we ‘time-shift’ so we can zip thru all those commercials!
I haven’t caught Dexter yet but I love HBO’s #1 Ladies Detective Agency. I can’t compare the TV show to the books though since I haven’t read them. The series makes me want to start as it’s very good. I am reading McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland St series and am enjoying it.
If you’re a rabid Dexter fan like me, you can get “Dexter by Design” from Amazon.co.uk right now
I’m about 1/2 way through it, and it’s magnificent. AND according to wikipedia there’s a 5th in the works? Supposedly it will delve into cannibalism, and will be titled “Dexter is Delicious”. Yummy…