Question: On what date did Dexter premiere?
About the article "Dexter (TV series)", section "U.S. broadcast".

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Rita Bennett appears in the premiere episode of "Dexter", entitled "Dexter" and is introduced as Dexter Morgan's girlfriend.
It is revealed early on that Rita was physically and sexually abused by Paul Bennett (Mark Pellegrino), her ex-husband and the father of her children, Astor (Christina Robinson) and Cody (Preston Bailey).
Dexter's sister Debra Morgan answered a domestic violence call and saved her life.
Rita, who is ignorant of Dexter's secret life as a serial killer, appears regularly throughout the first season as his main source of support.
She plays a much larger role in the episode "Return to Sender", in which Paul is released from prison and demands to be at Astor's birthday party.
Rita asks that he not come to the party.
In "Circle of Friends", Rita tells Paul he can see his children only through supervised visits for six months before she will consider letting him have unsupervised visitation rights.
She hands him divorce papers that include that clause, and Paul signs them.
In "Father Knows Best", however, Paul begins threatening Rita again when she prevents him from seeing the children.
He forces his way into her house, where she defends herself by hitting him over the head with a baseball bat.
In "Seeing Red", Paul presses charges against Rita for assault.
When Paul visits Rita's house, he threatens Dexter when they are alone in the kitchen; Dexter reacts by hitting him with a frying pan.
After Paul loses consciousness, Dexter drives him back to his hotel and plants drugs on him.
Dexter alerts the police and Paul is sent back to prison.
In the second season premiere Rita takes Astor and Cody to see Paul in prison.
He insists that that Dexter dragged him out of Rita's house before drugging him and tipping off the police — and that if she could find his missing shoe it would prove his innocence.
Rita tells him that there is no shoe, despite having found it more than a month previously.
She later admits that she found the shoe, but refuses to acknowledge that Dexter is involved.
That night she receives a call from the prison and learns that Paul was killed in an inmate altercation.
In "Waiting to Exhale", after Paul's funeral, Rita confronts Dexter about his involvement in Paul's death, and he is forced to admit to having a heroin addiction in order to cover up his real secret.
Rita threatens to leave Dexter if he does not commit to a program to deal with his "addiction".
He starts attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings, where a mysterious woman named Lila Tournay (Jaime Murray) volunteers to be his sponsor.
In "See-Through" Rita's visiting mother, Gail (JoBeth Williams), suspects that Dexter is hiding something from the family.
In "Dex, Lies, and Videotape", Rita breaks up with Dexter after he admits that he cheated on her with Lila.
In "That Night, a Forest Grew," Rita stands up to her mother and insists that she move out of the house.
Rita tells Dexter that he is no longer welcome to visit her house or her children.
He apologizes, admitting that his affair with Lila was a mistake, but she is still hesitant to forgive him.
When Dexter breaks up with Lila, she retaliates by pursuing his co-worker and friend, Angel Batista.
In "There's Something About Harry," Rita and Dexter reconcile and visit the beach together.
In the second season finale, Dexter is forced to lie about running away with Lila, in front of Debra.
Lila, feeling hurt, leaves with what she recognizes as Dexter's bag of murder equipment.
She goes to Rita's house and drugs the babysitter in order to abduct the children.
When Dexter realizes that Astor and Cody are missing, he goes to Lila's apartment.
She starts a fire and locks the three of them inside.
Rita calls Debra for help and Debra decides to skip her flight to Oregon, with her boyfriend Frank Lundy.
Dexter manages to pass Astor and Cody through a small window to the outside, and escapes after breaking down a thin wall.
In the season three opener "Our Father," Rita realizes that she is pregnant with Dexter's child.
In "All In The Family", after an unsuccessful marriage proposal, Dexter tries to convince Rita that he is looking for more than a convenient merger of finances and parenthood.
In "Turning Biminese," Rita is hospitalized after a medical emergency and Dexter cannot be found.
Dexter is hesitant when Rita suggests that they buy a house and move in together.
Rita becomes angry at Dexter's refusal to help organize their wedding.
In the third season finale, "Do You Take Dexter Morgan?
", Rita and Dexter get married.
In the fourth season opener, Rita and Dexter are living happily together in a suburban neighborhood with Astor, Cody, and new baby Harrison.
In "Remains to be Seen" Dexter is in a terrible car accident, and Rita demands that he give her his keys so that she can drive him.
In "If I Had A Hammer," friction begins to develop in the couple's relationship, and Dexter seeks guidance from Arthur Mitchell, a family man who appears to balance his responsibilities with his secret life as the "Trinity Killer".
In "Hungry Man," Rita works hard to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.
She shares a kiss with the next door neighbor, Elliot, when she asks if she can use his stove.
Dexter arrives for an appointment with Rita for marriage counseling, but gets called to a crime scene as soon as he arrives.
Soon after, Rita confesses that she and Elliot kissed, although Dexter tries to brush it off.
Rita later admits that she felt hurt that he did not seem to care about her indiscretion.
Dexter then punches Elliot and warns him to stay away from Rita, which reassures her that Dexter loves her.
In the fourth season finale, Dexter asks her to go out of town so they can have a belated honeymoon; in reality, Dexter wants to keep her safe from Mitchell, who has learned his real identity and threatened to kill him and his family.
After killing Mitchell, Dexter returns home and finds a message from Rita that she returned to pick up her identification for the flight.
Dexter finds her dead in the bathtub — Mitchell's last victim.
In the fifth season premiere "My Bad", Dexter realizes, much to his own surprise, that he genuinely loved Rita and is devastated by her death.
Julie Benz reprised her role as Rita as a special guest star in a flashback to her and Dexter's first date, and as a corpse. 
Dexter and his family move to Summer Bay after his father, Sid, finds employment at the local hospital, covering for Doctor Rachel Armstrong (Amy Mathews) while she takes maternity leave.
Dexter meets Annie Campbell (Charlotte Best) and takes a liking to her.
He comforts Annie following the death of her friend Belle Taylor (Jessica Tovey) making Annie's former partner Jai Fernandez (Jordan Rodrigues) jealous.
When Jai confronts Annie about her friendship with Dexter, he shows her a photograph that Dexter printed of her.
Annie shows Dexter the photo and asks why he printed it.
Dexter tells Annie that it was for a photo album he made of the last photos that Belle took.
Dexter is upset when Annie refers to him as a friend.
When Annie tries to talk to Dexter, he kisses her but she pulls away.
Dexter apologises and Annie kisses him.
They then begin a relationship.
Jai discovers their relationship and Dexter tells Jai that Annie is happy with him.
Annie ends their relationship because she does not want to hurt Jai's feelings.
When Indigo is injured at a party, Jody returns and tells Sid that she is taking Dexter and Indigo with her.
Dexter is unhappy, but Indigo convinces him to leave Summer Bay.
In June 2010 Dexter arrives at Sid's house along with Indigo, where they reveal that they are not moving to Europe with Jody.
Dexter, Sid and Indigo return to Summer Bay and move into The Farmhouse.
He re-enrolls at Summer Bay High School.
Dexter meets Sid's new partner Marilyn Chambers and develops feelings for her.
He then sends her some flowers anonymously.
Dexter invites himself for dinner with Marilyn and Sid.
Dexter makes jibes about Sid throughout the dinner to make Marilyn notice him.
He visits Marilyn and asks her personal questions.
After Marilyn tells him, Sid confronts Dexter who explains that he is looking out for him.
When Sid organises a picnic with Marilyn, Dexter helps him get it ready.
Dexter lies to Marilyn telling her that they have to go to the picnic alone and wait for Sid to join them.
When Sid does not arrive, Marilyn discovers messages from him on her phone and realises that Dexter lied because he has feelings for her.
Dexter writes Marilyn a letter and gives it to her before quickly leaving.
Later, he goes to see Marilyn who tells him that she is going to show the letter to Sid.
Dexter becomes worried and tells her that the letter was a creative writing exercise for school.
Dexter visits Marilyn once again and when she receives news of Alf Stewart's (Ray Meagher) arrest, he comforts her.
Marilyn questions Dexter, wondering whether he has feelings for her, but he denies it and leaves.
As Dexter prepares to tell Marilyn about his feelings, she calls wanting to invite Sid for dinner.
Marilyn also offers Dexter an invite to which he agrees.
He tells Sid that it was the hospital calling and want him to work.
Dexter arrives at Marilyn's and tells her that Sid is working.
Dexter admits to Marilyn that he has feelings for her, leaving her stunned.
Sid insists that Dexter should apologise and he goes to see Marilyn, telling her he still has feelings for her.
Marilyn leaves and Dexter meets her friend Mitzy Fraser (Helen Dallimore), who tells him that Marilyn does not have any feelings for him.
Mitzy then kisses him to show how he is pushing his feelings onto Marilyn.
Dexter tells Sid and Marilyn and apologises for developing feelings for Marilyn.
Sid and Indigo become worried about Dexter and Marilyn talks to him, helping him move on from his feelings for her.
Mitzy apologises to Dexter and he forgives her.
Dexter buys a goldfish and meets Adrian Hall (Phoebe Tonkin) who works at the pet store.
He returns to the store for pet supplies and arranges a date.
He meets Adrian at the Surf club and after becoming worried, leaves the date to asks Indigo for advice.
On returning he discovers that Adrian has left, leaving a note telling him not to call her again.
Dexter goes to see Adrian and apologises to her, explaining why he left.
Adrian forgives him and tells him that she knows why he acts the way he does.
Dexter receives advice from April Scott (Rhiannon Fish) about how to speak to women.
He then goes to talk to Adrian and try to resume their relationship.
However, Dexter reveals that April told him what to say and Adrian leaves.
He visits Adrian again after Marilyn tells him that she might not be interested in him.
Adrian tells him that Marilyn is correct and they agree to be just friends.
Dexter meets Detective Graves (Eryn Jean Norvill) and takes a liking to her.
He decides to wear a suit to impress her, but Sid refuses to let him leave wearing it.
Dexter then truants from school to meet her, but she remains uninterested.
He sends Detective Graves a bouquet of flowers asking her out on a date.
She initially refuses but Robert Robertson (Socratis Otto) encourages her to go to find information on the murder of Penn Graham (Christian Clark).
During the date, Detective Graves becomes charmed by Dexter and at the end of the night he asks her if they could meet again.
She then confesses that the date was a set-up.
However, when Detective Graves tells him to get over his need to replace his mother with an older woman, Dexter takes a dislike to her.
Leah Patterson-Baker (Ada Nicodemou) asks Dexter to talk to her son VJ Patterson (Felix Dean) who is starting secondary school, about attending Summer Bay High.
Dexter begins filming people with a video camera and is caught by Casey Braxton (Lincoln Younes) who is a member of a surfing gang named The River Boys.
Dexter is kidnapped by two of the gang's members, who leave him in the forest.
Dexter later returns home.
Sometime afterwards Dexter and his group of friends go on a camping trip.
Dexter is interested romantically in April but she is already dating Dexter's friend Xavier Austin (David Jones Roberts).
Dexter takes Kate Hanlon (Mikayla Southgate) on the trip to make April jealous.
April later begins a relationship with Dexter Behind Xavier's back.
Xavier finds out about Dexter's relationship with April when he sees them kissing.
Xavier is furious and punches Dexter in the nose.
The two later become friends again.
Dexter finds out that he has a sister, Sasha Bezmel (Demi Harman).
Shortly afterwards Dexter sees naked pictures of Sasha around school and is furious.
Dexter and April plan to sleep with each other after the upcoming year 12 formal.
Dexter attends the year 12 formal.
Dallas Phillips (Emma Griffin) kisses Dexter just as April enters.
April later ends their relationship.
Dexter becomes a nurse at Summer Bay Hospital.
His first patient is Dallas's son William (Daniel Place).
Dexter finds out that Dallas is living in her car and gets her a job at the Gelato Bar.
Dexter is jealous when April begins to date Heath Braxton (Dan Ewing).
Dexter and the rest of the Walker family discover that Sasha has been assaulted repeatedly by her boyfriend Stu Henderson (Brenton Thwaites).
Dexter and Xavier look for Stu with the intention of confronting him but he has disappeared.
Stu is later found dead.
Dexter meets Lottie Ryan (Morgan Weaving) at the Diner and the two become friends.
April, Who has broken up with Heath becomes jealous of Dexter's and Lottie's friendship when Colleen Smart (Lyn Collingwood) tells her that they are dating when they are, in fact, not.
April invites herself to a picnic that Dexter and Lottie organise.
When Dexter asks April to leave April falls and pretends to hurt her ankle so that Dexter will take care of her.
At the hospital April reveals that there is nothing wrong with her ankle and that she only said it was hurt to get close to Dexter.
April tells Dexter that she loves him but Dexter tells April he cannot love somebody who is so deceitful.
Dexter later begins a relationship with Lottie.
However, he realises he loves April and they break up.
April confesses that she love Dex too and they get back together.
Dex and April struggle to find some time to themselves and decide to move in together.
Sid and Bianca give their approval and they find a place.
On moving day, Dex borrows Indi's car and crashes it, when the brakes fail to work.
Dex is found and taken to hospital where it is revealed he has numerous injuries.
Dex almost dies, but Sid saves him.
Ruby Buckton (Rebecca Breeds) later admits that she cut the brake line, but did not intend for Dex to get hurt. 
Reviews of the pilot were generally positive.
David Hinckley of the "New York Daily News" called it "bold, different and exciting, with a central character and performance that take your breath away".
Hinckley praised Hall's dynamic Emmy-worthy performance, and the "indispensable and haunting" narration.
Maureen Ryan of the "Chicago Tribune" claimed "to deny yourself the engrossing "Dexter" based on its subject matter would be to miss out on one of television's most fiendishly intelligent new dramas".
Ryan enjoyed the series' black comedy aspects, which she thought were "infused with the most pitch-dark irony on television".
Matthew Gilbert of "The Boston Globe" was impressed by Hall's grand performance, especially in his ability to make Dexter likable.
Gilbert praised the set designers, comparing the crime scenes to a "Vanity Fair" photo spread.
Critics reacted positively to the character of Dexter.
"Entertainment Weekly"s Josh Wolk called him "the hippest-looking killer since "American Psycho"s Patrick Bateman".
"The San Francisco Chronicle"s Tim Goodman said "What makes the series work so well is twofold.
Hall is magnificent; it's another sterling performance from him.
But instead of being pent up yet emotionally explosive, like his David Fisher on ""Six Feet Under"," he's cool and calculated and entirely without compassion as Dexter.
That makes him alluring, in a strange way.
while Ryan found him to be "among the more compelling characters on the small screen".
Gilbert described Dexter as a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, calling him a vigilante obsessive murderer with a slippery personality, but "also a hero of sorts".
InsidePulse.com reviewer Mathan Erhardt said that the episode did not quite meet his expectations and that "to me the major flaw in the show is Dexter’s noir-esque narration", although he finished the review by saying ""Dexter", despite it’s flaws is yet another reason why Sunday night is one of my favorite nights to watch TV.
"IGN gave the pilot episode an "Outstanding" rating of 9 out of 10, with Dan Iverson starting his review by saying "Every once and a while a show will come along that will be so creepy and so intriguing that you feel compelled to watch.
Dexter is one of those shows. "
and summarized with "The pilot episode did an extremely good job hooking us into the world of Dexter.
We are meant to feel confused by his actions, and only time will tell how the show deals with this topic - will Dexter ever go too far, making us turn on our protagonist?
There are so many questions that we have about this show, and that is a good thing.
Personally we cannot wait to see how long this game of cat-and-mouse goes on with the unknown serial killer and Dexter.
With the solid introduction to the series, characters, and future storylines, we can't help but recommend Dexter to anybody that is at all curious about the show. "
IGN reviewer Matt Fowler later placed Mike Donovan third on a list of "Dexter's Top 10 Kills", saying "We all remember our first.
First car.
First love.
First staph infection.
And when it comes to Dexter, first kill.
No Mike Donovan, the church choir master, wasn't Dexter first dead body, but he was our televisual introduction into Dexter's wicked world of revenge and reckoning."
IGN also declared the show as the "Best New Psycho Drama of 2006".TVSquad reviewer Jonathon Toomey gave the first episode 9 out of 10 and said of it that "This show is legit, well-worth watching.
The only reason I'm holding back that last star is because the screener DVD I received only had the pilot episode and I suppose it's possible that the show could go downhill after that.
But I wouldn't bet on it. "
Toomey also later added another review of the premiere, stating that "I'm worried though.
Dexter is good.
In fact, it's really good.
That's why I'm worried.
Why?
Because Showtime has a nasty little habit of canceling great shows.
There was "The Chris Isaak Show".
Then "Dead Like Me".
The most recent casualty?
"Huff".
All three of those shows were spectacular.
And you know what?
Dexter is better than all of them.
So, yeah...
I'm worried.
"However, not all reviews were as positive.
Robert Abele of "LA Weekly" thought the pilot was average, containing "fashionable gore, occasionally witty dialogue, serviceable suspense and boilerplate police-department politics".
Abele felt that the series was a superhero tale, rather than the dark comedy, police thriller and brooding drama that it was promoted to be.
Brian Lowry of "Variety" did not think that "Dexter" would impress critics, and noted, "antics of the deranged... aren't really all that pleasant to watch", but praised Hall's acting saying that he "... quickly dispatches any thoughts of his "Six Feet" character, which, by itself, represents quite an accomplishment."
Nancy DeWolf Smith of "The Wall Street Journal" felt that the "grotesqueries of "Dexter" are not something that can easily be dismissed with the old 'you don't have to watch' line.
We don't have to watch.
We do have to live among the viewers who will be desensitized, or aroused, by this show". 
Models for the company include Bernie Dexter, Missy Malone, Jami Deadly and Miss Polly Rae. 
In "Are You...?
", which picks up at the end of season 6, Debra witnesses Dexter murder Travis Marshall.
Dexter claims that he went to collect evidence, and was surprised by Marshall; he then says that he "snapped" and killed him on impulse.
Debra reluctantly helps him burn down the abandoned church where he killed Marshall, destroying the evidence of the crime.
Later, Dexter comes home to Debra, who is surrounded by Dexter's victim's blood slides, a pack of knives, and other tools that Dexter uses to kill.
Debra reluctantly asks Dexter if he is a serial killer.
Dexter, taken aback, replies yes.
Horrified, Debra recoils from Dexter as he admits that he is the "Bay Harbor Butcher", and that Harry taught him how to get away with murder.
In "Sunshine and Frosty Swirl", after reading Lundy's files on serial killers, Debra says she wants to help Dexter, and make sure he doesn't kill again.
Dexter agrees, even though he doesn't really have a choice, as Debra (probably) would have arrested him.
In "Run", Dexter disposes of Ray Speltzer (Matt Gerald), a serial killer Debra had tried and failed to send to prison.
Debra admits that she understands why Dexter takes the law into his own hands, and tells him that she will not stop him as long as he does not tell her about it or interfere with Miami Metro investigations.
She even compromises her own professional ethics by falsifying evidence to mislead LaGuerta, who is trying to reopen the Bay Harbor Butcher case.
Their truce is threatened when Dexter begins dating Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski), a serial poisoner who Debra is intent on arresting for the murder of Sal Price (Santiago Cabrera), a writer she had feelings for.
Dexter is torn between his responsibility to Debra and his feelings for Hannah.
Debra eventually confesses her feelings for Dexter in a moment of frustration.
In "Do You See What I See?
", Debra gets into a near-fatal car accident after a confrontation with Hannah.
She is convinced Hannah poisoned her, and Dexter is suspicious enough to order a toxicology screen on a bottle of water in Debra's car.
The results prove that Hannah did indeed poison Debra, leaving Dexter with no choice but to give Debra evidence proving that Hannah killed Price.
Debra is on hand to arrest Hannah, as a heartbroken Dexter looks on.
In the season finale, "Surprise, Motherfucker!
", Debra rushes to Dexter's side when LaGuerta has him arrested for the Bay Harbor Butcher murders, and angrily confronts her before being told to recuse herself.
Dexter is released, however, thanks to the evidence that Debra tampered with.
The next day, LaGuerta calls her into her office under the pretext of apologizing — and confronts her with circumstantial evidence that she was near the church at the time it was destroyed.
Debra talks her way out of immediate danger, but fears that LaGuerta will soon have definitive proof of what she and Dexter had done.
Later, at Batista's New Year's Eve party, she learns that LaGuerta has gone in pursuit of Dexter, who she fears is in the act of killing Hector Estrada (Nestor Serrano), the man who ordered his mother's murder.
She goes to the scene, where she finds Dexter poised to shoot an unconscious LaGuerta.
As she pleads with Dexter not to do it, LaGuerta regains consciousness and urges Debra to kill her brother.
Resigned, Dexter tells her to "do what you have to do".
Desperate to save Dexter, Debra shoots and kills LaGuerta, and breaks down in tears over her body.