I don’t have premium cable. Every now and then, Comcast’ll run some sort of special and I’ll have access to HBO for a month or so. That’s actually how I saw the first three episodes of “Rome.” The way I figure it, anything I might want to see on any premium cable channel will be available on DVD eventually — and with a large DVD collection and a three-a-time subscription to Netflix, I can wait for those DVD release dates.

Really, the attractive thing for me about HBO isn’t the movies they air — er, Netflix? — but, rather, their original programming: namely, The Sopranos and The Wire. When you’re talking about cable television, until recently, HBO was the only channel you could go to for quality cable TV: remember that USA show about bike cops on the boardwalk? Yeah. But even with f/x, and sci-fi, and all this great stuff that’s coming out, Showtime’s programming isn’t anything I would’ve wanted to see.

I mean, isn’t Showtime just the poor man’s HBO, anyway?

So, recently, and after much pressure, I stuck a couple of Showtime shows onto my Netflix queue: Dexter, and Weeds (in that order). I’m on Dexter’s fifth episode, and I’m enjoying it so much I went out and picked up the books that inspired the show: Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay (the third book in the series, Dexter in the Dark, comes out next week). Is it normal for tv series to be based on books? Scratch that: Homicide by David Simon springs to mind.

So Dexter’s essentially a psycho serial killer who preys on serial killers while working in forensics for the Miami PD. I don’t know if it’s true, but Dexter’s narration claims the PD has a 20% homicide clearance rate (hey, check it, Baltimore DOES do better). I’m curious to get into the books to see the differences between the two formats. Meanwhile, James Remar is on this show? How awesome is that? He’s such a great character actor, and his brief appearance in Battlestar Galactica’s second season was just such a horrible waste.

“It’s important that you seem normal,” is Remar’s advice to his son (Dexter) in the flashbacks that feature in every episode. Remar’s character, a cop, is grooming his son for his future as a serial killer. Because normal offers protection. Especially, I suppose, for serial killers, but I think there’s truth here for anyone who isn’t mainstream suburb-living SUV-driving Americana. Anywaaaaay.

Meanwhile, considering the show is about Dexter, it’s a little strange how I find myself empathizing with him. I mean, not in a “Gosh I want to be a serial killer” way, rather, more with Dexter’s anxieties regarding social interactions.

Christ, I think I’ve said too much.

I’m sure the police’ll be batting down my door soon.