HarryMorgan

(S0402) - "You've got a family to support and people to dismember. You're spinning too many plates, Dexter." - Harry Morgan

One of the most interesting reasons to watch shows like Dexter are the ways the characters manage to wiggle their way out of complete destruction after pushing more than their fair share of luck.

But unlike shows like The Shield or The Sopranos where most of the luck pushing is done by the main character, the people behind Dexter like to spread the carelessness around. Just about everyone in this twisted tale has some skeletons in their closets, both figurative and possibly literal.

The introduction of a baby into the plot is usually a sure fire sign that a television show has jumped the shark with a pair of Acme rocket powered water skis.

But things are different for a twisted little space of pay cable called Dexter. The mere thought of putting a cute, adorable and affable little tyke into the mix sounds like something that would inspire the furious typing of a thousand angry Parents Television Council members' Selectric typewriters.

The latest addition to the Morgan clan is just a small addition to the newest season of Showtime's seriously macabre drama. It doesn't overtake the show and turn its serious moral tone into something ridculously psychotic like Three Madmen and a Baby. It's just one of many obstacles the world's most huggable serial killer has to deal with to feed the John Pinette sized appetite of his mysterious "dark passenger," and it's not all dark and drenched in blood.

How many people remember Dragnet? Or maybe I should say how many people remember actually watching Dragnet, the "just the facts" police show starring the iconic Jack Webb? The reason I ask is because the U.S. Postal Service is immortalizing Dragnet with a postage stamp tomorrow.

In light of the fact that letter writing and postal service are dramatically in decline, my guess is that there will be an older crowd nodding appreciatively when Dragnet is honored. You see, the younger generation (did I really say that?) doesn't have much use for stamps and won't be buying the Dragnet first class stamp.