'Dexter' renewed for 2 more seasons

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Showtime Tuesday announced it has ordered two more seasons of its popular U.S. drama series "Dexter," starring Michael C. Hall.

The announcement was made by Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's president of entertainment.

The series began its third season three weeks ago to critical and audience acclaim, plus record ratings as it surpassed 3 million viewers in its premiere week and ranks as Showtime's top-rated drama series, the premium cable network said in a release.

Seasons four and five will consist of 12 episodes each, with production on season four set to begin next spring in Los Angeles.

"Dexter's enormous success is a tribute to the great achievements of its cast, the producing team, the author of the original book, and the gifted Michael C. Hall," Greenblatt said in a statement. "I thought at best we would attract a devoted cult audience but soon realized that, ironically, this show is so thematically rich and layered with humanity that audiences of all kinds have flocked to it."

In the show, Hall plays "a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer," Showtime said.