Dexter Season 8 Premiere Brings in Record Ratings; Ray Donovan Is Showtime's Highest-Rated Series Debut

Dexter Season 8 Premiere Brings in Record Ratings; Ray Donovan Is Showtime's Highest-Rated Series Debut

Dexter's killing spree shows no signs of slowing down, at least when it comes to ratings!

Showtime's hit series returned for its eighth and final season on Sunday night and delivered killer ratings in its last season premiere ever: Michael C. Hall's serial-killer thriller attracted 2.5 million viewers during its first airing, making it the series' highest-rated season premiere ever. Season seven's premiere brought in 2.4 million viewers. Dexter delivered 3.2 million viewers for the night, a 5 percent bump from last season's premiere (3.04 million viewers).

But Dexter wasn't the only Showtime series to deliver in the ratings: Liev Schrieber and Jon Voight's new show Ray Donovan debuted to record ratings.

Ray Donovan became the network's biggest drama premiere ever after averaging 1.35 million viewers during its first airing.

The series, which stars Schrieber as a Hollywood "fixer," delivered 2.22 million viewers for the night, actually improving on Showtime's critically beloved series Homeland by 61 percent. Homeland's series premiere brought in 1.08 million viewers two years ago.


Discussing Dexter coming to an end after an eight-season killing spree, Hall told News, "We're feeling a lot of things. We're feeling a lot of pride; we're feeling a lot of love, a lot of affection. It's a real family." Costar Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Dexter's sister Deb, added, It's bittersweet, but I am going to miss the people. The show is going out on a really nice note. We're finishing it the way we want, so there's nothing to be sad about, really!"