Following lengthy, and occasionally dicey, negotiations, Showtime has struck a deal with star Michael C. Hall to renew the Emmy-nominated Dexter for two more seasons. Seasons 7 and 8 will contain 12 episodes each.

David Nevins, Showtime's president of entertainment, shrugged off reports that contract negotiations with Hall had broken down last month, telling Deadline, "The biggest question was: What is the trajectory of the show creatively? And after speaking with [executive producers] John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton and Scott Buck, it became pretty clear that there was a very clear three-year trajectory. Once we established that, this became a very simple negotiation, which went down pretty quickly.”

Asked whether that meant Dexter would end with Season 8, Nevins said, "I’m not going to say with absolute certainty that this is the end, but that is the likely scenario, that the series is moving towards a definite end."

Dexter's sixth season debuted in October, setting a ratings record for the cable network. The drama is averaging 5.12 million viewers across all platform, making this the highest-rated season to date.