Just about a year ago I posted about my Sopranos addiction replacement – Dexter. When Dexter Season 3 ended I terminated my subscription to The Movie Network. Without Dexter, the movie reruns were like chicken soup without the noodles.

Last week I saw an ad that the noodle was coming back and the season 4 premiere was going to air at 11:00 pm Atlantic last night, Sunday September 27. I planned to call my satellite TV provider on Friday to add TMN back so I wouldn’t miss a minute of the show. Well, Friday was busy and I didn’t get to it. No problem, though, my satellite provider has a self-service page on their website that allows subscribers to upgrade their service with the click of a mouse. So, on Saturday I fired up the laptop and went online. Click click click. Double check…. my new channels weren’t showing up on my profile. Hmmm… well, the site does say that it may take anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours for the changes to register.

We were invited out to dinner so I figured I’d check when we got back.

We returned about 4 hours later and I ran to the TV. Nope… the channels weren’t there. No, problem. I’ll just phone the provider and update the service there. Ring ring ring. Shit… an automated attendant telling me that their hours are Monday to Friday 8 am to 10 pm, Saturday 8 am to 6 pm, and closed on Sunday. Current time: Saturday 10 pm. Damn, damn, damn. Wait… the nice automated attendant also says that I can use the phone for self service. Super! Press 1 for English, press 2 for technical support, listen to all the options, synchronize the programming. Presto! Done. All I have to do is wait 15 minutes to 2 hours for the changes to register.

Sunday morning. Run to the TV. Damn! No channel updates. Oh well. I’ll have to call on Monday and have the updates done then. I’ll miss the premiere, but maybe I’ll catch an encore presentation (that’s fancy talk for rerun) later in the week. Fast forward to Sunday evening 10:45 pm. If I had the channels, in 15 minutes I’d be watching my favourite show. Wait! WAIT! I have an idea! Maybe there’s an option on my satellite receiver to update channels. Click click click. This time on my remote control, not my mouse. Choose TMN. You currently do not subscribe to TMN. To add the channels select OK now. Woo HOO! I got it. All I have to do is select OK. Click click click. Thank you for choosing TMN. Your subscription update will take up to 24 hours to complete. What?!? Freakin’ WHAT?!? 10:54 pm. T minus 6 minutes to Dexter. And I missed it.

Dejected, I checked the channels anyway. It was there. It was really there! Dexter, dude, here we go. It’s gonna be a cool, blood-soaked winter.

Incidentally, the show was pretty good. However, it felt a little contrived. The time had shifted ahead several months and the plot of the premiere seemed focused on setting up all the new relationships and premises that will set up the rest of the season. Dexter has been married for several months, he has a new baby that won’t let him sleep, there are office romances going on that weren’t there before, there’s a new serial killer in town, and some old characters have resurfaced. I know, you are saying that’s what it is supposed to do, but it seemed a little forced. Hopefully next week gets us back into the Dexter groove.