If you’ve been working your way through past seasons of Dexter or Californication on Netflix Watch Instantly, you better hurry up: The network’s current deal with the growing video monolith ends this summer, and while renegotiating its contract, Showtime quietly lowered the boom by saying that Netflix would no longer be able to stream its current original series. The revised terms don’t extend to past shows like The Tudors or Sleeper Cell, which no longer have new episodes airing, but Showtime is making the push to ensure that anyone who wants to revel in the bad behavior of David Duchovny, Michael C. Hall, or any of the other morally gray stars of its current lineup—including Jeremy Irons’ horny pope in the upcoming The Borgias—will have to buy a Showtime subscription for the privilege. (The status of Weeds, which is owned by Lionsgate, is at the moment unclear.) Deadline takes pains to point out that Showtime’s taking its original series ball and going home had nothing to do with Netflix recently outbidding everyone for House Of Cards and making a play to compete with pay-cable networks, by which you can assume that, yeah, it probably had something to do with it.
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