It feels as if it was only yesterday that Showtime’s older originals like Weeds began phasing out, leaving room for the likes of Masters of Sex and Ray Donovan to air in the schedule. It wasn’t exactly yesterday, however. Today, Showtime announced it is renewing both Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex for Season 4.
The announcement was made this morning during the Television Critics Association summer tour and was quickly confirmed on both the Masters of Sex and Ray Donovan’s social media accounts.
The renewal has actually come pretty early this year. The two shows air together as part of Showtime’s summer TV schedule, and both shows just began airing their third seasons in July. New episodes will continue to hit the schedule through this September, so there is plenty of content left to air this season. Still, it's nice to know both shows will be back next summer.
Interestingly, while Masters of Sex and Ray Donovan have both found critical favor, with both shows earning a couple of Emmy nods this year, they aren’t huge ratings bringers for the subscription cable network. (Donovan's fixer premise does attract more eyeballs than the more scientific Masters of Sex.) On the bright side, the Showtime dramas don’t have to worry as much about the Live + same day numbers, as subscribers are welcome to tune in anytime they want. On the other hand, it would be nice if Showtime could nab another drama that brought in big total viewership along with the critical acclaim.
Coming up, Showtime has new episodes of Homeland and The Affair hitting the schedule, while Penny Dreadful has also been renewed. Recently, the subscription cable channel also released the new trailer for its upcoming drama Billions, which will star Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis (formerly of Homeland). Finally, the network is also working on and adaptation of Patti Smith’s memoir Just Kids.
There’s a lot of good stuff coming up, but for now you can catch Ray Donovan on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET. Masters of Sex follows on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. ET. In the meantime, you can catch the midseason preview for Masters of Sex, released today, below.
If you’re looking ahead, here’s the full fall TV schedule.
