Showtime Renews Two Shows

Showtime has announced that two of its dramas will be returning next year for third seasons. The critically acclaimed Masters of Sex and the critically derided Ray Donovan will return in 2015 with new episodes. Masters of Sex, which loosely follows the historical relationship (both personal and professional) between famed sex-researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, has garnered three Emmy nominations this year, with a win for Allison Janney for her guest starring role last season. The series stars Michael Sheen and Emmy-nominated Lizzy Caplan (the major Emmy awards will be given out next Monday) as Masters and Johnson. Ray Donovan, which tells the story of "fixer" Donovan who is charged with getting the rich and famous out of trouble, has had a more checkered critical history. The series, which stars Liev Schrieiber as the title character and Jon Voight as his scheming father (a role he has earned two Emmy nominations for), has managed to maintain acceptable viewership levels (Masters routinely pulls in less viewers than Donovan) and enough buzz from its leads to keep it afloat for another season. Both Donovan and Masters currently air on Sunday nights on Showtime, with their second season finales set to air September 28, 2014.