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Masters of Sex - S2 - Michael Sheen & Lizzy Caplan - Sundays on Showtime

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C

Cornballer

Member
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After a great first season, Masters of Sex returns on Showtime this Sunday, July 13th at 10pm. It was created by Michelle Ashford and based on Thomas Maier's biography Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson. The series tells the story of Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan). The second season will consist of 12 episodes.

Showtime said:
MASTERS OF SEX stars Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality, William Masters and Virginia Johnson. Their research touched off the sexual revolution and took them from a midwestern teaching hospital to the cover of Time magazine and multiple appearances on Johnny Carson's couch. He is a brilliant scientist out of touch with his own feelings, and she is a single working mother ahead of her time. The series chronicles their unusual lives, romance, and unlikely pop culture trajectory.
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Videos (please spoiler tag discussion as appropriate)
Cast:
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Michael Sheen as William Masters
Lizzy Caplan as Virginia Johnson
Caitlin FitzGerald as Libby Masters
Teddy Sears as Dr. Austin Langham

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Annaleigh Ashford as Betty DiMello
Beau Bridges as Barton Scully
Allison Janney as Margaret Scully
Julianne Nicholson as Dr. Lillian DePaul​

Links:
Season 2 Casting News:
- Minor casting tidbit from Deadline:
Keke Palmer is set as a recurring for the second season of Showtime’s drama series Masters Of Sex, produced by Sony Pictures Television. Series centers on the pioneers of the science of human sexuality Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), whose research touched off the sexual revolution and took them from a mid-western teaching hospital in St. Louis to the cover of Time magazine. Palmer will play Coral,
the nanny hired by the Masters’ to care for their new baby.
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- THR: 'Breaking Bad's' Betsy Brandt Joins Showtime's 'Masters of Sex'
Betsy Brandt has boarded the second season of the Showtime drama, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Brandt will recur and play Barbara
, new secretary to Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen). She fills the role previously held by Margo Martindale's Miss Horchow, who guest-starred in the series premiere, and Caitlin Fitzgerald's Libby, who temporarily filled in as his secretary in season one.
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Press Release said:
Emmy-winning comedian and actress Sarah Silverman is joining the cast of season two of the acclaimed SHOWTIME drama series MASTERS OF SEX. Silverman will recur in the guest starring role of Helen.
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- Jocko Sims Joins ‘Masters Of Sex’
Jocko Sims (TNT’s The Last Ship) has joined the second season of Showtime‘s Masters Of Sex as recurring. He will play ? Robert,
who first comes into Libby’s (Caitlin Fitzgerald) orbit through his sister, Coral, who is working in the Masters’ home. He is an activist with CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and has a clear eyed sense of injustice and a willingness to do whatever is necessary to see his cause through?.
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- Deadline: Courtney B. Vance & Rene Auberjonois Set For Season 2 Of ‘Masters Of Sex’
Showtime‘s period drama continues to add to its sophomore-season cast. Courtney B. Vance and Rene Auberjonois have joined Masters Of Sex in guest roles. Vance (FlashForward, Law & Order: Criminal Intent) will recur as
Dr. Hendricks, head of an African-American hospital in St. Louis whose goal is to racially integrate his hospital
, and Auberjonois (Warehouse 13, Boston Legal) will play
Dr. Papanikolaou, inventor of the Pap smear.
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- Deadline: Christian Borle To Recur In Showtime’s ‘Masters Of Sex’
Tony Award winner Christian Borle has been tapped for a recurring role in the second season of Showtime’s Masters Of Sex. Borle will play Frank (Francis) Masters, William Masters’ (Sheen) brother.
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- More casting news for S2:
Variety said:
Showtime’s “Masters of Sex” has added to its cast for the upcoming season, booking actress Erin Cummings for a guest role. Cummings will appear as Kitty,
a high class prostitute with a no nonsense, “get the job done” attitude. She is described as smart and calculating, but also care-taking. Kitty will be pivotal in the research conducted by Masters and Johnson. The role is open-ended for recurring.
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Poster:
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Promo Pictures:
 
B

Busty

Banned
I watched the pilot and enjoyed it..., but something about the show just turned me off.

Given that it's esque setting Mad Men +
Lizzy Caplan's boobs
it should be a must watch but...,

Eh.

Tucah said:
Best show on Showtime, can't wait for it to be back.
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This isn't the Ray Donovan OT.

You silly thing you.
 
S

Sober

Member
Whoa, Beau Bridges and Allison Janey got bumped to regulars? Nice. I actually thought their story was much more entertaining than Sheen/Caplan's stuff.

Also, where is Jane? I demand more Jane dammit.
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
avoiding spoilers like crazy, but gotta say this is one of the best TV shows in recent years. I like it even more than Mad Men, Sheen is such a great actor
 
B

BMO = GOAT

Member
awww yessss! I am hyped! I've been waiting and wanting more since last season ended

Is it me, or does Lizzy look better with light brown hair?
 
W

War Peaceman

You're a big guy.
Tentatively looking forward to this. The first season was very nice but peaked with some excellent drama in the middle, with the end petering out a little bit. Hopefully the 'change of scenery' from the end of season 1 will provide some freshness, because the quality of cast and staff is fantastic.

It is a shame Ethan won't be back, he was very well played.
 
pr0cs

pr0cs

Member
The first season was great, I am hopeful that the second season can continue on the same level of quality.
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
Oh YES!

Loved the first season (one of the biggest surprises of last year) and it looks to be build on everything that made the first season such a joy based on the trailer.
 
A

AtomnayaKlubnika

Member
Show is nice, but still too politically correct. Lot of social issues are dealt by the characters with a modern mindset, are not enough dealt by the show, or too lightly. I sincerely doubt of the authenticity this late 50' american society.

Nobody (except the woman who make the registration) has a problem with Virginia, a divorced former singer single mom, not even Masters' wife who even become her friend (I would doubt a wife at this time would not mind such a woman as her husband's secretary, even today it would be quite improbable). Sexism is perceptible in the show, but it is like the structure of society is sexist, but not the people in it.: men are quite liberal, I expected a "I won't be talked like that by a woman". Race issue is also talked about but in the screen that's just unbelievable: I am pretty sure that a wealthy white woman being so unconcerned with a black in her house at this time is totally unrealistic. Homosexualty is the subject I found out being the best dealt with even if there's thing to say especially regaring Scully's wife reaction.

I think the show wants its character to be absolutly likeable for modern audience, that's why they are written as if the show took place nowadays, they are, literally, anachronisms imo. Show should be more honest, I am not asking for a guilty/crying or a MadMen-like TV show but for a drama with a fair historical depiction.

Sex scenes are audacious I think, but that's the standard on cable channel today and the matter of the story. Lizzy talked about her sex scene with Tompkins on Speakeasy few months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxCa7aYMhQM
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Frost_Ace said:
I think it was done pretty tastefully last year, I don't think I need more TBH.
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The show is about the study (and by extension the normalization) of sex - sexual habits/sexual preferences/sexual reactions/sexual parts, and yet the show shies away from depicting any of it in detail. There's a way to depict graphic sex and nudity in a tasteful/artful way (see: Blue is the Warmest Color - not that I'm asking for the show to be that graphic, mind) but the show approaches sex and nudity in a relatively puritanical way.

Remember when Masters tried to show the hospital people the videos he and Virginia made in the season finale? And everyone was all "omg a video of the inside of a vagina! how obscene!" and "medical videos of human sexual response! I'm so offended (even though I'm a doctor/nurse)!"?

It's as though the writers were afraid that the audience of MoS would have had a similar response as those doctors and nurses from the 1950s, so instead of actually taking the risk of offending people by depicting it in a frank manner (like Masters and Johnson did!), they chickened out and decided to make it "tasteful".

Either that or they had no desire to depict it that way in the first place, which is just baffling to me.
 
U

UrbanRats

Member
RatskyWatsky said:
The show is about the study (and by extension the normalization) of sex - sexual habits/sexual preferences/sexual reactions/sexual parts, and yet the show shies away from depicting any of it in detail. There's a way to depict graphic sex and nudity in a tasteful/artful way (see: Blue is the Warmest Color - not that I'm asking for the show to be that graphic, mind) but the show approaches sex and nudity in a relatively puritanical way.
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I'm not sure Blue is the best example for that.
Plenty of people criticized that sex scene for being too "pornographic" in style (as well as hetero oriented).
And aside from that, the whole movie had a very morbid style that would linger on details in an obsessive manner (not saying it's a flaw, btw) from seeing Adele drool on the pillow while sleeping, or the way they show her eat spaghetti for 40 minutes, with close ups on her tomato-ed mouth chomping on.

MoS goes for a completely different pace and style, more traditional, if you will.
Halting the flow of the episode to show a sex scene like the one in Blue would be out of place, in my opinion.

However this:
Remember when Masters tried to show the hospital people the videos he and Virginia made in the season finale? And everyone was all "omg a video of the inside of a vagina! how obscene!" and "medical videos of human sexual response! I'm so offended (even though I'm a doctor/nurse)!"?

It's as though the writers were afraid that the audience of MoS would have had a similar response as those doctors and nurses from the 1950s, so instead of actually taking the risk of offending people by depicting it in a frank manner (like Masters and Johnson did!), they chickened out and decided to make it "tasteful".
Click to expand...

i sort of agree with, it felt somewhat ironically hypocritical to show the prudishness of the doctors, almost implying they weren't afraid of the very same reactions from the audience, had they shown more graphic material.
In a way, i think it's why a series like this is still relevant in this day and age, but it also doesn't have the ambition to push that kind of envelope, and probably why it won't be remembered 10 years from now, i guess.

Anyway, stylistically i repeat, it's very consistent, so it doesn't take me out of the show when i'm watching.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Variety Review:
“Masters of Sex” turned out to be a wonderfully clever act of deception – a period soap opera, set against an organically salacious backdrop. This Showtime drama about the pioneering work of sex researchers Masters & Johnson returns for a second season with all of its charms intact, juggling an assortment of plots built around sexuality, including the inherent lie in how the principals try to characterize their ongoing affair as “research.”
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Also, Emmy nominations from this morning:

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Lizzy Caplan, "Masters of Sex"

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Beau Bridges, "Masters of Sex"

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Allison Janney, "Masters of Sex"
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- Onion A|V Club review
Masters Of Sex has emerged from its slumber with an opening salvo of episodes that quietly and deftly unpack that selfsame performance; as its men are compassionately exposed to be charlatans and liars, its women work around the men, picking up the pieces of discarded costumes.

Grade: A
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J

Jhriad

Member
Is the first season good enough that I should spend $40 to pick up the Blu Ray or should I wait until it's inevitably discounted? Don't have Showtime anymore so that's the only way I'll end up seeing it.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Jhriad said:
Is the first season good enough that I should spend $40 to pick up the Blu Ray or should I wait until it's inevitably discounted? Don't have Showtime anymore so that's the only way I'll end up seeing it.
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It's a very good to great show and well worth watching. That being said, it isn't a show that I'd be concerned with keeping up with everyone else watching it or avoiding spoilers, so I'd watch it whenever you have the time/interest/discount blu-rays. It doesn't sound like you're trying to catch up in time for S2, so there isn't really a rush.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
UrbanRats said:
I'm not sure Blue is the best example for that.
Plenty of people criticized that sex scene for being too "pornographic" in style (as well as hetero oriented).
Click to expand...

Well, right. But there were also plenty of people who thought it was beautiful and artistic and a watershed moment for sex in films. Regardless, no one can deny that it was a boundary pushing scene and I think premium cable should be doing more of that, and not less. Especially in a show called Masters of Sex.

MoS goes for a completely different pace and style, more traditional, if you will.
Halting the flow of the episode to show a sex scene like the one in Blue would be out of place, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I mean, I didn't say they should try to replicate scenes from the movie or anything like that. The sex scenes in MoS should be filmed in a way that fits with the visual style that has already been established, pacing and flow should remain consistent, etc. But I feel like the sex should be shown in a more graphic/frank way.

However this:


i sort of agree with, it felt somewhat ironically hypocritical to show the prudishness of the doctors, almost implying they weren't afraid of the very same reactions from the audience, had they shown more graphic material.
In a way, i think it's why a series like this is still relevant in this day and age, but it also doesn't have the ambition to push that kind of envelope, and probably why it won't be remembered 10 years from now, i guess.
Click to expand...

Agreed on all points.
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
The reason Blue's sex scene is so incredible is it takes the time to depict a near full length encounter, which is fine because it's a three hour long epic. You can't have eight minutes of uninterrupted fucking on TV.
 
S

Sober

Member
I haven't read the book the show is basing itself off of (mostly) but I've been told there were quite a few changes from the book to the show. And that certain points in the book were rather controversial so I don't know who exactly is shying away from it (execs or creatives) or just some other decision. I've also been told the book is rather one-sided, so I'd like to know if the producers/writers/etc. did any extra research around the subject or if they are just adapting it another way to 'balance' the viewpoint of the book it was based on.

RatskyWatsky said:
I mean, I didn't say they should try to replicate scenes from the movie or anything like that. The sex scenes in MoS should be filmed in a way that fits with the visual style that has already been established, pacing and flow should remain consistent, etc. But I feel like the sex should be shown in a more graphic/frank way.
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Granted I haven't watched Blue yet but exactly how much more graphic can you get away with? Like, what is the upper limit exactly that you can show? Like the most genitalia I've seen even on something like HBO is like flaccid penis. Or do you mean more graphic as in it should seem less artsy/passionate and more ... primal, for the lack of a better word?

I'm actually honest about that question. What exactly should they be doing if they're going to do the sex scenes in MoS? There is that obvious contrast that they are trying to study this very cleanly, clinically versus what actually happens. I thought for the most part the scenes they had in S1 were fine, if a little ... subdued? I'm not sure what exactly to say, really.
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
Sober said:
Granted I haven't watched Blue yet but exactly how much more graphic can you get away with? Like, what is the upper limit exactly that you can show?
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HBO have aired full NC17 content, even the original cut of Deep Throat. They could certainly should Blue's sex scene I imagine.
 
U

UrbanRats

Member
RatskyWatsky said:
Well, right. But there were also plenty of people who thought it was beautiful and artistic and a watershed moment for sex in films. Regardless, no one can deny that it was a boundary pushing scene and I think premium cable should be doing more of that, and not less. Especially in a show called Masters of Sex.



I mean, I didn't say they should try to replicate scenes from the movie or anything like that. The sex scenes in MoS should be filmed in a way that fits with the visual style that has already been established, pacing and flow should remain consistent, etc. But I feel like the sex should be shown in a more graphic/frank way.



Agreed on all points.
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Well in principle i agree with you, but stylistically speaking, i don't think the show is too concerned with being realistic or frank, it's quite romanticized, i think, and so in practicality i'm not sure what changes they should do.
What i do know, is that when watching the show, nothing felt particularly off to me.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- USA Today review:
Just when the summer TV landscape was beginning to look a bit bleak, here comes cause for celebration: the return of Sex. And the best news is that this intelligently complex, beautifully shot and performed series comes back in top form, with a perfect match of style to substance that explores Masters' and Johnson's (the equally superb Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan) different reactions to his appearance at her doorstep.
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mr stroke

mr stroke

Member
Great set up for the rest of the season. Best show on TV is finally back.


I don't understand how you guys want more salacious sex scenes? What else is there, out side of penetration and more dicks?
 
I

Ignatz Mouse

Banned
Great opener. I think Apted is the best director the series has.

Ginny though, oh Ginny. I do think less of you for manipulating Bill like that.
 
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