# Masters of Sex (2013)

> Based on real pioneers of human sexuality research, a brilliant but emotionally distant gynecologist and a single working mother redefine intimacy and science in 1950s and 1960s America.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/52716

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 46
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Michelle Ashford
- Network: Showtime
- Cast: Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan, Caitlin FitzGerald, Annaleigh Ashford, Mariel Neto, Nicholas D'Agosto, Isabelle Fuhrman, Teddy Sears
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2137109/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: none
- Tone: witty, intimate, wistful, frank, sharp

## What critics say

Audiences rated the series positively, with strong performances and its frank take on sexuality and romance, though later seasons drew milder reactions.

## Synopsis

Masters of Sex (2013-2016) is a US Showtime period drama series created by Michelle Ashford, based on the real-life pioneers of human sexuality research. Michael Sheen plays brilliant but emotionally guarded researcher William Masters, and Lizzy Caplan plays Virginia Johnson, a single working mother ahead of her time who becomes his partner in a secret study of human intimacy at a midwestern teaching hospital. Supporting performances from Caitlin FitzGerald as Libby Masters, Annaleigh Ashford as Betty DiMello, and Teddy Sears as Austin Langham round out the cast. Across four seasons, the show follows the pair's laboratory observations, clinical interviews, and the professional and personal fallout that follows, while their research unexpectedly pushes them onto magazine covers and television talk show couches. Each episode is built from the friction between scientific detachment and messy private feeling, with marriages strained and loyalties tested. The tone is frank and sharp, with a wistful, intimate melancholy beneath its witty, adult surface. Fans of Mad Men and The Crown will find resonance in its midcentury texture, its sharp period detail, and its portrait of ambitious people held back by their era's silences.

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Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt