The cable drama renewals just keep on coming. A few hours after AMC announced a second season of “Halt and Catch Fire,” and a day after “Rectify” and “The Strain” got renewed, Showtime has ordered third seasons of both “Masters of Sex” and “Ray Donovan.” Both shows will be back next year with 12-episode seasons, and are each halfway through their second seasons.
“Masters” scored five Emmy nominations for its first season, and has already won one (for Allison Janney's brilliant guest work). Lizzy Caplan from “Masters” and Jon Voight from “Ray Donovan” are up for awards on Monday.
Though I had issues with the latest episode of “Masters,” the season overall has had a lot of brilliant moments – including one of the single best hours of TV drama of the year – and I'm glad Showtime is sticking with it even though it's not a super-commercial property. (Ratings have gone up over the course of the season – episode five was up 18 percent over the premiere – which is good to hear.)
I haven't watched “Ray Donovan” season 2 at all, after sticking through all of season 1 in the hopes that all the talent on hand would coalesce into something more than formulaic cable anti-hero schtick. But if there are people who are enjoying season 2 – and/or feel it's notably better (or worse) than season 1 – feel free to discuss in the comments.