Last year, Showtime's new dramas “Ray Donovan” and “Masters of Sex” each got to air after established hits in “Dexter” and “Homeland,” respectively. This year, they'll have to support each other, as the two will air as a Sunday night bloc starting on July 13, with “Ray Donovan” at 9 and “Masters of Sex” at 10.
I didn't have much use for “Ray Donovan,” either as a glib show about a Hollywood fixer or a more psychologically-fraught look at a violent, damaged family from Boston. “Masters,” on the other hand, was one of my very favorite shows of 2013, and airing in the summer may give it a little more critical sunlight than when it was on opposite so many other notable Sunday shows in the fall.
Showtime's period horror series “Penny Dreadful,” which is debuting in May, will have wrapped up by July 13, and “Homeland” will have a new companion, still to be announced, come fall.