List of Masters of Sex episodes

Masters of Sex is an American television drama series developed for television by Michelle Ashford and based on the biography Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love by Thomas Maier. Masters of Sex tells the story of Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), two pioneering researchers of human sexuality at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. The series premiered on September 29, 2013 on Showtime, ^[1] and was cancelled on November 30, 2016 after four seasons. ^[2]

During the course of the series, 46 episodes of Masters of Sex aired, between September 29, 2013, and November 13, 2016.

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	12		September 29, 2013 (2013-09-29)	December 15, 2013 (2013-12-15)
2	12		July 13, 2014 (2014-07-13)	September 28, 2014 (2014-09-28)
3	12		July 12, 2015 (2015-07-12)	September 27, 2015 (2015-09-27)
4	10		September 11, 2016 (2016-09-11)	November 13, 2016 (2016-11-13)

Episodes

Season 1 (2013)

Main article: Masters of Sex season 1

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	US viewers (millions)
1	1	"Pilot"	John Madden	Michelle Ashford	September 29, 2013 (2013-09-29)	0.998 [3]
2	2	"Race to Space"	Michael Dinner	Michelle Ashford	October 6, 2013 (2013-10-06)	1.090 [4]
3	3	"Standard Deviation"	Lawrence Trilling	Sam Shaw	October 13, 2013 (2013-10-13)	1.042 [5]
4	4	"Thank You for Coming"	Jennifer Getzinger	Amy Lippman	October 20, 2013 (2013-10-20)	1.012 [6]
5	5	"Catherine"	Michael Apted	Sam Shaw & Michelle Ashford	October 27, 2013 (2013-10-27)	1.009 [7]
6	6	"Brave New World"	Adam Davidson	Lyn Greene & Richard Levine	November 3, 2013 (2013-11-03)	0.933 [8]
7	7	"All Together Now"	Tim Fywell	Tyler Bensinger	November 10, 2013 (2013-11-10)	1.095 [9]
8	8	"Love and Marriage"	Michael Apted	Story by : Tyler Bensinger Teleplay by : Michael Cunningham	November 17, 2013 (2013-11-17)	1.050 [10]
9	9	"Involuntary"	Jennifer Getzinger	Noelle Valdivia	November 24, 2013 (2013-11-24)	1.128 [11]
10	10	"Fallout"	Lesli Linka Glatter	Sam Shaw	December 1, 2013 (2013-12-01)	1.076 [12]
11	11	"Phallic Victories"	Phil Abraham	Amy Lippman	December 8, 2013 (2013-12-08)	1.234 [13]
12	12	"Manhigh"	Michael Dinner	Michelle Ashford	December 15, 2013 (2013-12-15)	1.207 [14]

Season 2 (2014)

Main article: Masters of Sex season 2

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	US viewers (millions)
13	1	"Parallax"	Michael Apted	Michelle Ashford	July 13, 2014 (2014-07-13)	0.825 [15]
14	2	"Kyrie Eleison"	Michael Apted	David Flebotte	July 20, 2014 (2014-07-20)	0.716 [16]
15	3	"Fight"	Michael Apted	Amy Lippman	July 27, 2014 (2014-07-27)	0.838 [17]
16	4	"Dirty Jobs"	Michael Engler	Steven Levenson	August 3, 2014 (2014-08-03)	0.706 [18]
17	5	"Giants"	Jeremy Webb	Bathsheba Doran	August 10, 2014 (2014-08-10)	0.971 [19]
18	6	"Blackbird"	Keith Gordon	Eileen Myers	August 17, 2014 (2014-08-17)	0.793 [20]
19	7	"Asterion"	Michael Dinner	David Flebotte & Michelle Ashford	August 24, 2014 (2014-08-24)	0.840 [21]
20	8	"Mirror, Mirror"	Michael Apted	Steven Levenson	August 31, 2014 (2014-08-31)	0.726 [22]
21	9	"Story of My Life"	Jeremy Webb	Amy Lippman	September 7, 2014 (2014-09-07)	0.760 [23]
22	10	"Below the Belt"	Adam Arkin	Bathsheba Doran & Eileen Myers	September 14, 2014 (2014-09-14)	0.804 [24]
23	11	"One for the Money, Two for the Show"	Adam Bernstein	Amy Lippman	September 21, 2014 (2014-09-21)	0.714 [25]
24	12	"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"	Adam Arkin	Michelle Ashford	September 28, 2014 (2014-09-28)	0.889 [26]

Season 3 (2015)

Main article: Masters of Sex season 3

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	US viewers (millions)
25	1	"Parliament of Owls"	Jeremy Webb	Michelle Ashford	July 12, 2015 (2015-07-12)	0.583 [27]
26	2	"Three's a Crowd"	Dean Parisot	Amy Lippman	July 19, 2015 (2015-07-19)	0.535 [28]
27	3	"The Excitement of Release"	Miguel Sapochnik	Steven Levenson	July 26, 2015 (2015-07-26)	0.509 [29]
28	4	"Undue Influence"	Christopher Manley	Gina Fattore	August 2, 2015 (2015-08-02)	0.585 [30]
29	5	"Matters of Gravity"	Adam Arkin	Esta Spalding	August 9, 2015 (2015-08-09)	0.552 [31]
30	6	"Two Scents"	Michael Weaver	David Flebotte	August 16, 2015 (2015-08-16)	0.734 [32]
31	7	"Monkey Business"	Adam Arkin	Michelle Ashford & David Flebotte	August 23, 2015 (2015-08-23)	0.643 [33]
32	8	"Surrogates"	Matt Earl Beesley	Steven Levenson	August 30, 2015 (2015-08-30)	0.688 [34]
33	9	"High Anxiety"	Dan Attias	Jonathan Igla	September 6, 2015 (2015-09-06)	0.562 [35]
34	10	"Through a Glass, Darkly"	Jeremy Webb	Steven Levenson & Esta Spalding	September 13, 2015 (2015-09-13)	0.601 [36]
35	11	"Party of Four"	Susanna White	Amy Lippman	September 20, 2015 (2015-09-20)	0.548 [37]
36	12	"Full Ten Count"	Michael Apted	Michelle Ashford	September 27, 2015 (2015-09-27)	0.605 [38]

Season 4 (2016)

Main article: Masters of Sex season 4

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	US viewers (millions)
37	1	"Freefall"	Colin Bucksey	Michelle Ashford	September 2, 2016 (2016-09-02)(online) September 11, 2016 (2016-09-11)(Showtime)	0.518 [39]
38	2	"Inventory"	Jeremy Webb	Steven Levenson	September 18, 2016 (2016-09-18)	0.420 [40]
39	3	"The Pleasure Protocol"	Adam Arkin	Ellen Fairey	September 25, 2016 (2016-09-25)	0.422 [41]
40	4	"Coats or Keys"	Colin Bucksey	Amy Lippman	October 2, 2016 (2016-10-02)	0.525 [42]
41	5	"Outliers"	Eric Galileo Tignini	Esta Spalding	October 9, 2016 (2016-10-09)	0.341 [43]
42	6	"Family Only"	Colin Bucksey	Seth Fisher	October 16, 2016 (2016-10-16)	0.506 [44]
43	7	"In To Me You See"	Michael Apted	Matthew-Lee Erlbach	October 23, 2016 (2016-10-23)	0.486 [45]
44	8	"Topeka"	Julie Anne Robinson	Esta Spalding	October 30, 2016 (2016-10-30)	0.393 [46]
45	9	"Night and Day"	Karyn Kusama	Steven Levenson	November 6, 2016 (2016-11-06)	0.463 [47]
46	10	"The Eyes of God"	Michael Apted	Michelle Ashford	November 13, 2016 (2016-11-13)	0.457 [48]

Ratings

Masters of Sex : U.S. viewers per episode (thousands)

Season		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	1	998	1090	1042	1012	1009	933	1095	1050	1128	1076	1234	1207
	2	825	716	838	706	971	793	840	726	760	804	714	889
	3	583	535	509	585	552	734	643	688	562	601	548	605
	4	518	420	422	525	341	506	486	393	463	457	–

Audience measurement performed by Nielsen Media Research ^[49]

References

1. Seidman, Robert (January 12, 2013). "Showtime Announces Premiere Dates for 'Nurse Jackie,' 'Dexter' (Returning Early) 'Ray Donovan,' 'Homeland,' 'Masters of Sex' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
2. Gelman, Vlada (November 30, 2016). "Masters of Sex Is Done at Showtime". TVLine. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
3. Bibel, Sara (October 1, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'Breaking Bad' Wins Big, 'Talking Bad', 'Homeland', 'Boardwalk Empire','Masters of Sex' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 24, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
4. Kondolojy, Amanda (October 8, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' & 'Thursday Night Football: Special Edition' Tie for Lead + 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
5. Bibel, Sara (October 15, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Wins Night, 'Talking Dead', 'Witches of East End', 'Homeland, 'Boardwalk Empire' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 18, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
6. @sonofthebronx (October 23, 2013). "@tvseriesfinale #MastersofSex 10/20/13 1.012M viewers, 0.3 A18-49" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. Bibel, Sara (October 29, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Wins Night, 'Talking Dead', 'Homeland', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'Witches of East End' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
8. @sonofthebronx (November 7, 2013). "#MastersofSex from 11/3/13: 933K total viewers, 0.3 A18-49 @tvseriesfinale" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. Bibel, Sara (November 12, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Wins Night, 'Talking Dead', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'Homeland', 'Killing Kennedy' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
10. Kondolojy, Amanda (November 19, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Wins Night + 'Talking Dead', 'Real Housewives of Atlanta', NASCAR & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 22, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
11. Bibel, Sara (November 26, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Wins Night, 'Talking Dead', 'Homeland', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'Witches of East End' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 28, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
12. Kondolojy, Amanda (December 4, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Wins Night, + 'Talking Dead', 'Soul Train Awards', 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
13. Bibel, Sara (December 10, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' & 'Bonnie & Clyde' Win Night, 'Naked and Afraid', 'Shahs of Sunset', 'Homeland' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
14. "Sunday's Cable Ratings & Broadcast Finals: Another Week, Another NFL Victory". The Futon Critic. December 18, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
15. Patten, Dominic (July 15, 2014). "Showtime's 'Ray Donovan' Dips & 'Masters Of Sex' Down In Season 2 Debuts". Deadline. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
16. Kissell, Rick (July 23, 2014). "Fox Goes Deep With All-Star Game, Wins Week in Demos; TNT Cable's Scripted Leader". Variety. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
17. Kissell, Rick (July 30, 2014). "'America's Got Talent' Still Ruling Summer Ratings as NBC Wins Week in Demos". Variety. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
18. Kissell, Rick (August 6, 2014). "NFL, Hot Reality Shows Keep NBC On Top of Weekly Ratings". Variety. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
19. Kissell, Rick (August 13, 2014). "CBS' 'Big Brother' Tops Weekly Ratings — At Least For Now". Variety. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
20. Metcalf, Mitch (August 19, 2014). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 25 Sunday Cable Originals - 8/17/14". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
21. Metcalf, Mitch (August 26, 2014). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Saturday Cable Originals and Top 25 Sunday Cable Originals: 8.24.2014". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
22. Metcalf, Mitch (September 3, 2014). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 25 Sunday Cable Originals: 8.31.2014". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
23. Metcalf, Mitch (September 9, 2014). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 25 Sunday Cable Originals: 9.7.2014 (and Saturday 9.6.2014)". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
24. Metcalf, Mitch (September 16, 2014). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 25 Sunday Cable Originals: 9.14.2014". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 17, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
25. Metcalf, Mitch (September 23, 2014). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 25 Sunday Cable Originals: 9.21.2014". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 25, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
26. Metcalf, Mitch (September 30, 2014). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 25 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 9.28.2014". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
27. Metcalf, Mitch (July 14, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 7.12.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 14, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
28. Metcalf, Mitch (July 21, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 7.19.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
29. Metcalf, Mitch (July 28, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 7.26.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 30, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
30. Metcalf, Mitch (August 4, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 8.2.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 6, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
31. Metcalf, Mitch (August 11, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 8.9.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
32. Metcalf, Mitch (August 18, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 8.16.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
33. Metcalf, Mitch (August 25, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 8.23.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 26, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
34. Metcalf, Mitch (September 1, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 8.30.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 1, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
35. Metcalf, Mitch (September 9, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 9.6.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
36. Metcalf, Mitch (September 15, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 9.13.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 17, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
37. Metcalf, Mitch (September 22, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 9.20.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
38. Metcalf, Mitch (September 29, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 9.27.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
39. Metcalf, Mitch (September 13, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.11.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
40. Metcalf, Mitch (September 20, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.18.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
41. Metcalf, Mitch (September 27, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.25.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 28, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
42. Metcalf, Mitch (October 4, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.2.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on October 4, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
43. Metcalf, Mitch (October 11, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.9.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
44. Metcalf, Mitch (October 18, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.16.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
45. Metcalf, Mitch (October 25, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.23.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
46. Metcalf, Mitch (November 1, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.30.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on November 2, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
47. Metcalf, Mitch (November 8, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 11.6.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
48. Metcalf, Mitch (November 15, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 11.13.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
49. For the first season, see "Masters of Sex: Season One Ratings". TV Series Finale. December 17, 2013. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

    ---

    For the second season, see "Masters of Sex: Season Two Ratings". TV Series Finale. September 30, 2014. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

    ---

    For the third season, see "Masters of Sex: Season Three Ratings". TV Series Finale. September 29, 2015. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

    ---

    For the fourth season, see "Masters of Sex: Season Four Ratings". TV Series Finale. November 30, 2016. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

External links

• Masters of Sex at IMDb