'Masters of Sex,' 'Ray Donovan' renewed for season 3

Showtime has renewed its summer drama block: Masters of Sex and Ray Donovan are both coming back for third rounds. The will start production early next year on 12 episodes each. “Both Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex are quintessentially Showtime: bold, provocative, premium television with production values at the top of the food chain,” said Showtime president David Nevins. “These acclaimed shows are filled with complex and interesting characters and settings that will no doubt give audiences compelling television to invest in for seasons to come.”

Both perform solid-ish for the network. Ray Donovan starring Liev Schreiber as an L.A. fixer delivers around 5 million viewers once all forms of viewing are counted, while Masters starring Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as 1950s sex researchers gets about four million. Both also recently hit season highs. Moreover for Showtime, both shows received Emmy nominations this year, with Masters scoring five nods including one for Caplan’s performance, and Donovan being honored for Jon Voight’s performance.