Season 5


Any news for a new season?

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Not yet. How are the ratings?



If I don't reply, you're probably on my ignore list for something I forgot already

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The ratings are actually quite bad and keep dropping every season. I think that Masters of Sex is currently one of the lowest rated if not the lowest rated scripted series on Showtime. I personally love the show and would very much like to see it continue for at least one more final season, but its future prospects unfortunately don't look very bright. The shortening of S4 already seems telling in regards to the show's renewal chances... What makes things worse is the fact that the show doesn't even enjoy the sort of critical acclaim and awards recognition like in the beginning, it just exists under the radar now, both in terms of viewership numbers and critical acclaim. So that's one less reason for Showtime to keep it around. But one can still hope...

Here are the ratings for all the episodes:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Masters_of_Sex_episodes

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While the ratings are low, Masters of Sex is Showtime's third most popular show on social media, so it does have a large following. Even if they don't tune in on Sunday night to watch it, Masters of Sex probably gets a large viewing on demand and on Showtime Anytime.

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I wouldn't be surprised if the show had a passionate fanbase. The discussions on this board aren't very lively, however the show itself certainly seems like that type of beloved niche series with a relatively small but dedicated and active following. But if the popularity on social media in the form of tweets and likes and comments etc. doesn't translate into anything tangible that brings Showtime some revenue or prestige, then it doesn't mean much. There were many other similar niche shows in the past, some of which I count among my favorites, that ended up being canceled due to low ratings... And part of them were probably even much cheaper to produce than Masters of Sex with its period setting.

It would be interesting to know how many people watch the show across various alternate platforms. Maybe in fact quite a few do and that would be great, but from my observations, it seems that the opposite is true. At best, people heard of the show and are interested to check it out, but due to their limited time and a long list of other would-like-to-watch shows, they never get to it. Instead, they watch other things which are more visible in terms of publicity, acclaim and word of mouth.

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I have a feeling the 5th year will be the last.

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Season 4 is amazing. Better then ever. I don't know what changed but it's working. I'm hooked

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Showtime has a long leash on its shows.. Ratings are meaningless for premium channels because of how people watch the shows. This season has been terrific.. Hope we get another season to complete the show...

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Agreed, at least another season, maybe two.

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I do hope for a season 5 but not if they are gonna break up. I certainly couldn't handle that outcome

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Me either. I enjoy MoS

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Tell that to Cameron Crowe 😅



If I don't reply, you're probably on my ignore list for something I forgot already

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That holds true only to a certain degree... This quote sums it up perfectly:

Since Showtime is a pay-for-view cable channel, the execs aren’t tied to the ratings like regular commercial channels. However, they still have to run programs that will keep viewers subscribed.

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/showtime-tv-show-ratings-33448/

Even premium channels don't keep around shows with bad ratings... not unless they are beloved by the critics... or have potential for future growth... or the TV doesn't have anything solid at hand to replace them with... or some of the high ranking execs really love them...

And as can be seen in the link from which the above quote is taken from, among all the other series on Showtime, Masters of Sex is clearly at the bottom of the rating food chain... So we can only cross our fingers that show has something else going for it that will earn them a fifth season.

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The news outlets indicate that the show has not been renewed -- yet. That could change. Bill and Gini were married for twenty years before he finally decided to divorce her and marry his Dody. (Note this is not a spoiler, but actually fact based.)

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BTW, in September, the show's creator Michelle Ashford confirmed in an interview that the production team wants to do 5 or 6 seasons in total...

AX: You’re on Season Four. There has been talk of five seasons total and six seasons total. Do you know if you want five seasons versus six seasons, do you have the rest of your seasons mapped out …?

ASHFORD: We certainly would not go more than six, for sure. So yeah, about five or six. We’ll finish our story either in one [more] season or two.

https://www.assignmentx.com/2016/masters-of-sex-creator-michelle-ashford-on-season-4-and-beyond-exclusive-interview/

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well, now that the show was in fact canceled, i wonder if it might be picked up by one of the video streaming web sites (as happened with a couple of shows in recent years).
somehow i doubt it, but i hope to be surprised.

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There was so much to wrap up . . . Betty, the baby and Austin . . . Virginia calling the press and the fallout from that . . . Dodie's presence affecting the future of Bill and Virginia . . . and didn't everyone think that Lisa would be revealed to be Bill's child? They could have easily done one more 10 episode season to wrap all of this up. So disappointed in this show ending.

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