#1734 "Masters of Sex" 4 seasons --- finally got through all of them, by going through renting discs from netflix (some were available from the library, too, but they are not streamable episodes yet). Anyway, this show was recommended to us from friends, but I found out later, they only watched about 2 of the seasons, and we went in for the long haul. First thing that needs to be said: there is quite a bit of nudity, discussions of sex in detail, etc. So this is hugely rated R. Second, as with other shows, it follows the storyline of a book for only maybe one season, and the rest is more an historical fictional account of the major points of Masters and Johnson's relationship and their studies on sex. This was made quite clear, since there was a disclaimer on each of the episodes saying that the children were fictionalized and not based on the true lives of the kids. The positives I have to say about this show? I like the chances it took ---- for example, one whole episode just took place in a motel room. Another went ahead in time, and then went backwards --- so it played with time. I also like how it went back and forth between three, sometimes 4 stories, so that if you didn't like one line of the story, the scenes were short enough to bring you to the next one quite swiftly. In addition, the acting was superb, and the characters and their stories quite intriguing. Special kudos to Allison Janney and Beau Bridges, who played a couple who brought their marital problems to Masters and Johnson, and Janney ended up winning an emmy for her gut- wrenching rendition of a wife spurned by a gay husband. But the character I esp. enjoyed watching episode after episode was Betty, Played by the superb broadway talent Annaleigh Ashford. This character was something else --- hysterically funny, honest, heartwarming and caring --- she has a relationship with the inimitable Sarah Silverman that would break your heart. Most of that is in Season 3. Little Johnny Masters, loosely based on a son of Dr. Masters and his wife Libby, was played by Jaeden Martell (St. Vincent, It, Book of Henry), and we looked forward to seeing him every time he appeared on this show as well. I found the show quite eye-opening, and I came away from it with respect for the work these two people did in the area of sex therapy and sex education. The negatives? The way the show was edited , the camera would move from one scene to the next in the middle of discussions, and I oftentimes wanted them to stay on the one discussion and see where it led to.... as a result, you sometimes didn't know if other parties were privy to the same information the audience was getting from the scene. Another negative is one I have for many of these shows....... the secondary characters usually have better storylines than the leads, because what happens to the leads (in this case Caplan and Sheen) is that they are on one big roller coaster ride to keep us interested in their characters --- their characters did some reprehensible things back and forth, that made it tough to like the two leads. And I find this happens in a lot of the shows these days --- perhaps this would have been better as a miniseries? That being said, Season 1 was the best, followed by the 3rd. But each of the seasons had standout shows, I felt. And you came out experiencing what it was like to live in the times (1950s/1960s) So the moon landing is in the background, Kennedy's assassination, the Viet Nam war, the sexual revolution (which they were a major part of, possibly the biggest leaders of--- I give this series a 4 out of 5, not recommended to everyone because it is quite provocative.
P.S. I was a bit upset that the show never got a chance to finish out. After the last show in Season 4, it was cancelled, so that episode didn't leave everything up in the air, but left some of them unfinished --- like Betty's. And since she was a favorite character, I am still wondering what happened to her, but then I have to remind myself that she was just a character on a show and I shouldn't care so much. Hah! But they should have been allowed to have one last show to finish loose ends up!
"MASTERS OF SEX" 2013-2016, 4 seasons, each episode approximately 55-60 minutes, approximately 9 or 10 shows per season.
Based on the lives and work of human sexuality pioneers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, this drama series explores the researchers' unconventional lifestyles, pop culture relevance and the sexual revolution ignited by their findings.
Creator: Michelle Ashford
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