‘Masters of Sex’ season 2 joins ‘Ray Donovan’ in summer, will premiere July 13

How is this for a quick turnaround? It was a year ago when “Dexter” saw its time between seasons reduced by about three months, and we’re now seeing the same exact thing when it comes to another series in Showtime’s “Masters of Sex.”

Showtime announced today that beginning on Sunday, July 13, you would see new episodes of both “Ray Donovan” followed by the Michael Sheen – Lizzy Caplan series. So why the move to summer, especially given that “Masters of Sex” has a perfect sort of arthouse feel for the fall? The easy answer to that is pretty simple: Rather than try to launch a new show after a program like “Ray Donovan” that hasn’t really proven itself on its own yet, Showtime wants to make sure that their spot after “Homeland” on Sundays is reserved for a show that really could use the lead-in’s support during the early going.

Basically, this is the same exact reason why we saw “Dexter” moved to the summer last year, as Showtime wanted to create two opportunities to launch new shows with a popular lead-in. But the way that they do it is pretty solid compared to another certain network in AMC. They don’t over-promote any of their shows or force you to sit through them to get exclusive stuff on your established favorites; they just put you in a good place to discover them.

“Masters of Sex” was one of our favorites from 2013, and Showtime is making every effort already to ensure that there is another great product this summer. After all, they recently announced that Betsy Brandt of “Breaking Bad” would be joining the show for a recurring role, playing the part of Masters’ new secretary.