Lizzy Caplan is one actress, whose career has been a joy to watch through the years – from a sour rebel highschooler on Mean Girls, through a droll caterer on Party Down, through to her hilarious/outrageous/endearing take on a bridesmaid in Bachelorette. Every role Caplan has done has benefited from her trademark wit and snark and now, the actress lends those same qualities to sex researcher Virginia Johnson on Masters of Sex.

The new Showtime series follows researcher William Masters and his assistant, Johnson, as they venture to explore the largely unknown field of human sexuality back in the 1950s – a time when talk of anything vaguely sexual was virtually taboo in most circles. But we know from her previous work that Caplan in particular has no problem with bending and breaking taboos. She has appeared nude in some of her other roles and is, in fact, not even interested in the question of nudity anymore.

Lizzy Caplan, CW, CBS And Showtime Summer TCA Party
Will we see some of that snark show up in Masters?

What’s more interesting about Masters is no doubt the relationship between Johnson and Masters – Masters hired the young mother of two to be his research assistant in St. Louis, only to later begin a relationship, resulting in a 22-year-long marriage. In addition, the show will explore their work in a society which stood firmly against it. Few people living today were around to witness the sex researcher’s work or get to know them personally. However, the show’s authenticity matters to those, who remember the couple.

"They were both quite brilliant and creative people," Ruth Clifford, a clinical psychologist and sex therapist in Los Altos, California, says for USA Today. She worked with them for five years beginning in 1977.

Michael Sheen, CW, CBS and Showtime Summer TCA Party
Expectations are high for Michael Sheen as well.

"I came there after the research they did where they observed people sexually. A lot of the political uproar they endured had settled down by then," she says.

According to Clifford, both had la-rger-than life personalities and each was temperamental in their own way. Masters was very entertaining and socially active, she says, while Johnson had a more calming, easygoing personality. While that doesn’t sound like the Caplan we’ve seen thus far, with such a cast – veteran Michael Sheen stars opposite Lizzy Caplan – the show will no doubt be entertaining, regardless of its realism.


With just four days left, what can we expect from this new Showtime series?