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The third season of Masters of Sex has a disclaimer that ends by telling us

... the children Tessa, Henry, Johnny, and Jenny are fictional.

Thing is, Masters has 3 children in this season. I don't know the name or gender of the third, but there have been several scenes in which it is clearly stated there are 3. I don't think Jenny's name appears anywhere other than this disclaimer, but Johnny is getting a fair bit of screen time. And Johnson also has 3 children this season. Just before the baby is born, her husband tells someone "Lisa if it's a girl, and Scott for a boy" - these being the real names of her real children as opposed to these fictional ones.

But why would the disclaimer only mention 4 of the 6 children they are portraying? You could argue it's because the children are doing actual things (joining the army, working at the clinic, getting bullied, not being good at football) but Jenny isn't doing anything at all and is in the disclaimer, and Lisa is at least getting screen time but isn't in the disclaimer.

So what's going on?

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  • Discussed extensively here
    – user7812
    Commented Nov 21, 2015 at 14:10
  • Hm. Tessa is discussed there. But clearly it was written before Season 3's Lisa was born, since it is busy connecting Tessa with Lisa. Interesting that the article somehow knows/believes the third Masters child is a boy named Howie. Perhaps I missed that somewhere in the first episode. Anyway it doesn't much discuss the disclaimer or the fact that Lisa isn't in it (though I suppose the last part touches on Howie not being in it.) It also clarifies how wrong all the ages are.
    – Kate Gregory
    Commented Nov 21, 2015 at 18:41

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The real life William Masters had 2 children. Howie (featured in the show), and Sarah (who is not featured but may be supplemented for Jenny). Johnny is completely fictitious and is created by the writers, much like Lillian DePaul and Betty.

Real life Virginia Johnson had 2 children, Lisa and Scott as previously mentioned, hence why it would be written in later so there is no character development to perhaps slander or do a disservice to the real people involved as unlike Masters and Johnson they are still very much alive.

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    Hello @Connor, Welcome to Movies & TV; appreciate the well-detailed answer. However, the site is much better served by answers which credit a source; could you back this up with citations? Thanks!
    – freeling10
    Commented Feb 11, 2017 at 11:32

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