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"The Americans": What critics are saying about new FX spy series
CBSNews ^ | January 30, 2013 | Craig Blankenhorn

Posted on 01/30/2013 4:24:00 PM PST by RC one

FX is set to debut the first episode of its new Cold War-era spy drama, "The Americans," on Wednesday night at 10 p.m. ET.

Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys star in the series as typical suburban parents living near Washington, D.C., towards the start of the Reagan administration. The catch? This seemingly-average couple happen to be a set of Russian spies.

Reviews for the first several episodes of "The Americans" are in and have been, for the most part, fairly flattering towards the series. "The Americans" has been met with praise for balancing tense moments of espionage with the spy couple's everyday marital issues. Further acclaim has been given for the series' depiction of the early 1980s, featuring appropriate clothing, cars, and music of the time. "The Americans" has also garnered favorable comparisons to the hit Emmy-winning Showtime series "Homeland," given its somewhat-similar subject matter.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Society; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: fx; theamericans
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Undercover commies living amongst us, undermining our way of life, working to destroy us....this should be very interesting.
1 posted on 01/30/2013 4:24:08 PM PST by RC one
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To: RC one

Sounds like half the people who watch MSNBC.


2 posted on 01/30/2013 4:30:42 PM PST by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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To: RC one

Leave it to CBS to glorify the enemy.


3 posted on 01/30/2013 4:37:07 PM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: BenLurkin
Leave it to CBS to glorify the enemy.

Eh?

4 posted on 01/30/2013 4:41:19 PM PST by Future Snake Eater (CrossFit.com)
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To: RC one

Some folks are dismissing the show as part of the media love affair with the commies, and it probably is. Still, I could see a practical reason to have the main characters be Russians in the US. If you tried to reverse that, with American sleeper agents in Russia, nobody would want to watch it. We don’t understand or care about Russian culture for the most part, and Soviet Russia would be a pretty drab backdrop for a series.


5 posted on 01/30/2013 4:48:46 PM PST by Boogieman
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To: RC one

“Undercover commies living amongst us, undermining our way of life, working to destroy us....this should be very interesting.”

They’re not undercover anymore, they’ve just simply changed their name and have been re-branded and become “mainstream” Americans. It’s change with no hope.


6 posted on 01/30/2013 4:51:20 PM PST by Stormdog (A rifle transforms one from subject to Citizen)
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To: RC one
Undercover commies living amongst us, undermining our way of life, working to destroy us....this should be very interesting.

Isn't there already a new show on about that called 1600 Penn or something?

7 posted on 01/30/2013 4:56:13 PM PST by llevrok (Unlike Obama, at least Nero could play a fiddle.)
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To: Boogieman; Revolting cat!
Still, I could see a practical reason to have the main characters be Russians in the US. If you tried to reverse that, with American sleeper agents in Russia, nobody would want to watch it.

A program about the coordination between the Reagan Administration, The Vatican, and persons in Poland would make for more interesting fare. And you'd be watching these people under an oppressive dictatorship working covertly to cast off the chains of Communism, ultimately bringing down the Evil Empire. Russia may be drab, but there is something in such a proposed extended ongoing series. Motivational even.

8 posted on 01/30/2013 4:56:53 PM PST by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: RC one
What is my incentive for watching this? I am forced to watch a Communist in the White House every day!

I assume that whenever the series wraps up that, because of Obama, they will show the Russian spies to have been supremely victorious.

9 posted on 01/30/2013 4:57:15 PM PST by Obadiah (We must commit to remove every Senate Blue-dog Democrat from office in 2014!)
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To: RC one

At least these were hard core Soviet commies...not the pantie wearing homos of today.


10 posted on 01/30/2013 4:59:31 PM PST by Vermont Lt (We are so screwed.)
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To: BenLurkin

It’s on FX, not CBS and it remains to be seen if they glorify communism or not. I’ll give it a chance. I doubt it will replace 24 but it holds promise IMO.


11 posted on 01/30/2013 5:05:43 PM PST by RC one (.From My Cold Dead Hands.)
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To: RC one

The previews look good - FX network can produce some good programming, such as The Shield and Justified. I’ve read just about every cold war spy novel published, and my DVR is already set to record.


12 posted on 01/30/2013 5:09:37 PM PST by dainbramaged (Joe McCarthy was right.)
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To: RC one

The series should incorporate the commie living at 1600 Penn Ave.


13 posted on 01/30/2013 5:10:40 PM PST by 21st Century Crusader (August 26, 1191)
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To: 21st Century Crusader

it’s going to incorporate Ronald Wilson Reagan brother.


14 posted on 01/30/2013 5:16:23 PM PST by RC one (.From My Cold Dead Hands.)
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To: a fool in paradise

Well, I think you’re missing the point. They’re not aiming for people who want to watch a serious spy thriller, they are aiming for people who want a soap opera with a little bit of genre laid on top of it, like Mad Men, Walking Dead, etc. That’s what people want to watch, not John Le Carre type stuff.


15 posted on 01/30/2013 7:44:46 PM PST by Boogieman
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To: dainbramaged; Bender2
Did you see "The Americans" on FX tonight? I kind of liked it...

Saw "Amblin Entertainment" credit at the end, so I assume Steven Speilberg had a hand in this production.

16 posted on 01/30/2013 9:00:18 PM PST by nutmeg (FUBO!)
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To: RC one
I meant to ping you to #16...

Did you see it tonight? What did you think?

17 posted on 01/30/2013 9:17:54 PM PST by nutmeg (FUBO!)
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To: nutmeg
I liked it and I'm looking forward to seeing the storyline develop. I'm hoping it can replace 24. Seeing the story through the eyes of the enemy is a bit awkward though. It makes one empathize with them and I would rather just see commie infiltrators getting shot in their heads but then the story would be over I guess.
18 posted on 01/30/2013 9:45:14 PM PST by RC one (.From My Cold Dead Hands.)
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To: Boogieman

I watched it last night and it didn’t appear to glorify the commies at all, not on the pilot at least. One scene showed the husband trying to talk his wife into defecting, saying that life was good over here, not like the lies told to them by KGB, and people didn’t have to stand in line for food. Of course that doesn’t mean the show won’t turn into a Reagan bashing as it progresses.


19 posted on 01/31/2013 7:20:32 AM PST by Rusty0604
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To: RC one
They were trying to be edgy and different and not tell the same story we're used to with familiar heroes and villains, more like Homeland than 24. Once the show gets started you can see what they do with that. Maybe they'll be on the side of the good guys in the end.

That said, I won't be watching. Oral sex, rape, and a lot of running around to no point -- just in the first ten or fifteen minutes. Then we find out that what happened at the beginning will come back to haunt them in a painful and predictable way.

And it has that typical TV series look and feel that the best shows manage to avoid or transcend. Maybe I'll cave in when the video comes out, but based on those first fifteen minutes or so,The Americans doesn't look like it's worth watching.

20 posted on 01/31/2013 3:27:13 PM PST by x
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