Graham Yost Previews The New FX Series THE AMERICANS

FX debuts its newest drama, THE AMERICANS, tonight, and while on the surface the series a drama about KGB operatives going undercover to live the American dream during the Cold War, very quickly it becomes apparent this show isn’t just about espionage.

“It became clear this was not just a show about KGB spies in 1981, it was also a story about a marriage,” THE AMERICANS executive producer Graham Yost recently told reporters. “And it’s interesting, because the set-up is you have an arranged marriage: [Phillip (Matthew Rhys) and Keri Russell (Elizabeth) were] put together, they’ve never known each other before they went to training for KGB back in the early ’60s. And they were sent to America and had to pose as a married couple…[in the pilot] you realize they’ve been married for this long, they have teenaged kids, running a traveling agency…doing all these dangerous mission. And you really see the beginning of them start to fall in love. And so it’s the story of a marriage, of two people who have been married for 15 years, and now they’re actually coming together. And it’s espionage, and it’s kick-ass fights, and it’s Keri Russell driving a guy’s head into a wall and all that kind of fun stuff…But the season is about the marriage and the ups and downs and the roller coaster. Doing what they do, they have to not only romance potential agents, but they have to have sex with them. And yet they go home [to each other].

And while the real-life outcome of the Cold War isn’t a secret, Yost is hopeful the other components of the series will keep viewers guessing.

“[FX president] John Landgraf said something I thought perfectly sums it up: we know who won the Cold War,” Yost said. “We don’t know if Phillip and Elizabeth will survive. And that’s the story of the series. Will the marriage survive, will the children survive, will they actually not be killed?”

Danger is ever present for the duo, who kick off the season’s major arc in next week’s episode.

“There’s an arc for the season and it comes in in the second episode,” Yost teased. “They are tasked with putting a bug in the den of Caspar Weinberger, the Secretary of Defense. And there’s information that comes out of that that threatens the Soviet Union..Star Wars becomes something that is very critical to the season.”

THE AMERICANS series premiere airs tonight on FX at 10 PM. Will you be tuning in?

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And to be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/givememyremotetv