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.

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