FX's Spy Drama 'The Americans' Sets Premiere Date

7:22 AM PST 12/4/2012 by Lacey Rose

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The KGB spy drama starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys will join a crowded January slate that includes the return of "Archer," "Anger Management" and "Justified."

The Americans

Joining the rash of series set to bow in January is FX's Cold War spy drama The Americans.

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The News Corp.-owned network has slated the hourlong effort to premiere Wednesday, Jan. 30, where it will occupy the cable-friendly 10 p.m. slot. The news comes just days after FX firmed up its Thursday night lineup, which includes the return of Charlie Sheen's Anger Management and animated series Archer as well as the Jan. 17 debut of the comedy Legit. Justified is set to return for its fourth season Tuesday, Jan. 8.

The Americans, which was granted a 13-episode series order in August, centers on the complicated marriage of two KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban D.C. shortly after Ronald Reagan is elected president. The arranged marriage of Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell), who have two children who know nothing about their parents’ true identity, grows more passionate and genuine by the day.

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They are constantly tested, however, by the escalation of the Cold War and the dangerous and darkly funny relationships they must maintain with a network of informants and spies under their control. Complicating matters is Phillip's growing sense of affinity for the American way of life. Tension mounts, too, with the arrival of a new neighbor, Stan (Noah Emmerich), an FBI agent working in a counterintelligence division focused on foreign agents on U.S. soil, including Russian spies posing as Americans.

The Americans is created and executive produced by Falling Skies' Joe Weisberg, a former CIA agent and accomplished author. DreamWorks Television co-presidents Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, who initially approached Weisberg in summer 2010 about writing a piece set in the final days of the Cold War, will serve as executive producers alongside Joel Fields and Graham Yost on the drama, which is being jointly produced by Fox TV Studios and FX Productions.

Email: Lacey.Rose@THR.com; Twitter: @LaceyVRose