FX Orders 1980s Spy Drama 'The Americans' to Pilot

1:00 PM PST 12/16/2011 by Lacey Rose

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Michael Becker/FOX

Graham Yost

The project, created by CIA employee-turned-writer Joe Weisberg, counts "Justified's" Graham Yost as an executive producer.

FX is moving ahead with The Americans.

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The male-skewing cable network has given a pilot order to the KGB spy drama set in suburban Washington D.C. the early 1980s. The project, created by Joe Weisberg (Falling Skies, Damages), centers on the arranged marriage of Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings, who have two children who know nothing about their parents’ true identity.

Their relationship grows more passionate and genuine by the day, but is constantly tested by the escalation of the Cold War and the intimate, dangerous and darkly funny relationships they must maintain with a network of informants and spies under their control. Complicating it further is Phillip’s growing sense of affinity for the American way of life.

“Joe Weisberg has written one of the best pilot scripts we have ever read with two richly drawn and indelible characters embarking on an epically exciting, emotional, and morally complex journey,” said FX's EVP original programming Nick Grad.

Weisberg, who at one point worked for the CIA, will serve as an executive producer on the project, alongside Justified showrunner Graham Yost. DreamWorks Television along with its TV co-presidents Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank will also get an EP credit on the drama, which is being jointly produced by Fox Television Studios and FX Productions.

Americans will join pilot Powers in FX's development coffers. Though many expected a series decision on the Sony-produced project last month, the network commissioned a reshoot intead. FTVS' Outlaw Country, which had gone through a similar network-imposed retooling months earlier, was ultimately passed on in November.

The news comes just a day after FX announced it had inked a deal with Russell Brand to front a six episode late-night series. It caps off a busy year for the network, which recently acquired Lionsgate's Charlie Sheen sitcom, Anger Management, to air this summer.

Weisberg and Yost are repped by CAA; DreamWorks TV is repped by WME.

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