The Americans is an American period drama television series created by Joe Weisberg and set during the Cold War of the 1980s which revolves around the complex marriage of two KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban Washington D.C. (Falls Church, Virginia) shortly after Ronald Reagan is elected President.
The series was inspired by the real life events of the Illegals Program, in which a network of Russian spies was exposed in the USA in 2010.
The arranged marriage of Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell), who have two children - 13-year-old Paige (Holly Taylor) and 10-year-old Henry (Keidrich Sellati), who know nothing about their parents' true identity - grows more passionate and genuine by the day.
However, their relationship 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 spies and informants under their control.
Complicating their relationship further is Philip's growing sense of affinity for America's values and way of life. Tensions also heighten upon the arrival of a new neighbour, Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), an FBI agent.
Stan and his partner, Agent Chris Amador (Maximiliano Hernández), are members of a new division of Counterintelligence tasked with fighting against foreign agents on U.S. soil, including KGB Directorate S illegals, Russian spies posing as Americans.
Created and executive produced by Joe Weisberg (Falling Skies), a former CIA agent who went on to become an accomplished author, The Americans is produced by Fox Television Studios and FX Productions.
Joel Fields and Graham Yost are also executive producers, along with Amblin Television heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank.