Some summer links

[jae]

I dropped the ball on link-posting for most of the summer, but not on link-collecting. So that means a whole load of incoming links!

Arguably most importantly for the continuing presence of the show on North American screens, The Americans won this year's Outstanding Achievement in Drama award in the annual Television Critics Association awards. (The award was even presented by two critics who dressed up as "Clark" and "Jennifer" from the show!)

And not to leave out the Brits, the most important piece of news for the presence of the show on their screens: a deal has been made with ITV Encore to bring the show back to the UK after it was cancelled between seasons two and three.

The show didn't end up getting nominated for any significant Emmys, but there was a bunch of buzz around the possibility over the summer, and some of it is still worth reading and listening to in retrospect (mostly because it's not just about the potential for awards). Here are some links in that vein:

Indiewire interviewed co-showrunners Joel Weisberg and Joe Fields, and Goldderby interviewed Matthew Rhys (Philip) in advance of the Emmy nominations.

If you've got a bit of time to kill, here's critic Todd van der Werff (from Vox) making a case prior to the nominations for why the show actually did have a chance at some Emmy attention this year (audio, starting at around 29:00 and coming back to it around 38:00).

Of course, lots and lots of publications had stuff to say about the Emmy snub. I won't try to link to all of the mentions, but here are three pieces that focused specifically on The Americans: Decider, the New York Post, and Goldderby.

Entertainment magazine Vulture had its own alternate awards in its own categories this year, and The Americans won for best scene, best child actor, most improved show, and best drama.

There have also been a number of pieces about (or partly about) the show this summer that don't focus on awards:

Paul Sonne from the Wall Street Journal: "An ex-Russian spy on the accuracy of The Americans"

Alyssa Rosenberg from the Washington Post: "The economics that explain why more people aren't watching the best show on TV"

Emma Fraser from Flavorwire: "Talking TV underwear: ‘Masters of Sex,’ ‘The Americans,’ and ‘You’re the Worst’ costume designers on working from the inside out"

Kelly Schremph from Bustle: "How many The Americans seasons will there be? This Russian spy thriller could go on indefinitely

Philip Gould from the Providence Journal: "What's American about The Americans?"

Andrea Morabito from the New York Post: "Long live TV's female anti-heroes"

The show also made TIME TV critic Joe Poniewozik's list of the best shows of 2015 so far.

And finally, a new German spy show debuted this summer called "Deutschland 83" that has a lot of the same superficial premises. The co-creators and the star of that show talk about what they know about The Americans.

Comments

[lovingboth]

The ITV channel is only available to people using one satellite service (and I understand that they have to pay more for it...) What I'd love to know is how much it'd cost for someone else to pick up.

I've more chance of seeing the German show.

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Maybe Netflix will pick up series 3 eventually. That would make it more easily available, I hope. But I honestly don't understand what the marketing department of The Americans is doing. They've been so bad at selling this show outside of the US - and even within the US it's not particularly well-known, apparently.

[jae]

FX has a deal with Amazon Prime for The Americans, which is a direct competitor for Netflix. The show will never be on Netflix.

-J

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Um, the show is on Netflix in Sweden at least. But only the first two seasons.

[jae]

Oh, wow, fascinating! That's good to know, anyway. I wonder where else it's available.

In Canada you can't find it on Netflix because of the Amazon Prime deal even though we don't get Amazon Prime. Sigh.

-J

[theplatonicnonyeah]

That's interesting! And perhaps also an explanation as to why it's so hard to find a place to watch outside the US. I know they showed the series on a really obscure TV channel here in Sweden, but probably also only the first two seasons.

Indefinitely

[(Anonymous)]

Hell no, the show cannot go on indefinitely. If the 4th season is good, give it 5th season, then head-shoot. Otherwise 4 seasons is pretty good outcome, ... (As I have recently rewatched all five seasons of The Wire add swearword, you know which).

The bloating is what kills outstanding television. Tell story and move on. The fans will thank you in retrospect. (And they will know that you will do another show.)

Re: Indefinitely

[jae]

I guess I come down in between what the article is advocating and what you are advocating. I have always said that the show has a natural endpoint--but I think that natural endpoint has to be the fall of 1989 (i.e. the beginning of the end of the Soviet era). Pushing it to 1991 would just be boring, because Philip and Elizabeth will have seen the writing on the wall long since by that point, but ending the show before we see how they both grapple with the fall of their country would at least give me a pang. Since we're now in 1983, that means there are arguably another six seasons. ;)

On the other hand, I do take your point. It would be hard to keep up this level of quality for that many years, and they need to be willing to pull the plug as soon as they feel the story has been told.

Also, as for the 'you will do another show' point, in this case it's actually guaranteed, since FX has Joe and Joel on contract to continue their joint work with the network once this show is over. I'm not ready for our show to end yet, but once it does, I will definitely console myself with the fact that we'll be getting something else from that team!

-J