Laugh all you’d like, but I was a fan of Keri Russell’s Felicity. A lot of folks forget that it was J.J. Abrams’ first show, that Donald Faison was awesome in it before he was awesome in Scrubs, and that it launched the career of Jennifer Garner. In fact, Garner — who was briefly married to her Felicity co-star Scott Foley (who was great in The Unit) — was cast in Alias, a show that Abrams designed to be Felicity with spies.
FX is bringing it full circle with The Americans, a show in which Felicity herself will play a spy.
Keri Russell has been cast, along with Matthew Rhys and Noah Emmerich, in The Americans, a Cold-War spy drama set in the 80s. Here’s the synopsis, according to Deadline:
Created by Joe Weisberg, The Americans is a period drama about the complex marriage of two KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban Washington DC shortly after Ronald Reagan is elected President. The arranged marriage of Phillip (Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Russell), who have two children who know nothing about their parents true identity, 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 spies and informants under their control. Complicating their relationship further is Phillip’s growing sense of affinity for America’s values and way of life. Tensions also heighten upon the arrival of a new neighbor, Stan (Emmerich), an FBI agent working in counter intelligence.
So, Mr. and Mrs. Smith plus True Lies with a reverse Homeland twist. I like the idea, and it’ll likely make a nice companion to Justified. It’s not the first time that Keri Russell has held a gun, either: She was solid in a small role in J.J. Abrams’ Mission Impossible III. Plus, maybe they can bring in Dave from Happy Endings to play Russell’s hair.
Production begins soon on the show, with an expectation to air it in early 2013.
