The Americans TV series on FX. Pictured (l-r) Matthew Rhys as Philip Jennings, Frank Langella as Gabriel, and Marceline Hugot as Theresa. CR: Eric Liebowitz/FX.

The Americans TV show on FX has been renewed for a fifth and sixth season. FX announced the renewal and the end of the series. The Americans TV series has not been cancelled in the traditional sense. The announced ending comes from a creative decision to complete the story. The Cold War era spy-drama stars Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Alison Wright, and Holly Taylor.

It is no surprise that FX has renewed The Americans. Last month, we reported that EP Joel Fields tweeted a photo of the writers’ room, all set up for the next season. The Americans season four, episode 11, “Dinner for Seven,” (pictured above) airs tonight at 10:00pm. The fourth season finale is set for Wednesday, June 8, on FX.

Still, it does not come as a shock that The Americans will soon go the way of the Berlin Wall. In March, showrunners Joe Weisberg and Fields said FX told them the decision on when to end the show will be a creative one, not a business one. At that time, the pair thought The Americans would run for five or six seasons.

FX has ordered 13 episodes of The Americans, for season five, and 10 episodes for the sixth and final season. In tonight’s episode, “Dinner for Seven,” FX says, “Elizabeth completes the last steps of a very personal operation… but at what cost? Written by Joshua Brand; directed by Nicole Kassell.”

Get the details on The Americans renewal, from this FX press release.

THE AMERICANS PICKED UP FOR FINAL TWO SEASONS

May 24, 2016 11:13 PM

Acclaimed and Award-Winning Drama to Air 13-Episode Fifth Season in 2017 Followed by 10-Episode Sixth and Final Season in 2018

Three All-New Episodes Remain This Season; Season Four Finale Airs on Wednesday June 8 at 10 PM ET/PT on FX

FX Productions Also Closes New Overall Deals With Executive Producers Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields to Develop Their Next Series

LOS ANGELES, May 25, 2016 – The Americans, the most critically acclaimed series on television, will conclude its extraordinary series run on FX with two more seasons, it was announced today by Eric Schrier and Nick Grad, Presidents of Original Programming for FX Networks and FX Productions. A 13-episode fifth season will air in 2017, followed by a 10-episode sixth and final season in 2018. Three episodes remain in the current season, with the season four finale scheduled for Wednesday June 8 at 10 PM ET/PT on FX.

“Through its first four seasons, critics have lauded The Americans as one of the best shows on television and, remarkably, a series that keeps getting better every year,” said Schrier. “All credit for that achievement goes to everyone who has worked on the show, and especially Co-Showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, Graham Yost, our brilliant stars Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Alison Wright, Holly Taylor, Annet Mahendru and the ensemble cast for their incomparable performances every season. We have no doubt that this two-season order will allow Joe and Joel to tell this story to its perfect conclusion. On behalf of our producing partners at Fox 21 Television Studios and Amblin TV, we look forward to a brilliant final act of the Jennings family saga.”

Season 4 of The Americans currently ranks as the most critically-acclaimed series of 2016 on Metacritic with a score of 95.

Fox 21 Television Studios President Bert Salke added, “I echo the sentiments of our friends at FX in congratulating Joe, Joel and everyone at The Americans on creating one of the most critically acclaimed, thought provoking and spectacularly acted television shows ever to be broadcast. It remains our privilege to partner with FX Productions on this series, and while we are already mourning the eventual end, we are grateful to FX for this generous two-season pickup that enables the show to go out on its own terms and gives the creators time to craft a final stretch as satisfying as the show itself.”

FX Productions has also closed new overall deals with The Americans Co-Showrunners and Executive Producers Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields to develop their next series.

“It’s hard to believe we’re heading into the final stretch on The Americans, and we’re so grateful to know we’ll be telling the story to its conclusion,” said Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, Executive Producers of the show. “The best part of the last four years has been the intensive and fruitful collaboration with all of the people who make this show – the teams at FX, Fox 21 Television Studios, FX Productions and Amblin, our amazing cast, crew, and production team and our fellow writers. It’s a lot of people putting their hearts and souls into The Americans, at this point for a lot of years. We’re looking forward to the final two.”

The Americans has won numerous awards, including Outstanding Achievement in Drama from the Television Critics Association Awards (2015), Best Drama Series from the Critics’ Choice Television Awards (2015), a 2015 Primetime Emmy® Award (Margo Martindale, Guest Actress in a Drama Series) and a Peabody Award (2015). The series also received AFI Awards for TV Program of the Year in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The next all-new episode of The Americans will air tonight, Wednesday, May 25 at 10:00pm – 11:02pm ET/PT on FX: Episode 11 – “Dinner for Seven” – Elizabeth completes the last steps of a very personal operation… but at what cost? Written by Joshua Brand; directed by Nicole Kassell.

The Americans was created by Joe Weisberg who, along with Joel Fields, serves as an Executive Producer and Writer. Graham Yost, Chris Long and Stephen Schiff are also Executive Producers, along with Amblin Television heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, and Joshua Brand is Consulting Producer. The Americans is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions.

The Americans is a period drama about the complex marriage of two KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban Washington D.C. during the Reagan administration. The arranged marriage of Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) grows more passionate and genuine by the day, but as the pressures and demands of the job grow heavier, the personal toll becomes almost too exhausting to bear. Having revealed their true identities to their teenage daughter Paige (Holly Taylor), Philip and Elizabeth must keep her best interests at heart while ensuring that their cover identities, and thus their lives, remain protected. Their previous missions have already placed Philip and Elizabeth in great jeopardy. Martha (Alison Wright), a valued secretary at the FBI whom Philip married while undercover, has been an invaluable source of intel. However, when her cover is nearly blown, Philip must make increasingly difficult decisions to ensure her safety and allegiance. The Jennings’ neighbor, FBI Agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), could also prove to be a renewed threat. His KGB lover/asset Nina (Annet Mahendru), having failed to turn him against the U.S., was sent back to Moscow to face an unsure fate. With Nina gone, Stan has made an effort to become closer with his family, and has formed a bond with the Jennings’ 12-year-old son, Henry (Keidrich Sellati). He has also cultivated his relationship with KGB officer Oleg Burov (Costa Ronin), behind the back of Oleg’s boss, Director of the KGB Rezidentura Arkady Ivanovich (Lev Gorn). Stan’s newfound dedication to wiping out Directorate S has also led him to become suspicious of Martha’s uncharacteristic behavior. As he begins to investigate what’s been in front of him all this time, he might finally get closer to uncovering the “Illegals” – Philip and Elizabeth – that have eluded him for so long.

The Americans continues to be hailed as one of the best dramas on television, including this small sampling of recent press reviews:

§ “[Television Academy] You need to nominate The Americans on FX for best drama…. There is no gray area here. There is no mystery. There are no secondary options. One of the nominees for best drama must be The Americans, unconditionally…. The Americans is the best drama on television. Not one of the best. The best…. This fourth season is astounding…. The Americans has never been more compelling or essential; the writing and acting and pacing are unparalleled right now. If, as a series, that’s not rewarded, you’re not paying attention…. in this Platinum Age of Television, right now the leader in the clubhouse is The Americans….[Television Academy] If you don’t nominate The Americans for best drama, all is lost” – Tim Goodman, The Hollywood Reporter

§ “gold-standard Emmy contender” – Robert Bianco, USA Today

§ “the Best Show on Television” – Gazelle Emami and Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture

§ “Yes, The Americans is still the best drama on television” – Alyssa Rosenberg, The Washington Post

§ “There is nothing that is the equal of The Americans on TV screens now, discriminating minds behind the Emmy Awards notwithstanding” – Dorothy Rabinowitz, The Wall Street Journal

§ “thrilling…the emotional danger makes it irresistible” – James Poniewozik, The New York Times

§ “It’s long been in the top tier of TV dramas, and this year, it looks set to stay there” – Maureen Ryan, Variety

§ “TV’s Best Drama Just Got Better….the greatest drama around” – Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone

§ “the best drama on television…. an exceptional case in today’s TV landscape” – Jessica Goldstein, Esquire

§ “one of the very best shows on TV” – Alan Sepinwall, Hitfix

§ “Rating: Five out of Five ‘V’s….still the best-kept secret on TV…. The Americans is increasingly the consensus ‘best show on TV’” – Todd VanDerWerff, Vox

ABOUT FX

FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable channel of FX Networks, a business unit of 21ST Century Fox. FX Networks is comprised of FX, FXM and FXX. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in 92 million homes. The diverse schedule features a growing roster of critically-acclaimed and award-winning hit dramas series, including The Americans, The Strain, Tyrant and the upcoming Taboo; the critically-acclaimed limited series American Horror Story, Fargo, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and the upcoming Trust and Feud; acclaimed hit comedy series including the award-winning Louie, Archer, Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, Baskets and the upcoming Better Things and Atlanta. FX is the former home of the critically-acclaimed and award-winning hit drama series The Shield, Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me, Damages, Sons of Anarchy and Justified. The network’s library of acquired box-office hit movies is unmatched by any ad-supported television network. FX’s roster of acquired hit series includes Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother and Mike & Molly.

ABOUT FX PRODUCTIONS

FX Productions (FXP) produces FX’s acclaimed hit drama series The Strain; the upcoming limited series Trust; the comedy series Louie, Archer and Baskets, and the upcoming Better Things and Atlanta, and the FXX comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, You’re the Worst and Man Seeking Woman. FXP co-produces the drama series The Americans, Tyrant and the upcoming Taboo; the limited series Fargo and American Crime Story; and the comedy series Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll.

ABOUT FOX 21 TELEVISION STUDIOS

Fox 21 Television Studios is a production unit housed within Fox Television Group devoted to making creatively ambitious scripted and unscripted series for all distribution platforms. Fox 21 Television Studios is responsible for the sensation from Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson “The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (with FX Productions), the Emmy and Golden Globe winning “Homeland,” starring Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin, the critically acclaimed “The Americans” (with FX Productions) starring Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, Brannon Braga and Adam Simon’s “Salem,” “Dice,” from Scot Armstrong, Sean Furst, Bryan Furst, Richard Shepard, Bruce Rubenstein and Andrew Dice Clay, and Howard Gordon’s “Tyrant.” New series include Fox 21 TVS’, “Queen of the South,” from M.A. Fortin, Joshua John Miller, David T. Friendly and Pancho Mansfield, “Chance” from Kem Nunn, Alexandra Cunningham, Lenny Abrahamson, Michael London, and Brian Grazer, “Genius” (with Imagine, OddLot Entertainment and EUE/Sokolow) from Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Gigi Prtizker, Rachel Shane, Sam Sokolow, Jeff Cooney and Noah Pink, and Ryan Murphy’s latest anthology, “Feud,” Oscar winners starring Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon.

What do you think? Do you think ending The Americans TV show after six seasons is the right call, or would you have like to see it run longer?