Category Archives: Watching The Americans

WTA 72- Kelly AuCoin Interview!

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It’s time! Time for the return of The Americans, and that means time for our friend Kelly AuCoin to officially ring in Season 5 with us! Kelly joins us via satellite from NYC and lets us know all about his latest projects, and then he deftly dodges all our questions about what to expect for Pastor Tim and Alice this season! Plus he takes on your questions too!

We love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please send them to us! You can email text or audio feedback to watchingtheamericans@gmail.com or signal us (we have replaced the operator!) at 919-907-0542. Follow us on Twitter @WatchAmericans. Please like us on our Facebook page Watching The Americans. And if you do enjoy the show, kindly rate us or better yet rate and review us in iTunes!

WTA 71- Season 5 Precap with Alternakat!

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It’s less than a week away – Season 5 of The Americans! After breaking down the episodes from Season 4, it’s time to pull out our crystal ball and precap what could be coming this year! And who better to join our speculations and discussion than our good friend Kathleen, aka Alternakat! We dig deep into all our characters, advance crackpot theories, and get excited about next week. Plus, Kathleen reveals “Kathleen’s Awesome 1984 Mixtape” featuring the following smash hits:

Come Back and Stay – Paul Young

Love is a Stranger – Eurythmics

Wrapped Around Your Finger – The Police

Leave It – Yes

New Year’s Day – U2

One Thing Leads to Another – The Fixx

Burning Down the House – Talking Heads

Let’s Dance – David Bowie

Mama – Genesis

Union of the Snake – Duran Duran

We also have a couple of news items! Vogue checks out the style of Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys at the Premiere of The Americans, while NPR talks with ‘The Americans’ showrunners on writing the Cold War-Era drama amid our new Russian relations!

WTA 70- The Americans Season 4 Review

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At long last tovarischi, the return of The Americans is upon us! And you know we have to go back to all that happened last season to be ready for the mayhem to come! We break down each and every episode of Season 4 and offer our thoughts about what we have seen and what it all means!

Plus we have a wee bit of news this week for you, starting with a listing of many of the awards that the show was up for, plus the wins! Then we have Deadline’s great interview with Keri Russell & Matthew Rhys on ‘The Americans’ Emmy-nominated 4th season, followed by Vulture’s piece on The Americans showrunners on real-life Russian spying, Donald Trump, and the new season, and we close with The Seattle Post Intelligencer revealing that The Americans’ producers love those Russian hacking jokes as much as you do.

WTA 69- Costume Designer Katie Irish Interview

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Season 5 of The Americans is coming! What will the Jennings be wearing? We know one woman knows: Katie Irish, Costume Designer for the show! Katie joins us and talks about how she got in the business, what drew her to costume design, and she gives us an in-depth behind the scenes look at what she and her team do. Plus she answers listener questions!

And in case you haven’t heard, The Americans returns Tuesday, March 7 at 10 PM on FX!

WTA 68- Kelly AuCoin Interview

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Kelly is back!

WTA 67- Vera Cherny Interview

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It has finally happened – #TeamKGB finally joins us through our friend Vera Cherny aka Tatiana Evgenyevna! Well, not exactly joins us, but sits for an interview! Vera talks about coming to America, her time at the Actor’s Studio, and her wonderful experiences on The Americans! Is Tatiana in love with Oleg? Do the folks at the Rez hang out at the bar after hours? Listen and find out! Plus as a bonus she is able to answer many of your questions!

WTA 66- The Americans Season 4 Review

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Well, that was an AMAZING season of TV, wasn’t it? The Americans just gets better and richer each year, and Season 4 ranks as one of the best of any TV show in recent memory! It was so good we had to break it down with the big events and our thoughts on the characters and their story arcs. It was so big we had to ask our friend Kathleen aka alternakat to join the fun!

And we do have one exciting bit of news via The Hollywood Reporter: the Television Critics Association has nominated The Americans for three awards, including best actor Keri Russell, Best Drama, and Best Program!

WTA 65- Feedback For Persona Non Grata

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As this has been the best season yet of the Best Show on TelevisionTM we expected more of the finale than ever before! Did it deliver the goods? You will find out our thoughts on The Americans thrilling Season 4 Episode 13 “Persona Non Grata” that aired June 8, 2016. It was written by showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg and directed by Chris Long.

This is Episode 65 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 64 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

There is a smattering of history and tech for the finale! We start by listening to Leonard Cohen sing on his amazing single Who by Fire on New Skin for the Old Century,while getting our snacks ready for Super Bowl XVIII! Then we drive over to the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in our boss new Chevy Impala! Then it’s a ton of your incredible feedback! You guys rock!

We do love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please keep sending them to us! You can email text or audio feedback to watchingtheamericans@gmail.com or signal us (we have replaced the operator!) at 919-907-0542. Follow us on Twitter @WatchAmericans. Please like us on our Facebook page Watching The Americans. And if you do enjoy the show, kindly rate us or better yet rate and review us in iTunes or Stitcher!

WTA 64- Season 4 Episode 13 Persona Non Grata

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:56 — 38.3MB)

This is Episode 64 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 65.

Pravda is reporting the following… What’s Alan Watching? Well, it’s ‘The Americans’ bosses stating ‘We hope they’ll still trust us two years from now’! Then NPR tells us how ‘The Americans’ solved the eternal TV problem of the surly teen, and we have two from The New York Times: the Season 4 finale and what lies ahead plus a chat with Dylan Baker on the finale and his character’s monologue, and we set you up for the long cold wait ahead of us with Vulture’s fan fic that takes us inside the mind of Henry Jennings!

As season finales go, this was a real slow burn of The Americans! William prepares to make a drop of the lassa virus and goes to meet Philip in the park. Stan, Dennis, and a swarm of FBI are waiting, follow him, and move to take him before the drop. Cornered, William breaks the vial and exposes himself to the deadly pathogen. He is taken to a containment facility at the USAMRIID and left in isolation to die. Stan and Dennis sit outside, asking him questions as they watch his demise. In a delirium, William reveals a few details about Philip and Elizabeth without naming them. Since William has been taken by the US, Gabriel tells Philip and Elizabeth they should pack, get the kids and prepare to return to the Motherland as heroes.

Meanwhile, in Moscow Mischa, Philip’s son with Irina, has been detained for speaking out against the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. He is told if he remains quiet, he may leave. He does so and goes to his grandfather’s apartment where he finds his mother left him money and falsified passports and instructions to find his father, a travel agent in America. Arkady meets with Agent Wolfe and the assistant Attorney General and is told they know about his activities, accuse him of murdering Agent Gaad, and inform him he has been designated persona non grata and 48 hours to leave the country. Tatiana tells Oleg she will be staying with the rezidentura now that Arkady is leaving, and Oleg reveals he is returning to Moscow. Pastor Tim and Alice have their baby. Paige and Mattew watch the Super Bowl together, and Paige initiates a make-out session but they are interrupted by a returning Stan. Philip and Elizabeth return home unsure as to their next move. Philip goes over to get Paige, gets some good-natured ribbing by Stan about wedding plans for their kids, and as he walks her home forbids her from continuing with Matthew!

Remember that we do love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please keep sending them in! You can email text or audio feedback to watchingtheamericans@gmail.com or signal us (we have replaced the operator!) at 919-907-0542. Follow us on Twitter @WatchAmericans. Please like us on our Facebook page Watching The Americans. And if you do enjoy the show, kindly rate us or better yet rate and review us in iTunes!

WTA 63- Feedback For A Roy Rogers in Franconia

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Paige has summed everything going on this week with one perfect word: “great.” Not how she means it though! It was yet another amazing episode, with repercussions of murder, surprising encounters, and stupendous reveals! All that in The Americans in Season 4 Episode 12 “A Roy Rogers in Franconia” that aired June 1, 2016. It was written by showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg and directed by Chris Long.

This is Episode 63 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 62 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

We have tons of cool history and tech for the episode! Roy Rogers means many things to many people, and in this show we can eat at Roy Rogers while remembering actor/cowboy Roy Rogers. Franconia has multiple meanings too, from the Franconia of our restaurant to the original Franconia in Germany, which isn’t too far from Smolensk. We can also discuss our fave soap General Hospital, and learn more about Bauman Moscow State Technical University. For tech we fly through a Stargate using a Centaur-G Rocket! And then it’s time for your incredible feedback!