The new trend of preemptive renewals hasn’t really caught on at FX, as the network’s preferred to wait until season finales have aired or loom near before announcing such news. The suspense surrounding the extension of The Americans has been especially difficult to bear, but FX has finally put fans out of their misery and officially announced that it’s renewing the outstanding drama for seasons five and six, the latter of which will also be its final season. (The show’s season four finale is still two weeks away, so FX is actually showing less restraint than usual.)
The 13-episode fifth season will air in 2017, with the sixth and final season rolling out in 2018 with only 10 episodes. In the press release, Eric Schrier, FX’s co-president of original programming, boasted about the show’s critical acclaim (we’d argue some caught on later than others): “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.” He also said he had no doubt “this two-season order will allow Joe and Joel to tell this story to its perfect conclusion.”
The renewal’s slightly bittersweet for showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, who said they find it “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.”