Patrick Harbron/FX We've got good news and some bad news, comrades.
The Americans was just picked up for two more seasons by FX. Huzzah! But they will also be the final two seasons, the network announced on Wednesday. Boo!
The critically acclaimed spy drama, which stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, will conclude its fourth season on June 8, with a 12-episode fifth season set to debut in 2017, and The Americans will end its mission with a 10-episode sixth and final season in 2018.
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," bosses Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg said in a statement. "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."
And while The Americans will becoming to an end, FX Productions has closed new overall deals with Fields and Weisberg to develop their next series.
"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," FX president Eric Schrier said in a statement. "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, Allison 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."
Fox 21 Television Studios President Bert Salke also 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."
The Americans airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.