The Americans--Not your typical patriotic family

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  • Ovation
    Super Senior Member
    • Sep 2004
    • 2202

    The Americans--Not your typical patriotic family

    Officially, I've been scouring my complete series box set of The Americans looking for clips I can use when I teach Cold War era US History next semester.

    Unofficially, I've been semi-binge watching it when I should be attending to more mundane yet important matters (grading and PhD research).

    I bought the series on DVD because it is not available on blu-ray as a complete series set (only first season is available--there are six). I could have gone with an itunes download package in HD, but it was four times the price (as it was a blind buy, I didn't want to spend too much).

    I've finished S1 and I've found it quite entertaining. Even as a "lowly DVD", it scales reasonably well on my 43" budget LG UM7300 4K TV (that doubles as a computer monitor--it's excellent for that purpose). The soft video of DVD resolution is actually helpful at "setting the mood", ironically, as the lower resolution makes it feel like the first half of the 1980s depicted in the series.

    It is a bit more soapish than I originally expected but it has enough suspense built into the storylines to make it something of a "guilty pleasure". I would recommend it to anyone who remembers the era with any degree of fondness (or, if too young, is curious about life in the early 80s in Cold War America). It's currently available on Amazon.com for a bit under 40$ (for about 55 hours of episodes--pretty decent price).
  • Ovation
    Super Senior Member
    • Sep 2004
    • 2202

    #2
    Finally wrapped up the sixth and final season of this show. My appreciation for it increased the more I progressed through it. It ends very well (no spoilers) and the series comes together very quickly. Strongly recommend it.

    Image quality improves for each season. Despite the box set being on DVD, the last three seasons, especially, scale very well. No one will mistake it for HD (let alone 4K) but the discs are authored to wring every last bit of image quality possible. I might avoid watching it on an 85+ inch screen (probably spring for the HD iTunes version for that size image), but for the vast majority of TVs out there, I think it will look decent even on DVD. Plus, the show is good enough that you stop caring about the format--you're just interested in the story.

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    • Ovation
      Super Senior Member
      • Sep 2004
      • 2202

      #3
      Some good friends just dropped off my boxed set after I'd lent it to them a few months ago. They loved it as well. If anyone is looking for something to "binge on" (or not--it works as well in smaller chunks), I strongly recommend it--and so do my friends.

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      • wkhanna
        Grumpy Old Super Moderator Emeritus
        • Jan 2006
        • 5673

        #4
        what i have heard from anyone who has 'got into it' it's a winner.
        i simply don't have time in my schedule to binge watch, and i'm not fan of soap opera serials, regardless of how well written or produced. would rather invest in a good book read at that level of commitment.

        jmho, not to criticize, and very happy for those who enjoy it :T
        _


        Bill

        Practicing Curmudgeon & Audio Snob
        ....just an "ON" switch, Please!

        FinleyAudio

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        • Ovation
          Super Senior Member
          • Sep 2004
          • 2202

          #5
          Originally posted by wkhanna
          what i have heard from anyone who has 'got into it' it's a winner.
          i simply don't have time in my schedule to binge watch, and i'm not fan of soap opera serials, regardless of how well written or produced. would rather invest in a good book read at that level of commitment.

          jmho, not to criticize, and very happy for those who enjoy it :T
          Fair enough. To be fair to the series, I might have made it seem more "soapish" than it turned out to be (I wrote that comment when I was partway into the first season). However, I fully get the preference for a good book--it's just reading books is about 70% of my job (as a historian, between my teaching and research, I read 40-60 books per year, so a break from reading is welcome).

          Comment

          • Norm
            Member
            • Mar 2011
            • 62

            #6
            Adding my vote as a strong recommendation for The Americans. Thank you Ovation for "teach(ing) Cold War era US History" as I fear those lessons are being forgotten. As you have already seen some scenes are R-rated for sex and violence.

            What some might call "soapish" I would characterize as the screen writers setting up the viewers to confront the stark realities of how the Soviet state and The Party valued 'the cause' as justifying anything and individual persons only had value insofar as they were contributing to The State's goals. Seeing similar actions by the FBI as they battle the KGB in the series drives home the point individuals need protection from bureaucracies granted power by the state. In my experience The Americans is a cut above average in how characters on both sides must confront conflicts between their basic humanity vs. loyalty to their country. Some are broken by this, others revealed as being already so loyal to a belief system that anything is possible.

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            • Alaric
              Ultra Senior Member
              • Jan 2006
              • 4143

              #7
              Seeing similar actions by the FBI
              That situation has only gotten worse. I have no nostalgia for the 80s. I turned 18 in 1980. The following decade was taken up with a number of things that didn't lend themselves to sightseeing. I do find others' take on the 80s interesting. It was the era of the Cocaine Cowboys and the bizarre reality they built when/where I was becoming an adult. The series sounds like it might be interesting. Apparently most of the world was not trying to see if they could have the highest average income and murder rate as a package deal.

              Was this a show on TV? (Haven't watched one in years)
              Lee

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              • Norm
                Member
                • Mar 2011
                • 62

                #8
                Originally posted by Alaric
                .... Was this a show on TV? (Haven't watched one in years)
                Cable TV series, started on FX Network ran for 6 seasons. Now available on disks or from streaming sources.

                Comment

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