Was FX’s The Americans Based On A True Story?

FX’s award-winning series The Americans was steeped in the historical era of the Cold War, begging the question of if it was based on a true story. Premiering in 2013, The Americans followed Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings (Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys), a seemingly normal couple living in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. However, their normal American facade hid the reality that they were secretly KGB agents working for Russia in deep cover, spying on their adopted home and sending information back to the motherland.