FX Orders Up Keri Russell '80s Spy Drama 'The Americans' Created by CIA Officer

FX, which launches the new comedy show "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell" tonight at 11 pm, has secured its latest scripted series. "The Americans" is a period drama set in the early '80s in Washington, D.C., where two KGB spies pose as a married American couple, and it will premiere on the network next year.

Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell will play Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings, whose arranged marriage has been growing into something genuine but is constantly tested by their secret mission, the fact that they have two children who know nothing about their parents' true identities and Phillip's increasing fondness for the American way of life. Noah Emmerich will play Stan, an FBI agent working in counter intelligence who happens to be their new neighbor.

The series, which has been given a 13-episode order, is the creation of former CIA officer Joe Weisberg, who also has a spy drama in development at Fox. He'll serve as showrunner and as an executive producer alongside "Justified" creator Graham Yost, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. "The Americans" is slated to air in early 2013, joining returning dramas "Justified" and "Sons of Anarchy" to make up FX's current scripted slate.