"[4] Executive producer Joel Fields described the series as working different levels of reality: the fictional marriage between Philip and Elizabeth, and the real-world experiences of the Cold War.

[4] "The most interesting thing I observed during my time at the CIA was the family life of agents who served abroad with kids and spouses.

Weisberg described working at the CIA as a mistake, but indicated it helped him develop several storylines in the series,[6] basing some plot lines on real-life stories,[6] and integrating several things he learned in his training, such as communication protocols and the use of dead drops.

His research material included notes on the KGB's Cold War left by Vasili Mitrokhin and conversations with some of his former colleagues at the CIA.

[3] He stated that, unlike the circumstances involving the 2010 Russian spy ring, he had opted to set the story in the early 1980s because "a modern day [setting] didn't seem like a good idea", adding, "People were both shocked and simultaneously shrugged at the [2010] scandal because it didn't seem like we were really enemies with Russia anymore.

Yost read the pilot and discovered that it was "annoyingly good", which led to the beginning of motions to develop the show.

He explained: "The truth is, from the very beginning, I thought, 'I don't want to do a TV show where I carry a gun or a badge.

Based on 51 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the first season received an 88% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 7.8 out of 10.

The consensus reads, "The Americans is a spy thriller of the highest order, with evocative period touches and strong chemistry between its leads.

[30] Rob Brunner of Entertainment Weekly described it as "an absorbing spy thriller"[31] while David Hinkley of the New York Daily News praised the pace, noting that "It's a premise that requires as much clever dramatic footwork as you might expect, and creator Joe Weisberg, a former CIA agent, handles the challenge".

[32] Verne Gay of Newsday called it a "smart newcomer with a pair of leads that turns The Americans into a likely winner" and gave it a grade of an A−.

In her review of the debut episode, Pennington stated "The Americans isn't just a heart-pounding action drama; by presenting heroes that are also villains, it also confronts viewers with TV's deepest moral dilemma since The Sopranos".

[34] However, Hank Stuever of The Washington Post observed that "The Americans struggles to crack a certain code; the concept is tantalizing, but the follow-through lacks the momentum that gets viewers to commit".

He described it, however, as "another well-made, provocative TV drama" and suggested that it "could benefit from having the finite boundaries of being a miniseries rather than launching itself into the ambitious realm of an ongoing series.

[42] The set includes an audio commentary for "The Colonel" by Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields and Noah Emmerich; three featurettes, "Executive Order 2579: Exposing the Americans", "Perfecting the Art of Espionage" and "Ingenuity Over Technology"; a gag reel; deleted scenes; and trailers.