‘The Americans’ renewed for season 4 by FX

With quality this good, who needs live ratings? Obviously, FX is thinking this entirely when it comes to “The Americans,” and their decision to renew the spy series for a fourth season is proof that there is so much more that goes into a decision to renew or cancel a show than just what ratings it is drawing on the night. This show is a monster when it comes to DVR viewing, and also does well in On-Demand viewing. With its deal at Amazon Prime, there is also potential for more viewers to catch up and become fans.

More than anything, though, the reason why this series was granted a fourth-season renewal Tuesday is probably quality. This is a great show, one of the best out there despite its figures. FX is not going to get rid of something that could very well be their version of “The Wire,” where some do not discover how great it is until after it finishes its run.

In a very-exciting statement today confirming the news of the renewal, the network’s original programming president Nick Grad had the following to say:

“Remarkably, this season of The Americans has achieved even greater acclaim than that of its first two seasons … The series has cemented it status with critics as television’s best current drama and arguably the best show on TV, and we couldn’t agree more.”

Given that network executives have already expressed their wish to have many seasons of Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, we don’t anticipate this being the last season of the show, either. It just needs to keep the same sort of trajectory going that it has already established, and it will be certainly more than fine in the end.

What was your reaction to the renewal news? Share some of your thoughts with a comment now.