My track record on TV show "New Things" is not good. Here's an update on my former favorite TV show.

Another show debuted in the past week, though, that I've had my eye on.

It's been a while since I got caught up in a TV drama - maybe since 'The Sopranos'?

Now the question is: Will I be setting my DVR for FX's "The Americans"?

DVR, you ask? Absolutely. I don't know that I'll be staying up for this show at 10pm on a Wednesday night. (Especially if it's an hour-and-a-half every week - that's way too late for me. I think, though, it was just an hour-and-a-half premiere and it'll just be an hour from here on out. Still too late on a Wednesday for me.)

But I've learned one thing about TV over the years: the really good shows, the ones I regret not having watched since the start, chances are they are on HBO or FX. AMC has had a couple, TNT has had a few...but HBO and FX...they rarely miss.

So "The Americans" already has that going in its favor.

Also, it's a period of history in which I can enjoy watching a show being set. I lived through the early '80's. It's not like I was staying up on current events at that age, but a show set in Reagan-era Washington seems like something I'd enjoy.

And the first episode was good. I can see it building up into some tense season-enders. (Let's hope, unlike "Ben and Kate", it gets a chance to finish a season.) That final scene of the first episode (I won't spoil it - but if you watch the episode, enjoy that final scene) sets the table perfectly for what the rest of the series will be like...near-misses and conflict about which side you're actually rooting for.

And finally, for some - I stress some - people my age, "The Americans" marks reincarnation three of Keri Russell. See, I watched "The Mickey Mouse Club" on The Disney Channel growing up. I kept tabs on it after I was "too old" to watch it anymore, and I knew Keri Russell from the show, but I'm pretty sure she was on past the days I watched it. Then she was on "Felicity", a college-age show, pretty much through my college years. (No, I did not watch "Felicity".) That kind of melded into her movie career, and now she's got this show - an adult show for people who kind of grew into adulthood with her.

I leave you with a look at the current Russian spy when she was an American kid: