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The comparisons, many admit, are just going to happen. One's a present-day show about a terrorist who lives in America with his seemingly normal family. The other's a show set in the 1980s about two KGB agents living in America with their seemingly normal family. The former is, obviously, Showtime's Emmy-winning Homeland. The latter is FX's new The Americans, which premieres Wednesday. The comparisons are perhaps, unfair — in a New York Times story about The Americans, FX president John Landgraf noted that The Americans was picked up before Homeland even debuted. Both The Hollywood Reporter and Huffington Post use the word "inevitable" when talking about the comparisons between the two shows. And while viewers should always give every non-spinoff show its own chance, after watching the first two episodes last night we couldn't help but find even more similarities. Let's break them down, without any real important spoilers.
The Leading Lady's Angsty Past
Homeland: Claire Danes starred on My So-Called Life.
The Americans: Keri Russell was the titular (and controversially-haired) character on Felicity.
The Non-American Leading Men
Homeland: Damian Lewis is British and has Welsh roots.
The Americans: Matthew Rhys is Welsh.
The Spies Next Door
Homeland: Nicholas Brody, a sergeant who was held as a POW for eight years. He's been "turned" by his captor, Abu Nazir, and works for him after he returns home to America. In the second season of the show he's a congressman by day.