Amerika (TV Miniseries) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Amerika received mixed reviews upon its conclusion. The series continued to create controversy with some. Certain critics and viewers felt it was too long and unrealistic, others argued that it would be damaging to Soviet-American relations, and a spokesperson for the United Nations objected to the U.N. being portrayed as an occupying force under Soviet control. Some conservatives felt that Soviet brutality was greatly underplayed; conversely, a number of liberals dismissed the entire miniseries as right-wing paranoia. At various points, the program was scrapped, delayed, and rewritten.

For their part, the Soviet Union threatened to shut down the ABC News Moscow bureau, although this threat was not carried out and indeed seemed to strengthen ABC's resolve regarding the miniseries. "We’re going to run that program come rain, blood, or horse manure," said ABC president John B. Sias, after the yet-to-be-aired Amerika had generated more controversy and viewer response than any other ABC program in history, including The Day After.

Amerika was preceded by an ABC special addressing the considerable controversy prior to its airing (The Storm Over Amerika), and was followed by an "ABC News Viewpoint" panel discussion moderated by Ted Koppel, with Brandon Stoddard, Donald Wrye and others addressing the issues along with questions and comments from a live studio audience in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In its summary of the 1986–87 US television season, TV Guide called the miniseries "arguably the most boring miniseries in a decade," adding that "ABC's Amerika tried to hold America hostage for seven tedious nights (and a stupefyingly dull 14½ hours) by conjuring up a fuzzy vision of a Soviet occupation of the U.S."