History Series / Amerika

[[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture It's 1997]]. Toward the end of TheEighties, the Soviet Union invaded the United States and has retained shaky but firm control of their former superpower rival, with the aid of a compliant and effective UsefulNotes/UnitedNations. The next step is to dissolve the US government and Balkanize the country into several puppet republics. The story focuses on one of them, called Heartland, centered around Omaha. The main characters are Devin Milford (Creator/KrisKristofferson), a former Senator and presidential candidate who was jailed as a dissident after the invasion and has just been released; Peter Bradford (Creator/RobertUrich) a government official whose cooperation with the Soviets gradually turns him into TheQuisling; and Andrei Denisov (Creator/SamNeill), the KGB official overseeing the Heartland area.

Miniseries produced in 1987 describing life after the United States is conquered by the Soviet Union (with the aid of a compliant and effective UsefulNotes/UnitedNations). Starred, among others, Creator/KrisKristofferson as a former Senator turned jailed dissident and Creator/RobertUrich as the [[TheQuisling president of a new puppet republic]] centered around Omaha, called Heartland.

Rumours that the mini-series would be a political firebomb created massive hype, including official protests by the United Nations and the USSR. The series was budgeted for $40 million, more than most feature films. However, the rather dense political drama and deliberate pacing (the series was more than 14 hours long and was shown daily for a week) meant the series lost a multitude of viewers with each episode. While not a complete failure, ''Amerika'' was one of the last of the heavily promoted "epic" miniseries of the American broadcast networks.

%%* DownerEnding

* TakeThat: At least, the concept for the miniseries was inspired by this train of thought. A 1983 column by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_(TV_miniseries)#Genesis Ben Stein]] (yes, that Ben Stein) suggested that since ''Film/TheDayAfter'' depicted the horrible what-if scenario of a nuclear attack on America, a movie should be made depicting the ''also'' horrible what-if scenario of America being conquered by the U.S.S.R., the ultimate threat that had led to the USA's maintenance of a massive fleet (to keep this impossible in the short term) and a series of disposable allies/buffer states in western Europe and East Asia (to keep this impossible in the long term). For its part, ABC said that ''Amerika'' wasn't supposed to be a rebuttal to ''The Day After'', just a story that examined another possible Cold War outcome, but a forgotten footnote in the whole controversy is that ''Day After'' director Creator/NicholasMeyer and several cast members unsuccessfully tried to petition ABC to allow them airtime after ''Amerika'' to defend ''The Day After''.

* TakeThat: At least, the concept for the miniseries was inspired by this train of thought. A 1983 column by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_(TV_miniseries)#Genesis Ben Stein]] (yes, that Ben Stein) suggested that since ''Film/TheDayAfter'' depicted the horrible what-if scenario of a nuclear attack on America, a movie should be made depicting the ''also'' horrible what-if scenario of America being conquered by the U.S.S.R., the ultimate threat that had led to the USA's maintenance of a massive fleet (to keep this impossible in the short term) and a series of disposable allies/buffer states in western Europe and East Asia (to keep this impossible in the long term).

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Takes place [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp in 1997]].

* AlternateHistory: By our standards due to the GreatPoliticsMessUp. The Soviets, rather than collapsing, annex America to stay afloat.

* InvadedStatesOfAmerica: Subverted; the United States gives up without a fight, since so few think the cost of resistance (wrecked economy, huge proportion of population dead) would be worth the pay-off (be it costly independence or subjugation anyway). Then again, while the USA's oligarchy has probably been BroughtDownToNormal its implied that the economy has been wrecked by collectivisation policies and the Partisan War may end up killing just as many people anyway (regardless of whether it succeeds or not).

Miniseries produced in 1987 describing life after the United States is conquered by the Soviet Union (with the aid of a compliant and effective UsefulNotes/UnitedNations). Starred, among others, Creator/KrisKristofferson as a former Senator turned jailed dissident and Robert Urich as the [[TheQuisling president of a new puppet republic]] centered around Omaha, called Heartland.

Miniseries produced in 1987 describing life after the United States is conquered by the Soviet Union (with the aid of a compliant and effective UsefulNotes/UnitedNations). Starred, among others, Kris Kristofferson as a former Senator turned jailed dissident and Robert Urich as the [[TheQuisling president of a new puppet republic]] centered around Omaha, called Heartland.

* {{Dystopia}}: The series opens with Devin Milford being released from a prison camp and traveling through once-prosperous farmland run down by ten years of collectivisation...and then he travels through Indiana, which is in even worse condition due to Soviet asset-stripping.

* LesCollaborateurs: Yes.
* DayOfTheJackboot
* DownerEnding

* LesCollaborateurs: Yes.

* {{FamilyUnfriendlyAesop}}: Although ''intended'' as an {{Aesop}} by the US producers, it actually crosses into {{FamilyUnfriendlyAesop}} territory. The message of the series is more-or-less that "It is better to kill tens/hundreds of millions of people rather than giving up your national sovereignty and accepting 'foreign' values." Prior to the series the USA surrenders almost immediately rather than engaging in a long, incredibly bloody, total war that they had no desire to fight and would lose anyway.
-->"You had political freedom, but you lost your passion ... How could we not win?"

* MnogoNukes: Averted, though in early script drafts nuclear weapons were apparently used to disable the US power grid and communications systems through massive electromagnetic pulse.
** The Politburo considers destroying several American cities "to encourage the others", but the local Soviet administration convinces them to go with the DividedStatesOfAmerica plan.

* MinionWithAnFInEvil: The generals in charge of the Soviet occupation have far more sympathy for First World/NATO values than they can officially show.

* FlyoverCountry: The Midwest has had all it's factory tech looted by the Soviets, and people never return from "voluntary" factory work in Russia. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also]], it's now named "Ameritech", after the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameritech phone company]] that once served the area (it's since been absorbed into what's now AT&T).

* IronCurtain: Moved, but the series doesn't make it clear where.

* TakeThat: At least, the concept for the miniseries was inspired by this train of thought. A 1983 column by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_(TV_miniseries)#Genesis Ben Stein]] (yes, that Ben Stein) suggested that since ''TheDayAfter'' depicted the horrible what-if scenario of a nuclear attack on America, a movie should be made depicting the ''also'' horrible what-if scenario of America being conquered by the U.S.S.R., the ultimate threat that had led to the USA's maintenance of a massive fleet (to keep this impossible in the short term) and a series of disposable allies/buffer states in western Europe and East Asia (to keep this impossible in the long term).

* PatrioticFervor: Like {{Film/RedDawn}}, the series portrays the suffering of US citizens and evil of Soviet citizens and Socialists+Communists in general so it can use US citizens' [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies sense of national pride and community]] to get them to sacrifice themselves for the USA in RealLife.

* LesCollaborators: Yes.

* {{Aesop}}: The Soviet takeover is much easier than they expected because Americans were unwilling to fight for their freedom.
-->"You had political freedom, but you lost your passion ... How could we not win?"

* InvadedStatesOfAmerica: Subverted; the United States gives up without a fight and few think that resistance is worthwhile.
* IronCurtain: Pushed all the way to the Pacific coast.

* MinionWithAnFInEvil: The generals in charge of the Soviet occupation have far more sympathy for the US and American values than they can officially show.

* RedScare

* TakeThat: At least, the concept for the miniseries was inspired by this train of thought. A 1983 column by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_(TV_miniseries)#Genesis Ben Stein]] (yes, that Ben Stein) suggested that since ''TheDayAfter'' depicted the horrible what-if scenario of a nuclear attack on America, a movie should be made depicting the ''also'' horrible what-if scenario of America being conquered by the U.S.S.R., the threat that had led to the Cold War arms race in the first place.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The mini-series was a ratings bust, critically panned, and was quickly made obsolete by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Outside a blink and miss VHS release by Anchor Bay in the mid-90s, the series has never been reaired and is only available via bootleggers.

* PropRecycling: The two flyable ''Film/BlueThunder'' props make a reappearance, except now they're {{Black Helicopter}}s.

* ColdWar: Or rather the way many people were afraid it would end.
* CommieNazis: The main real out-and-out villain is a German commander of the "Special Service Unit" (although he is specifically identifed as from EAST Germany.)

* [[DividedStatesOfAmerica Divided States of Amerika]]: The Soviet Union plans to do this to the United States in order to prevent a resurgent America from posing a military or ideological threat. The general plotline follows the creation of "Heartland," a Soviet client state that secedes from America. Even party stalwarts, however, seem to have trouble with the concept.
* [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica Invaded States of Amerika]]: Subverted; the United States gives up without a fight and few think that resistance is worthwhile.

* MinionWithAnFInEvil: General Petya Samanov -- in charge of administrating (and eventually dismantling) the conquered US -- comes across as one of the most interesting and sympathetic characters.

Miniseries produced in 1987 describing life after the United States is conquered by the Soviet Union (with the aid of a compliant and effective UN.) Starred, among others, Kris Kristofferson as a former Senator turned jailed dissident and Robert Urich as the [[TheQuisling president of a new puppet republic]] centered around Omaha, called Heartland.

!!This series provides examples of:

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Takes place [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp in 1997]].