Lara Flynn Boyle

Amerika – suggesting a Russified name for the United States – is an American television miniseries that was broadcast in 1987 on ABC. The miniseries inspired a novelization entitled Amerika: The Triumph of the American Spirit. Amerika starred Kris Kristofferson, Mariel Hemingway, Sam Neill, Robert Urich, and a 17-year-old Lara Flynn Boyle in her first major role. Amerika was about life in the United States after a bloodless takeover engineered by the Soviet Union. Not wanting to depict the actual takeover, ABC Entertainment president Brandon Stoddard set the miniseries ten years after the event, focusing on the demoralized American people a decade after the Soviet conquest. The intent, he later explained, was to explore the American spirit under such conditions, not to portray the conflict of the Soviet coup.

Described in promotional materials as “the most ambitious American miniseries ever created,” Amerika aired for 14½ hours over seven nights, and reportedly cost US$40 million to produce. The miniseries was filmed in Toronto, London, Ontario, and Hamilton, Ontario, as well as various locations in Nebraska – most notably the small town of Tecumseh, which served as “Milford,” the fictional setting for most of the series. Donald Wrye was the executive producer, director, and writer of Amerika, while composer Basil Poledouris scored the miniseries, ultimately recording eight hours of music – the equivalent of four feature films.