Amerika

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 president of a new puppet republic centered around Chicago, called Heartland. Cold War pop-culture history website CONELRAD states that it "extended the Cold War by four hours".

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


 * Cold War: Or rather the way many people were afraid it would end.
 * Day of the Jackboot
 * Downer Ending
 * Dystopia: The series opens with Devin Milford being released from a prison camp and travelling through once-prosperous farmland run down by ten years of collectivisation and Soviet asset-stripping.
 * 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 threat. At the end of the series the protagonist Devin Milford is shot by the leader of Heartland's defence force as he's about to make a radio broadcast calling for Americans to resist the breakup; this is viewed as 'treason' against Heartland.
 * Invaded States of Amerika: Subverted; the United States gives up without a fight and few think that resistance is worthwhile.
 * Iron Curtain: Pushed all the way to the Pacific coast.
 * Lzherusskie: Most of the Russian military. One or two of them have names that were even completely made up.
 * Minion with an F In Evil: General Petya Samanov -- in charge of administrating (and eventually dismantling) the conquered US -- comes across as one of the most interesting and sympathetic characters.
 * Mnogo Nukes: 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 Divided States of America plan.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: The US Congress is wiped out in a "terrorist attack" in a prelude to the breaking-up of the country. Samanov is Driven to Suicide at the sight.
 * One World Order: The UN is now a Soviet puppet organisation, and the Commies are implied to control the entire world, or at least the parts that are useful to them.
 * Prop Recycling: The two flyable Blue Thunder props make a reappearance, except now they're Black Helicopters.
 * Red Scare
 * La Résistance: Several characters, but not always working towards the same goals against the Soviets.
 * Sinister Surveillance: After Devin is picked up by his father at the station, a member of the Secret Police notes down the occurrence in his notebook.
 * State Sec: The United Nations Special Service Unit carries out periodic "training exercises" -- involving tanks, Black Helicopters, Gas Mask Mooks and Stuff Blowing Up -- designed to intimidate the local population.
 * Take That: At least, the concept for the miniseries was inspired by this train of thought. A 1983 column by Ben Stein (yes, that Ben Stein) suggested that since The Day After 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.
 * Twenty Minutes Into the Future: Takes place in 1997.