Before Volodymyr Zelensky became president of Ukraine, he was president on TV. The former comedian-turned-wartime leader played a Ukrainian high school teacher who unexpectedly becomes president in the satirical series, Servant of the People. Netflix announced on Wednesday that the show had been added back to the streaming service.
“You asked and it’s back!” Netflix tweeted. “Servant of the People is once again available on Netflix in The US. The 2015 satirical comedy series stars Volodymyr Zelenskyy playing a teacher who unexpectedly becomes President after a video of him complaining about corruption suddenly goes viral.”
You asked and it’s back!
Servant of the People is once again available on Netflix in The US. The 2015 satirical comedy series stars Volodymyr Zelenskyy playing a teacher who unexpectedly becomes President after a video of him complaining about corruption suddenly goes viral. pic.twitter.com/Pp9f48jutF
— Netflix (@netflix) March 16, 2022
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show originally streamed on Netflix from 2017-2021. News of its return comes amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Servant of the People ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2019—Zelensky was elected president in 2019. The series also spawned a movie, Servant of the People 2, in 2016. The show and film are available to license from Eccho Rights, per Deadline.
Deadline reported earlier this month that Servant of the People had been sold by Eccho Rights to MBC in the Middle East, ANT 1 in Greece and PRO TV in Romania. “The series is a comedy but also an important document of where Zelenskiy comes from,” Eccho Managing Partner Nicola Söderlund said (via Deadline). “His fictional president is a normal man, who grows into his role as a heroic and adored leader. While the real world scenario facing Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian people is far more grim and appalling than the comedy of the series, there are obvious parallels with the real world situation.”