TV critic John Doyle from The Globe and Mail reviewed "Servant of the People" and said in January 2021, "It's a sly, smart comedy that travels well and is all the more fascinating when you know what happened to the star -- people in Ukraine loved the character so much they made him president."
He's not kidding. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was an actor and comedian prior to entering politics in 2019, and now his hit comedy TV show has been added to Netflix's streaming platform, the company announced on Wednesday.
In the show that Zelensky created, produced and starred in, his character, Vasyl Petrovych Goloborodko, is a high school history teacher who gets elected as Ukraine's president out of nowhere after one of his students recorded him speaking about government corruption and the video went viral.
You really can't make this up.
Zelensky starred in the show from 2015-2019, and then in real life, won the election by an overwhelming 73.23% of the vote in the second round in 2019. He ran as an Independent and is affiliated with a new political party by the same name as his TV show, which was created by his production company Kvartal 95 in 2018.
"You asked and it’s back!" Netflix said in their tweet.
"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."
As Zelenksy's persona has grown with how he has handled the Russian invasion of Ukraine, people online began to learn about his acting history. The 44-year-old has appeared in 10 movies, including voicing Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian dub of Paddington. He even was the first winner of Ukraine's "Dancing with the Stars" in 2006.
There are three seasons of "Servant of the People" and the Swedish television group Eccho Rights has licensed the show to Netflix, among many other platforms around the world, according to The Hollywood Reporter. There is also a film based on the series that they are licensing too.
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Eccho managing partner Nicola Söderlund explained in a statement why it's important for people to see the show and understand more about Zelensky.
"The series is a comedy but also an important document of where Zelensky comes from," Söderlund said in the statement. "His fictional president is a normal man, who grows into his role as a heroic and adored leader. While the real-world scenario facing Zelensky 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, and Servant of the People is a fascinating, important and historic piece of television."
"Servant of the People" has a 7.2/10 score on IMDb with about 1,500 reviews. One reviewer even compared the show to the popular sitcom "Parks and Recreation."
"Such a light-hearted comedy. I am a big fan of Parks and Rec (another top-rated political comedy) but Servant of the People has replaced it as my favorite in the genre. The show must have been pivotal in getting the main actor elected as president of Ukraine IRL in 2019," the commenter said.
"Having seen just the first episode, this is endearing and very funny. Zelensky is an engaging, human and funny man. A schoolteacher becomes president. And now, in turn the comedian becomes president, for real... and one of the bravest leaders in modern times," a reviewer said.
"Zelenskyy is a badass! How can you not love this man?! He is a true leader, fictionally and in reality. Anyone who fights for his country, tooth and nail, who has ridden to become the 21st centurys hero is amazing! This man will go down in history, where as Putin is now see as he is, the villain! Slava Ukraini!" another said.
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