Before becoming president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky was an actor and comedian. Zelensky’s comedy series about an unlikely president of the country turned out to be a successful show and foreshadowing of a real-life story. The show is getting remade for another European country.
What Happened: Released in 2015, “Servant of the People” is a comedy series that told the story of an ordinary schoolteacher who became president of the country after a video of him complaining about corruption goes viral.
The tagline of the movie is “Ukrainian school teacher is elected as the country’s president.”
Zelensky, who starred in the series, went on to win the presidency in real life in 2019. The show marked the start of Zelensky’s political career and marked an interesting parallel between the fictional show and real life.
The Servant of the People political party used on the show became the party of choice for Zelensky as well.
The series is being remade in Poland by Polish channel Polsat, Deadline reports. The local remake was sold internationally by Eccho Rights and is under production with the title “Shuga Narodu.”
“This is a hugely powerful scrip — a comedy, but one that spoke so deeply to the Ukrainian people that it changed the course of political history in that country, and subsequently the world,” Eccho Rights Executive of Sales & Acquisitions CEE & Africa Berkin Nalbanth said.
Related Link: 5 Things You Might Not Know About Volodymyr Zelensky, President Of Ukraine
Why It’s Important: Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, “Servant of the People” has seen increased interest from broadcasting partners.
The show was added back to Netflix Inc NFLX in March with episodes from three seasons being added to the streaming platform.
“You asked and it’s back! Servant of the People is once again available on Netflix in the U.S.”, Netflix tweeted at the time.
Netflix previously streamed the show from 2018 to 2021.
The show was originally produced by Kvartal 95, a company co-founded by Zelensky.
Photo: Volodymyr Zelensky on the poster for "Servant of the People," via IMDb
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