Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to be the star of a new reality show, but there’s a huge catch. Here are the details on a new show called “Keeping Up With The Kremlin.”
What Happened: Putin has been one of the most notorious political figures in the world for decades, with his visibility amplified after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
He will now be the subject of “Keeping Up With The Kremlin,” a comedy series from Channel 4, a British broadcaster.
The show from Channel 4 won’t actually star Putin, according to an exclusive report from Deadline. Instead, the series will use deep fake technology and artificial intelligence to make it appear that Putin is on the show.
Actors will play Putin, and deep fake technology and overdubbing will be added in post-production to complete the process of it appearing to be the real Russian President.
The new series has not been officially green-lit and could be released on social media instead of a mainstream television channel, as Channel 4 seeks to grow its digital media presence, according to the report.
Channel 4 has used deep fake technology previously, with a digital Queen Elizabeth II created with deep fake technology and artificial intelligence previously.
Related Link: Highly Anticipated Documentary On Ukraine War And Zelenskyy To Premiere At This Film Festival
Why It’s Important: The series “Keeping Up With The Kremlin” is being modeled after the hugely successful American reality series “Keeping Up With The Kardashians.”
Following the Kardashian family, the reality series aired on cable channel E! for 15 years and 20 seasons before being moved to Hulu.
Hulu, the streaming platform majority owned by The Walt Disney Company DIS, signed to release “The Kardashians,” a new style of the show for 40 episodes. The series had the biggest Hulu premiere ever when its first season was released in 2022.
Having Putin as the star of a series could draw parallels to his counterpart, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Prior to becoming the president of Ukraine, Zelenskyy was an actor and comedian. Zelenskyy portrayed a president on a series called “Servant of the People.”
The satirical show starred Zelenskyy as a teacher who accidentally becomes president of Ukraine. The character of the show is elected after a rant about corruption goes viral on social media and inspires the country. Zelenskyy ran under the same political party name that was used in his show when running for president in real life.
“Servant of the People” aired for three seasons before ending in 2019, when Zelenskyy entered politics. The series is available for streaming on Netflix Inc NFLX for some viewers around the world. The series was previously available on Netflix for years before being removed.
Zelenskyy’s history in the film and television industry has led to him being featured at the Golden Globes, and he's set to be featured in a documentary filmed by Sean Penn.
The parallels will likely be drawn by viewers, with Zelenskyy the subject of a satire that led to him becoming president of the country due to his likability and Putin being the subject of a comedy reality series that will likely poke fun at him and his political ideals.
Read Next: Zelenskyy Says No Third World War At Golden Globes
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