Netflix is bringing back the comedy TV show that made Ukraine’s president famous

Netflix is giving its U.S. subscribers what they need — and apparently that’s extra of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

After fashionable demand, the streaming big introduced Wednesday that it’ll convey Zelensky’s 2015 comedy TV sequence, “Servant of the Folks,” again to its service.

“You requested and it’s again!” Netflix stated in a tweet. “Servant of the Folks is as soon as once more out there on Netflix in The US.”

The satirical present was initially out there within the Netflix library from 2017 to 2021. It stars Zelensky, who was a comic earlier than he entered politics, as a Ukrainian highschool trainer who unexpectedly turns into president after a video of him complaining about corruption goes viral.

After all, life imitated artwork and Zelensky was elected to Ukraine’s highest workplace in 2019 and he named his actual political celebration Servant of the Folks.

The Russian-language sequence, whose 23-episode first season started streaming Wednesday, is offered to U.S. audiences with English subtitles. It additionally starred Natalya Sumskaya, Viktor Saraykin, Stanislav Boklan and Ekaterina Kisten.

It’s unclear when or if Netflix will stream the next seasons and the movie adaptation it spawned in 2016. A consultant for the corporate didn’t reply to The Instances’ request for remark.

Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 has renewed curiosity in Zelensky’s background as an entertainer (he additionally voiced Paddington bear within the Ukrainian model of the live-action animated movie). His grit as a frontrunner and his social-media savvy have fascinated broadcasters and allies alike — rallying many behind Ukraine and concurrently fueling demand for “Servant of the Folks.”

The three-season present (and its subsequent movie) is being licensed by Swedish tv group Eccho Rights, in accordance with the Hollywood Reporter, with consumers together with Netflix within the U.S., the U.Okay.’s Channel 4, MBC within the Center East, ANT 1 in Greece and PRO TV.

“The sequence is a comedy but additionally an vital doc of the place Zelensky comes from,” stated Eccho managing associate Nicola Söderlund. “His fictional president is a traditional man who grows into his function as a heroic and adored chief. Whereas the real-world state of affairs dealing with Zelensky and the Ukrainian individuals is much extra grim and appalling than the comedy of the sequence, there are apparent parallels with the real-world scenario, and ‘Servant of the Folks’ is an interesting, vital and historic piece of tv.”

The sequence was broadcast within the UK for the primary time on Sunday, with 100,000 individuals tuning in, in accordance with the BBC.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian chief appeared nearly in entrance of U.S. lawmakers for an emotional handle that invoked the pivotal American tragedies 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. Zelensky requested an pressing spherical of economic help, extra weaponry and pleaded with Congress for a no-fly zone to assist his nation stave off the Russian invasion.

Hours after Zelensky’s congressional look, President Biden introduced that the U.S. will ship a further $800 million in army help to Ukraine, together with extra anti-aircraft, anti-armor weapons and drones.