After the hit comedy series that starred Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned into a global sensation with the international focus on the actor-turned-president, online streaming giant Netflix became the latest broadcaster to add it to its show slate.
"You asked and it’s back," Netflix wrote on Wednesday, announcing the return of the 2015 satirical show "Servant of the People," which stars Zelenskyy as a teacher who unexpectedly becomes president after becoming famous on YouTube.
Zelenskyy, whose character is elected president after a clip in which he complains about corruption goes viral, was himself elected president in real life after the show was widely watched across Ukraine.
While Netflix is launching the show for U.S. viewers, in Europe, the French-German broadcaster Arte says it has registered an increasing interest in the TV show.
"Due to the high level of public interest in the person of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Arte decided to buy the series in autumn 2021," the broadcaster told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa). "The current developments in Ukraine have significantly increased this interest."
In the U.K., broadcaster Channel 4 has snapped up the series and has been streaming it online to viewers. Distributor Eccho Rights has also sold the show to MBC in the Middle East, ANT 1 in Greece and PRO TV in Romania, according to entertainment industry news website Deadline.
The show loaned its name to Zelenskyy's political party, the Servant of the People party, whose pro-NATO and pro-EU policies have become the target of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The first two seasons of "Servant of the People" are also available free to watch on YouTube.
