The Ukrainian TV series Servant of the People, in which the current president of war-torn Ukraine once appeared as the president of Ukraine, will be made available for streaming, the video service Netflix announced in a tweet on Wednesday. Volodymyr Zelensky had been a comedian and actor before his election to the presidency. The show, which debuted in 2015, stars Zelensky as a high school teacher who becomes president after one of his speeches goes viral.
I’ve caught a few episodes.
As of this morning Netflix only has one season up, but their English subtitles are much better than the ones on the YouTube channel I watched the pilot on. A channel on which all episodes have been replaced by a banner scolding the viewer for wanting to watch the show while Ukrainians are dying. I get that there are issues around this, but is it wrong to enjoy Ukrainian culture at any time?
Aside from the surreality of the whole thing - a comedian who played an unlikely man becoming president, who then himself became president in real life, and who is now a world leader in a very serious manner - I find it bittersweet to watch the show because of the background. Clearly the people who made this showed loved Kyiv and loved Ukraine, you can see it in the establishing shots, the way the cities feature as the setting of the show. And I recognize buildings that I saw on the news being bombed and destroyed in the background of the series still standing tall and shining in the sunshine. Less than a month ago they were tall and proud and now all too many are rubble. It is like watching a movie set in New York and catching a glimpse of the WTC and remembering that it is no more, that those towers are utterly gone forever. Likewise, to see buildings I recognize in these cities I have never been to, and knowing I will never see them in life, only as ghosts in past works. Then I think, how many of these people in this show are fighting and dying right now, no longer actors in a TV show but actors in a terrible war.
I enjoy the show, I even laugh, but I can’t binge watch it, I can’t watch more than one episode a day or even a week. Ukraine is far from perfect but the Ukrainians love their country and when I watch that show I see a glimpse of what they love and what they fight for. It is political satire, and one does not make that sort of political satire without actually caring about the politics, the corruption, and wanting better.
If I had watched it a year ago I would have devoured it quickly but I can’t do that now. I can lose myself in the story, but every now or then a name or something is mentioned that reminds me of what is going on, and at the end the credits roll as I said, it is bittersweet.
This showed up randomly on TV, and the episode was very humourous. But I could not say I understand the society well enough to gauge the level of satire. Recent events, of course, have further changed interpretations.
Looks like all the seasons are now on Netflix.
While I enjoy the show I’m not quite getting all the cultural nuances and it can be hard to watch given current events.
This is a very clever show. I have enjoyed the few episodes that I have seen. I cannot say how accurate a portrayal it is.
Am wondering how accurate a portrayal this show is, and whether major characters represent specific people or just a pastiche. Many episodes are very funny (just saw the one about fighting with Greece over a loan), some are also very strange (the dream episode without people, talking to a hologram and lecturing stuffed animals). A very good show, half a season in.
I finished watching this ages ago, except for the last bit, which I recently watched. Weird the second season had so many episodes and the third season so few, which I did not get until seeing it laid out on Netflix.
I think this a brilliant show. The real Zelenskyy does not seem worlds away from the fictitious ideal. The funny and poignant show is very sad in light of more recent events, and makes one hope for better days.
I can’t say I watched Veep or West Wing. But this show much reminds me of Yes (Prime) Minister, which I adored in its day.
We really enjoyed it, and I found it interesting to watch the dynamic when the characters switched back and forth between speaking Russian and Ukrainian. I think anyone who has spent time in the former East Bloc will recognize the humor.
To repeat a joke from Reddit, man, the fourth season is really going all-out!
That is a clever joke.