Servant of the People (TV series)
Servant of the People (, Russian: Слуга народа, sometimes translated as "Servant of the Nation") is a Ukrainian political satire comedy television series created and produced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who stars as Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko, a high-school history teacher in his thirties who is unexpectedly elected President of Ukraine after a viral video filmed by one of his students shows him making a profane rant against government corruption in his country. The series ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2019, and a film adaptation was released in 2016. The series was produced by  Kvartal 95, which was founded by Zelenskyy. It would become much more involved in Ukraine's actual politics; on 31 March 2018, a political party named after the television series was registered with the Ministry of Justice, and Zelenskyy was actually elected President of Ukraine on 21 April 2019, with over 70 percent of the second-round vote. Plot. Filmed by a student when launching a profane rant about corruption in Ukraine, who uploads the footage to YouTube, Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko (Volodymyr Zelenskyy), an absent-minded high-school history teacher who lives with his parents, turns into an Internet sensation  overnight. Goloborodko's students launch a crowdfunding campaign for registering his candidacy in Ukraine's presidential race unbeknownst to him, eventually propelling their flabbergasted teacher to political victory as the new President of Ukraine. While in office, Vasily is confused at his newfound responsibilities, but gradually eases into his presidential duties and decides to weed out corruption by the oligarchy in his government. Release. "Servant of the People" aired on the 1+1 channel in Ukraine. The studio also posted all episodes for free on YouTube. The first season of the show is available for streaming and download on  Netflix in select countries. The Netflix release combines the first two episodes together, resulting in 23 episodes total. Belarusian TV channel Belarus-1 started broadcasting the show in evening prime time on 11 November 2019. The Russian channel TNT aired the pilot episode of the show's first series on 11 December 2019, claiming it did so as "a marketing move to raise awareness of the platform". TNT cut a scene from the episode in which president-elect Goloborodko asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin wore a Hublot watch, a joke referring to a well-known anti-Putin chant in Ukraine . In the United States, HITN presents the series, in a Spanish language version to a potential audience of more than 40 million homes. Sequels. A film adaptation of the series, "Servant of the People 2", was released in 2016. The second season used footage from the film to expand on its plot and was released in 2017, bringing the film into the series' main continuity. The third season was released in 2019. Impact. 2019. Zelenskyy would later mirror his character's rise to political power in being elected President of Ukraine in 2019. 2022. In the wake of the 2022  Russian invasion of Ukraine and Zelenskyy's wartime leadership, the show's popularity received a notable boost. Broadcasting rights have been requested by various foreign companies. On March 16, Netflix announced that season 1 of the series would be available to US streamers again due to popular demand. Broadcasting rights. During 2022, Zelenskyy won widespread admiration as a resistance figure against Russia and Putin, leading to the series becoming more popular in turn. Foreign broadcasting companies have sought to air "Servant of the People" on their own channels. Cancelled remake. An American remake was ordered by Hulu, with British writer  Simon Farnaby involved in its development, though the show was scrapped when Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States.