Zelensky's 'Servant of the People' Returns to Netflix

Netflix has listened to their audience and announced that they're bringing back Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's TV show, Servant of the People, back to its streaming service.

Before being elected president of Ukraine, former actor and comedian Zelensky played a high school teacher who unexpectedly became president in the political satire. His role as the character Vasyl Petrovych Goloborodko directly led to his run for office in real life and in 2019, less than a month after the TV show came to an end, he became Ukraine's president.

Netflix announced that the political comedy series is back and the first season is available to watch now.

On Wednesday, March 16, Netflix confirmed the show's return on social media. "You asked and it's back," the company said on Twitter. The Canadian Netflix account also retweeted the news, confirming that Servant of the People will also be available in Canada.

While he gained international recognition and popularity for his firm response as the leader of Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, Zelensky was an entertainer for decades in his homeland. He starred in movies, TV shows, performed sketch comedy, and even voiced the character of Paddington Bear for both Paddington movies when they were released in Ukraine.

Dexter Mullins, a creative producer for Netflix, said on Twitter, "Available in the U.S. and very proud of us for carrying this."

How many episodes of Servant of the People are there?

Servant of the People ran for three seasons in Ukraine. The first two seasons featured 24 episodes each while the third and final season was a much shorter three episodes-long.

The entirety of Season 1 is now available to watch on Netflix. It was broadcast as a half-hour comedy with each episode running for approximately 24 minutes without ads. Episodes 1 and 2 are often combined into one feature-length episode.

At the time of writing, Seasons 2 and 3 are not available to watch on Netflix and the streaming service has yet to confirm whether they will become available.

What is Servant of the People about?

At the beginning of Servant of the People, Goloborodko (Zelensky) is a high school teacher who is secretly filmed ranting about the corrupt nature of the government. The clip goes viral on YouTube and makes Goloborodko incredibly popular across the country.

His students start a crowdfunding campaign which results in Goloborodko getting put up for election, eventually being elected president of Ukraine in a landslide.

In the real world, a political party named after the television series was registered in 2018 which also eventually led to Zelensky becoming the president of Ukraine.

The Netflix announcement confirming the return of Servant of the People to its service was met with thousands of likes, comments and retweets. Many of the comments asked why it is not available outside of the United States. As it stands, Netflix holds the rights to the distribution of the show in the United States and Canada only.