Ukraine: Lights, Camera, Action!

In 2015, a political comedy television series aired in Ukraine on the 1 + 1 TV channel. The plot was pretty simple. An absent-minded high school history teacher named Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko gets fed up one day. He goes on a profane rant in his classroom about the corruption in the Ukrainian government. A student secretly video tapes the rant and uploads it to YouTube. Almost overnight this unknown history teach goes viral. So viral that his students decide to launch a crowdfunding campaign and register him as a Ukrainian presidential candidate.

Of course, Vasily has no clue what is goes on. By the time he finds out, he has been launched onto a road to political victory as the new president of Ukraine. Once in office, it is about what you expect. Someone absolutely unprepared for the responsibilities of office fumbles through the role of president of a country as he tries to weed out the corruption caused by the Ukrainian oligarchy.

The name of this television series is Servant of the People. It was created by, produced by, and starred Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (Because why not?) The production company was Kvartal 95 Studio, which was founded in 2003 by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The TV channel 1 + 1 was owned by 1 + 1 Media Group, which was owned by Ihor Kolomoyskyi. Ihor Kolomoyskyi helped Presidential Zelenskyy get his presidential position. He was also the 2nd richest oligarch in Ukraine. (Because why not?) However, they would have a falling out and Ihor Kolomoyskyi would be arrested in 2023 on charges of corruption, money laundering, and fraud... kind of like what happened in the TV series.

Servant of the People aired from 2015 until 2019, the same year Zelenskyy took office as President of Ukraine.

The TV series Servant of the People is on YouTube with English subtitles. You can find the first episode here.

The video's description states:

Modest teacher Vasiliy is caught on camera raging over the political situation in his country. When a pupil posts the video on Youtube, it goes viral and Vasiliy becomes President of Ukraine. Vasiliy is thrown into the world of big politics and has to deal with his newly found popularity.

What if an ordinary man, honest and principled teacher, becomes the President?

Based on a future true story

What happens when an ordinary, honest man accidentally gets elected president of Ukraine? Will he turn the world upside down? In the comedy series Servant of the People, modest and humble high school history teacher Vasiliy Holoborodko is caught on camera raging over the miserable situation in his country. When one of his students posts the video on YouTube it becomes a viral sensation. Everybody loves Vasiliy’s outrage.

Soon, with a Presidential election looming, everyday people crowdfund the fees needed to register Vasiliy as a candidate. And to everyone’s surprise, he wins! Vasiliy is now the new President of Ukraine!