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*Comrade Detective*
Comrade Detective
Genre	Buddy cop; Meta historical fiction;
Created by	Brian Gatewood; Alessandro Tanaka;
Written by	Brian Gatewood; Alessandro Tanaka;
Directed by	Rhys Thomas
Starring	Florin Piersic Jr.; Corneliu Ulici; Adrian Paduraru; Olivia Nita; Florin Galan; Diana Vladu; Ion Grosu;
Voices of	Channing Tatum; Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Nick Offerman; Jenny Slate; Jason Mantzoukas; Chloë Sevigny; Jake Johnson; John DiMaggio;
Composer	Joe Kraemer
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Andrew Schneider; Reid Carolin; Brian Gatewood; John Hodges; Peter Kiernan; Ravi Nandan; Alessandro Tanaka; Channing Tatum; Rhys Thomas;
Producer	Inman Young
Cinematography	Sam Goldie
Editors	Neil Mahoney; Nicholas Mansour;
Production companies	A24; Free Association; G & T Productions; Gallivant Films; Amazon Studios;
Original release
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	August 4, 2017

Comrade Detective is an American buddy cop series created by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka. The show follows the premise of popular US action/cop-buddy films and television shows from the 1980s and presents the episodes as a fictional lost Romanian television show commissioned by the Communist Party to promote a communist worldview during the Cold War. Every episode was filmed in Romania using local actors and then dubbed into English as part of the effect.^[1] It was released on Amazon Prime Video on August 4, 2017.

Plot

Channing Tatum and Jon Ronson present the show as if it were an actual influential Romanian television show from the 1980s. Produced by the Romanian communist government, it served as a device to promote a communist worldview opposed to Western capitalism and imperialism during the Cold War. Lost over the years, producers recently found surviving copies of the episodes. With the help of the fictional Romanian Film Preservation Society they have restored the episodes and dubbed them into English.

Within the show hard-boiled but troubled Bucharest police detective Gregor Anghel and his partner respond to a drug bust against the orders of their Captain. This results in a man in a Ronald Reagan mask killing his partner in front of him. Anghel, along with his new partner from the countryside, Iosif Baciu, must solve his partner's murder. In doing so, they uncover an insidious western plot to indoctrinate Romanian society with capitalism and religion.

Cast

Each character is portrayed by a Romanian actor, as well as an English-language voice actor. The show was first filmed using Romanian actors speaking Romanian. Actors then over-dubbed every role in English.^[1]

Main

Florin Piersic Jr. as Gregor Anghel
- Channing Tatum as English dub of Gregor Anghel
Corneliu Ulici as Iosif Baciu
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as English dub of Iosif Baciu

Recurring

Adrian Paduraru as Captain Covaci
- Nick Offerman as English dub of Captain Covaci
Olivia Nita as Jane
- Jenny Slate as English dub of Jane
Florin Galan as Dragos
- Jason Mantzoukas as English dub of Dragos
Diana Vladu as Sonya Baciu
- Chloë Sevigny as English dub of Sonya Baciu
Ion Grosu as Stan
- Jake Johnson as English dub of Stan
Tipsy Angelo as Tipsy
- John DiMaggio as English dub of Tipsy and several other miscellaneous voice parts
Channing Tatum as himself
Jon Ronson as himself

Guest stars

Richard Bovnoczki as Father Anton Streza
- Daniel Craig as English dub of Father Anton Streza
Cristian Popa as Nikita Ionescu
- Beck Bennett as English dub of Nikita Ionescu
Odin Neilsen as Andrei Baciu
- Colleen O'Shaughnessey as English dub of Andrei Baciu
Vali Pavel as Petre Bubescu
- Bobby Cannavale as English dub of Petre Bubescu
Radu Romaniuc as Orzan
- Fred Armisen as English dub of Orzan.
Ille Gâliea as Vasile
- Tracy Letts as English dub of Vasile.
Ruxandra Enescu as Sally Smith
- Kim Basinger as English dub of Sally Smith
Silviu Geamanu as Coach
- Mahershala Ali as English dub of Coach
Ana Ciontea as Iona Anghel
- Debra Winger as English dub of Iona Anghel
Cornel Ciupercescu as Vlad Anghel
- Richard Jenkins as English dub of Vlad Anghel
Paul Octavian Diaconescu as Nastase
- Jerrod Carmichael as English dub of Nastase
Mihai Stefan as Sergiu
- Bo Burnham as English dub of Sergiu
George Burcea as Todd
- Mark Duplass as English dub of Todd
Magda Dimitrescu as Tatiana/Trisha
- Katie Aselton as English dub of Tatiana/Trisha
Nicu Banea as Stefan
- Mark Proksch as English dub of Stefan and several other parts
Madalin Mladinovici as Markos Miklos
- John Early as the English dub of Markos Miklos and several other parts.
Cozma Eugeniu as New York Degenerate
- Bobby Lee as English dub of New York Degenerate.

Production

When first conceiving the series, executive producer Channing Tatum asked the creators to bring him the worst ideas they could think of, with the reasoning "When you try to find something that is not working, you figure out what's cool about it, and you can find some really hidden gems."^[2] Gatewood and Tanaka pitched a satire series that spoofed Communist propaganda from the 1980s. The two had become fascinated with Soviet propaganda television after seeing a mid-1980s PBS documentary on Soviet broadcasts.^[3] They initially looked into dubbing over real Eastern Bloc television shows but realized it would be easier to make their own show rather than procure the rights.^[4]

The series takes inspiration from the Czechoslovakian show Thirty Cases of Major Zeman.^[2] They also took inspiration from the idea that growing up, American 1980s movies like Red Dawn served as both entertainment and propaganda.^[2] It also took inspiration from the East German series Polizeiruf 110 and the American film Lethal Weapon.^[5] By making the propaganda and inaccuracies obvious to a western audience, they hoped to make the subtle nature of modern propaganda more clear.^[2] Tanaka stated that the goal was to create the inverse Soviet equivalent of the type of Russian-villain entertainment common in 1980s America.^[5]

Episodes were initially written in English before being translated into Romanian. The shows were filmed in Romania with local cast.^[6] Other than the director of photography, writers and director, the entire cast and crew were locally recruited in Romania.^[3] The English-language actors were only cast after the series had been filmed and edited.^[6]

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"The Invisible Hand"	Rhys Thomas	Brian Gatewood, Alex Tanaka	August 4, 2017 (2017-08-04)
Detective Anghel witnesses his partner's murder. He and his new partner Baciu hunt the man in the Reagan mask. Guest appearances by Kim Basinger, Beck Bennett, Jerrod Carmichael, Bo Burnham, Sandy Martin, John Early, Mark Proksch, and Jon Ronson.
2	"No Exit"	Rhys Thomas	Brian Gatewood, Alex Tanaka	August 4, 2017 (2017-08-04)
The detectives uncover a conspiracy to smuggle the western board game Monopoly into the country. Guest appearances by Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger, Kimmy Gatewood, Aly Ward Azevedo, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, and Tracy Letts.
3	"Bread is Bread"	Rhys Thomas	Brian Gatewood, Alex Tanaka	August 4, 2017 (2017-08-04)
Continuing to investigate the murder, the detectives must battle against the forces of organized religion. Guest appearances by Daniel Craig, Betsy Sodaro, John Early, and Jon Ronson.
4	"Two Films for One Ticket"	Rhys Thomas	Brian Gatewood, Alex Tanaka	August 4, 2017 (2017-08-04)
Undercover, the detectives infiltrate a western-style party full of debauchery and propaganda. Guest appearances by Bobby Cannavale, Mahershala Ali, Fred Armisen, Aly Ward Azevedo, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, John Early, Katie Aselton, Mark Duplass and Bobby Lee.
5	"The Whole World is Watching"	Rhys Thomas	Brian Gatewood, Alex Tanaka	August 4, 2017 (2017-08-04)
On the run as fugitives, the detectives must seek refuge from an unlikely source: the American embassy. Guest appearances by Aly Ward Azevedo, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Kate Berlant and Mark Proksch.
6	"Survival of the Fittest"	Rhys Thomas	Brian Gatewood, Alex Tanaka	August 4, 2017 (2017-08-04)
The two race against time to stop the man in the Reagan mask from claiming another victim. Guest appearances by Daniel Craig, Beck Bennett and Mark Proksch.

Reception

Comrade Detective received mostly positive reactions from critics. Rotten Tomatoes indicated that 82% of critics gave the series a positive review.^[7] On Metacritic the series received a score of 66 out of 100 based on 12 critics.^[8]

Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the show a positive review, calling it a sharp satire. He focused in on the show's goal of deconstructing propaganda, claiming, "They're not simply here to make you laugh. They're not here to upset you. They're here to make you think differently and enjoy your time doing it. By that gauge, Comrade Detective is a roaring success. By the basic metric of thoroughly engaging television, it's still a winner."^[4]

James Poniewozik of The New York Times gave it a less enthusiastic review, claiming that the show committed too much to its initial joke and ran too long. He concluded, "It's a brilliant idea. But it's not much more than an idea."^[9]