Amazon Debuts Romanian Comedy ‘Comrade Detective’ Aug. 4

Amazon Studios will premiere Comrade Detective, a half-hour live action series, Aug. 4 on Prime. A co-production with A24, Comrade Detective comes from executive producers Brian Gatewood and Alex Tanaka, with Rhys Thomas directing and executive producing. 

Free Association’s Channing Tatum (pictured), Reid Carolin, Peter Kiernan and Andrew Schneider are executive producers along with A24’s Ravi Nandan and John Hodges.

Comrade Detective is a cop show and comedy set in 1980s Romania. The series is presented in Romanian and dubbed in English. Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt provide voices for the series’ two leading roles, Detectives Gregor Anghel and Iosef Baciu, who are played on screen by Romanian actors.

“In a world of global television it was inevitable that the best comedy of the year would come from Romania. Well, that day has come,“ said Joe Lewis, head of comedy, drama and VR at Amazon Studios. “Comrade Detective is unbelievably compelling, visually brilliant, and Gregor and Iosef are the heroes we need. Thanks to A24, Channing Tatum, Rhys Thomas, Brian Gatewood, Alex Tanaka, as well as the incredibly creative team behind this wild new series.”

The talent dubbing other roles includes Jenny Slate, Chloë Sevigny, Nick Offerman, Fred Armisen, Kim Basinger, Mahershala Ali andJerrod Carmichael. 

"As passionate fans of cinema and television, we have long heard about this genre defining show and are thrilled to work with Free Association and Amazon to bring it to audiences," said A24.

Amazon also announced an original animated series for kids ages 6-11, Niko and the Sword of Light, that premieres July 21. Tara Sorensen, head of kids programming at Amazon Studios, said the pilot “was extremely popular among viewers, who were won over by the show’s quirky engaging storylines and humor, and we can’t wait to present them with many more exhilarating escapades in Season 1.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.