After Netflix, now it's Amazon's turn to bring you some 80s nostalgia with Comrade Detective, a satirical 1980s-set Romanian cop series premiered on Amazon Prime August 4th. Channing Tatum leads an all-star voice cast that includes Mahershala Ali, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jenny Slate, Nick Offerman, Fred Armisen, and Kim Basinger. The series is a co-production of Amazon Studios and A24. Rhys Thomas, Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka, are the creators, writers and executive producers of the show. Brian and Alessandro have been writing and producing partners for eleven years and with Comrade Detective they’ve created a refreshing, clever mashup played straight.

The high-concept comedy is slyly tongue-in-cheek and they had only one director in mind to be in on the joke - Emmy-winner Rhys Thomas. Rhys’ acclaimed work on Saturday Night Live and Emmy-nominated series Documentary Now! made him the only choice to walk the line between Cold War period propaganda and ‘80s pop culture craziness.

Brian and Alessandro’s previous producing and writing credits include the NBC television series Animal Practice and the Showtime television series Dice. Dice is returning for season two on August 24th. They also wrote the FOX feature The Sitter.

Rhys' additional directing and producing credits include John Mulaney's Emmy-nominated stand-up special The Comeback Kid, NBC's Emmy-nominated concert special Adele: Live In New York City and his debut feature Staten Island Summer.

We talked to Rhys and Brian, the interview is below:

True to its inspiration, the series is presented in Romanian and dubbed in English. Most of its world-class cast and crew are based in Romania and the show was produced on location in Bucharest. Romanian actors Florin Piersic Jr. and Corneliu Ulici play the lead roles and Channing Tatum and Joseph-Gordon Levitt provide the dubbed voiceovers.  While it’s very much a Romanian show, Comrade Detective is also a comment on American culture – encompassing the look, themes and tropes of the ’70s and ’80s.  And like many other entertainment offerings its message has become very timely. 

Synopsis:

In the thick of 1980s Cold War hysteria, the Romanian government created the country’s most popular and longest-running series, Comrade Detective, a sleek and gritty police show that not only entertained its citizens but also promoted Communist ideals and inspired a deep nationalism. The action-packed and blood-soaked first season finds Detectives Gregor Anghel and Iosef Baciu investigating the murder of fellow officer Nikita Ionesco and, in the process, unraveling a subversive plot to destroy their country that is fueled by—what else—the greatest enemy: capitalism.

Though the beloved show was sadly forgotten about after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it has been rediscovered and digitally remastered now with its main heroes voiced by Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. A true portal into a time and place, Comrade Detective offers a powerful reminder of what art can be—and it is now ready to be seen by the modern world on a larger scale than ever before.