Abstract

The objective of the paper is to solve the interpretative controversies around Comrade Detective, one of the most original TV entertainment productions of the recent years. This production is a pastiche of American buddy police films. The plot refers to the reality of the socialist Romania in the 1980s and presents in a satirical way the local militia’s fight against the American threat. We have attempted to prove that its not only deriding the reality of the political system, but the series constitutes also a satire on American propaganda films. Although the humour in the series seems vulgar and absurd, it has a dialectic character as fun is made of both the capitalist and the socialist systems. Furthermore, we have attempted to solve the controversy connected with political interpretations of the series. Its ambiguity ensues from the use of an artistic strategy which is close to the postmodern artistic strategy defined as retro-avant-guard.