‘Time Bandits’ show reinvigorates Monty Python film with Lisa Kudrow-led ensemble
Lisa Kudrow stars in “Time Bandits,” an upcoming Apple TV+ series based on the 1981 movie written by Monty Python legends
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Adapting a cult-classic film into a television series is a daunting task, but for Lisa Kudrow and her collaborators on “Time Bandits,” that challenge just meant there was more room for exploration.
“The series version of a film means you’re gonna expand and really go into some more details about that world, and that’s what I was excited about,” Kudrow said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “It was really fun.”
“Time Bandits,” an Apple TV+ series that begins streaming July 24, is based on the 1981 film of the same name directed by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam and co-written by him and frequent collaborator Michael Palin. Both the film and the series follow a ragtag band of time-traveling thieves, led by Kudrow as Penelope, who join forces with their newest recruit — an 11-year-old history buff named Kevin — as they journey through time on a quest to save the boy’s parents from evil forces.
While the series stays loyal to several key details and bits from the source material, Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, who created the series with Iain Morris, said it was important to them that the show didn’t feel like an imitation of the film.
