‘Time Bandits’ show reinvigorates Monty Python film with Lisa Kudrow-led ensemble

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.

“We had to be different as not to just be thieving or tracing over what they had,” Clement said.

In the biggest departure from the original film, the bandits are not played by actors with dwarfism — a move that the duo said was swiftly criticized by the dwarfism community when the casting was announced early in the show’s development. Abbie Purvis, the granddaughter of original film actor Jack Purvis, took to TikTok to condemn the casting choice, saying "for a generation that is so big on talking about inclusivity and diversity and making sure that everyone’s heard, this whole casting choice just seems absurd.”

Waititi said he and his co-writers initially wrote the script with some of the main cast as people with dwarfism but he doesn’t think the film “should be defined because of the presence of little people in it.”

They ultimately went with different actors. Clement said the creative team wrestled with the casting decision, referencing “two big sides of this debate”: “Whether it’s right to stereotype little people as magical creatures, and then also whether, by not doing that, you’re cutting out jobs for smaller actors.”

Following the casting announcement, Clement said they “reacted to those complaints and added parts for some smaller actors,” saying that should the series be renewed for a second season, those roles would be more prominently featured.

Waititi and Clement both appear in the series themselves in recurring roles. The duo is known for their work on “What We Do in the Shadows” — a movie and FX series — and Waititi has also directed and appeared in major films, including “Jojo Rabbit” and two “Thor” movies.

The child actor who holds the show together as Kevin is Kal-El Tuck, who had appeared in a handful of short films before he was cast as the series' leading character. He said he didn’t watch the original film as he didn’t want it to color his performance.

“I wanted to be my Kevin, no one else’s Kevin,” Tuck said. “I wanted to be my way of doing Kevin.”

Kudrow praised her young co-star, calling him a “giving actor” and noting that many of the quips and much of the banter among the bandits were improvised. The “Friends” alum also said she was initially nervous to work on the project.

“I was, of course, scared, like ‘Uh oh, they’ll think they made a mistake,’ because you can’t help it, you have that insecurity, and ‘Do I have the right tone for this?’ and all of that, but it was just fun,” Kudrow said, noting that she felt like she was “playing” while on set.

While it does stray from the beloved film, “Time Bandits” brings the story to a new generation and strives to honor the original’s humor and heart.

“There’s always a pressure of making anything, but we don’t want to anger fans of the original movie, of course,” Clement said before Waititi quipped: “We’re scared of fans.”

This image released by Apple TV+ shows, from left, Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Lisa Kudrow, Kal-El Tuck, Kiera Thompson and Rune Temte from the series "Time Bandits." (Matt Grace/Apple TV+ via AP)

FILE - Lisa Kudrow appears at the taping of the special "Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter and Love" in Los Angeles on March 2, 2023. Kudrow stars in the Apple TV+ series "Time Bandits," premiering July 24. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

This image released by Apple TV+ shows, from left, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Lisa Kudrow, Rune Temte, and Charlyne Yi in a scene from the series "Time Bandits." (Apple TV+ via AP)

This image released by Apple TV+ shows, from left, Rune Temte, Lisa Kudrow and Roger Jean Nsengiyumva in a scene from the series "Time Bandits." (Matt Grace/Apple TV+ via AP)

This image released by Apple TV+ shows, from left, Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Lisa Kudrow, Kal-El Tuck, Kiera Thompson and Rune Temte from the series "Time Bandits." (Matt Grace/Apple TV+ via AP)

This image released by Apple TV+ shows Lisa Kudrow in a scene from the series "Time Bandits." (Matt Grace/Apple TV+ via AP)

HONOLULU (AP) — Hone passed south of Hawaii and weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm on Sunday, dumping so much rain that the National Weather Service called off its red flag warnings that strong winds could lead to wildfires on the drier sides of the islands.

Meanwhile, the eastern Pacific saw a new threat emerge as Tropical Storm Hector formed, packing top sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect as Hector churned far out at sea, the National Hurricane Center said.

Hone (pronounced hoe-NEH) had top winds of 70 mph (110 kph) Sunday night as it swirled slowly past Hawaii about 180 miles (290 kilometers) southwest of Honolulu and 185 miles (300 kilometers) south of Lihue, according to an 11 p.m. advisory from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

Jon Jelsema, a senior forecaster at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, said earlier Sunday that tropical storm force winds were blowing across the island’s southeast-facing slopes, carrying up to a foot (30 centimeters) or more of rain.

Floods closed Highway 11 between Kona and Hilo, and a higher-altitude alternative, the Cane Road, was closed by flooding as well, isolating properties like the Aikane Plantation Coffee Co. outside Pahala, where owner Phil Becker said his 10-inch (25-centimeter) rain gauge overflowed in the deluge.

“We’ve got quite a lot of flood damage, the gulches are running full speed ahead and they’re overflowing the bridges, so we’re trapped down here, we can’t get in or out,” Becker said Sunday.

Becker said his plantation is off the grid, powered with batteries charged by solar electricity, and his family is safe, so they have no reason to evacuate. The weather may even prove beneficial: “We’ve been in a drought situation so the coffee is probably loving all this rain,” he said.

Hurricane Gilma, meanwhile, weakened to a still-major Category 3 hurricane Saturday night, but it was far east of Hawaii and forecast to weaken into a depression before it reaches the islands. Gilma was expected to remain a hurricane through Tuesday and at 11 p.m. Sunday was 1,260 miles (2,025 kilometers) east of Hilo with top winds of 100 mph (155 kph).

Shelters were opened as Hurricane Hone blew in and beach parks on the eastern side of the Big Island were closed due to dangerously high surf, Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said.

Jelsema offered a vivid metaphor for the rainfall: “As the rain gets pushed up the mountain terrain it wrings it out, kind of like wringing out a wet towel,” he said.

“It’s been really soaking those areas, there’s been flooding of roads. Roads have been cut off by high flood waters there in the windward sections of the big island, and really that’s the only portion of the state that’s had much flooding concern at this point,” he said.

Hone, whose name is Hawaiian for “sweet and soft,” poked at memories still fresh of last year's deadly blazes on Maui, which were fueled by hurricane-force winds. Red flag alerts are issued when warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds combine to raise fire dangers. Most of the archipelago is already abnormally dry or in drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The Aug. 8, 2023, blaze that torched the historic town of Lahaina was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, with 102 dead. Dry, overgrown grasses and drought helped spread the fire.

Calvin Endo, a Waianae Coast neighborhood board member who lives in Makaha, a leeward Oahu neighborhood prone to wildfires, has worried for years about dry brush on private property behind his home. He's taken matters into his own hands by clearing the brush himself, but he's concerned about nearby homes abutting overgrown vegetation.

“All you need is fire and wind and we’ll have another Lahaina,” Endo said as the storm approached. “I notice the wind started to kick up already."

The cause of the Lahaina blaze is still under investigation, but it’s possible it was ignited by bare electrical wire and leaning power poles toppled by the strong winds. The state’s two power companies, Hawaiian Electric and the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, were prepared to shut off power if necessary to reduce the chance that live, damaged power lines could start fires, but they later said the safety measures would not be necessary as Hone blew past the islands.

Roth said a small blaze that started Friday night in Waikoloa, on the dry side of the Big Island, was brought under control without injuries or damage.

Walker reported from New York.

This Aug. 25, 2024 satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Hone passing south of Hawaii. (NOAA via AP)

This image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Hone as it continues to track to the west toward the Hawaiian Islands, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via AP)