Phoebe Buffay trades Central Perk for time travel, as Lisa Kudrow joined Taika Waititi’s TV series adaptation of Terry Gilliam’s 1981 fantasy film Time Bandits.
Kudrow, who won an Emmy for Friends, will lead the cast of the Apple TV series. The show also cast seven other actors; Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up, This is 40, The Disaster Artist), Kal-El Tuck, Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Rune Temte, Kiera Thompson and Waititi regular Rachel House.
Waititi is the co-writer of the series and will direct the first two episodes. Waititi has his fingers in a lot of TV pies right now – he’s executive producer of the fantasy series What We Do in the Shadows (based on Waititi’s 2014 film), he created Reservation Dogs for Hulu and stars in the comedy series Our Flag Means Death for HBO Max.
Terry Gilliam was a member of the legendary Monty Python comedy troupe. Time Bandits is his second solo film, following Jabberwocky in 1977. Python members John Cleese (who plays Robin Hood) and Michael Palin have roles in Time Bandits, which follows a young boy who joins a band of time-traveling dwarves in search of choice loot they can steal. R2-D2 actor Kenny Baker plays one of the main dwarves – Fidgit. Some memorable cameos come from Ian Holm, who plays Napoleon, and Sean Connery as Agamemnon.
Time Bandits lends itself well to a TV series because each episode can follow an adventure in a different time period. Time travel is an ingenious way to escape after committing a diabolical heist. Waititi has similar sensibilities to Gilliam – both in a sense of humor and in terms of working in the realms of surreal fantasy.
Outside of Friends, some of Kudrow’s notable roles in comedies and TV shows include Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion, Analyze This, Easy A, Bad Neighbors, Booksmart, and Space Force.
It looks like there will be a lot to look forward to from the Time Bandits TV series. In the meantime, check out our guide to the best TV series.
