Time Bandits: Time Bandits (TV) (Full and Only Season)

September 17, 2024 5:16 AM - Season 1 (Full Season)

Taika Waititi, Jermaine Clement and Iain Morris take on Terry Gilliam's 1981 film in a 10-episode show in which an 11-year-old history nerd falls into cahoots with a band of inept thieves in possession of the Supreme Being's map of all of space and time.

We (Kitteh and I) came in with frankly low expectations, and partly bothered by the fact that the Bandits were not little people. We came out the other side beguiled and very fond of it.

It's a Very Taika Waititi kind of show; if you don't like his jazz and/or the comedy stylings of Flight of the Conchords, steer clear, as Jermaine Clement and Waititi's comedy sensibilities soak this through to the bone.

Nebbish history nerd Kevin (Kal-El Tuck; apparently Nicolas Cage isn't the only person naming kids Kal-El, which... okay, world, whatever) falls in with a group of inept time-and-space travelling thieves not-led by Lisa Kudrow's Penelope. While the Bandits don't immediately warm to Kevin, they quickly bond, with Kevin's history nerdery complementing the Bandits' flailing with The Map, an artifact of immense power that they (formerly shrubbery designers) stole from the Supreme Being (Waititi) and must keep out of the hands of Ultimate Evil (Clement).

It's a kids' show, and sweet as hell. Over time there isn't a single member of the cast that didn't grow on us greatly, including Kevin's sister Saffron, who is a very minor plot point for the first 8/10 of the series but turns out to be a highlight, innit, in the last two episodes, lolz. Everyone's a delight (I think Rune Temte's gentle, dim giant Bittelig grew to be my fave).

And -- spoilers -- it turns out at the end that there is a cadre of little people Time Bandits; they are being set up to be the the competent ones, and we've spent our first season with a group of bunglers.

It did take about two episodes for us to find the groove; Kudrow in particular is striving for a kind of off-putting incompetent-masquerading-as-competent thing that grated until I kind of locked into the character.

Kindness and gentleness are more or less through lines as the season goes on. Looking at online reviews, it clearly wasn't to everyone's taste, but we wound up having a big soft spot for it and we're sad it was cancelled.

posted by Shepherd (9 comments total)

Yup, I ate my words about my misgivings. It is very sweet and would be a great watch with kids. Whereas the original film leans into cynicism, the show does not and I did not expect that I would crave that. Like, as someone in her late 40s, a lot of our childhood/adolescent media didn't do "sweet". (It explains so much about a lot of us!)

I am aware that Charlyne Yi left the show midpoint because of abuse allegations against an unnamed costar; that sucks for them because they were quite fun in the show!
posted by Kitteh at 5:22 AM on September 17 [5 favorites]

This is very helpful. I'd heard about the Charlyne Yi situation and it made me a little hesitant. How much does this feel like Our Flag Means Death? (I guess, toned down content wise for kiddos?) Would this be something a six year would appreciate (as far as anyone can tell)?
posted by Atreides at 6:48 AM on September 17

Ah, dang, I hadn't heard it was cancelled. It wasn't must see TV, and kind of reminded me that I can't keep my childhood memories of Time Bandits and Baron Munchausen separate, but it was competent and had a good heart, and definitely had hooks in place for a second season.
posted by Kyol at 7:25 AM on September 17 [2 favorites]

Would this be something a six year would appreciate (as far as anyone can tell)?

I am not a parent and I am not your children's parent, so YMMV.

But I think so; there's a little violence but it's non-bloody "bonk on the head, fall from a great height but then get up" flavours; it is about thieves but they're pretty bad at it; there's an Ultimate Evil figure who lives in a hellish landscape with demon-type things and sometimes blows one of them up by pointing at it but in a pretty goofy way; there's a spooky demonic figure with glowing eyes stalking our heroes but once she starts talking she's kind of funny. Our 11 year old protagonist's parents get turned to coal but saved (ish) in the end.

I'd vaguely wave at it in a Spirited Away in terms of rough parallels for spooky stuff, weirdness and Themes. I've recommended it to my sister who has a 10-year-old history buff son.
posted by Shepherd at 10:40 AM on September 17 [3 favorites]

Thanks. Sort of sounds a bit less on the edge of nastiness the original had (not a complaint, just observation). I haven't shown my kid Spirited Away for the same reason that I didn't know if it might be a bit too much. Maybe I'll use it as a litmus test, though!
posted by Atreides at 8:32 AM on September 18

Uh-oh! Write-up and tag-wise, you have fallen for one of the classic blunders:

• Getting involved with a land war in Asia
• Going against a Sicilian when death is on the line
• Inserting an extraneous "r" into the name of Jemaine Clement

posted by Nerd of the North at 9:48 PM on September 18 [1 favorite]

Enjoyed this, thought the show was set up well for more seasons, and so disappointed at the cancellation. Definitely identified with the history nerd kid.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:36 PM on September 18

We loved it, especially the Ice Age and the saving-the-parents-while-they're-young episodes. Kevin's family transforms from awful to wonderful. That's so great! Also, Jemaine was utterly hilarious in the Evil outfit.
posted by tomboko at 4:52 AM on September 19 [1 favorite]

It also confirmed what we all knew about cats, too.
posted by Kitteh at 5:04 AM on September 19