Apple TV+ cancels Time Bandits after one season

The other month, Apple TV+ aired the season finale to Time Bandits, its TV update of Terry Gilliam's 1981 time-hopping adventure movie. Now, not 30 days later, the streamer has opted to call it quits. Time Bandits is canceled, according to The A.V. Club.

We enjoyed the loose, family-friendly tone of Time Bandits, which starred Lisa Kudrow as the head of a time-traveling band of merry robbers and Kal-El Tuck as the young history nerd who joined them on their adventures. But you'd be forgiven if you didn't even know this series existed. Despite having some big names behind it — the show was created by Iain Morris, Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, the latter two of whom also created What We Do In The Shadows — there wasn't much buzz about it. Considering that it cost a pretty penny to make — building sets for every new era the Time Bandits visit doesn't come cheap — it's not a giant shock to hear it's over.

But it's still kind of surprising coming from Apple, which has a history of throwing tons of money at expensive sci-fi shows even if they don't make many waves. For All Mankind is a great alternate history series that's been on the air for five seasons, Foundation is a lavish sci-fi series that's moving forward despite not enjoying much positive word of mouth, and Apple made three seasons of a post-apocalyptic show called See starring Jason Momoa as a blind warrior chieftain. Apple is one of the most profitable companies in history, so it can afford to give its shows time to find their footing.

But the streamer rarely spends the same amount on marketing that it does on production, which is part of why so many of these expensive series don't penetrate the wider discussion. Apple's biggest hits — including Ted Lasso, Severance and Slow Horses — got where they are mostly because of positive word of mouth. And even there, spending seems out of control. If you watched the first season of Severance, you probably wouldn't guess that the second season cost $20 million per episodes, but it's apparently true.

That age of unbridled spending seems to be coming to an end. Even behemoths like Apple are tightening their belts, and shows like Time Bandits are the first to go. Bon voyage.

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