In the documentary "The Meaning of Making 'The Meaning of Life" (2003), John Cleese said that the sequence, originally written by Jones and Michael Palin, was initially rejected. Cleese said the initial version had suffered from a flawed construction, so he rewrote it with Graham Chapman. At the "U.S. Comedy Arts Festival — Tribute to Monty Python" it was claimed Cleese was taken with the unflappable maître d' character. Jones thought Creosote should be played by fellow Python Terry Gilliam, before Gilliam persuaded Jones to play the role instead.