I almost gave up when I took a nap and had a vision of what was happening. Over the last several days, I have been trying to get python scripts to run on my shared 1&1 hosting service.
Being shared was one thing, being 1and1 yet another. I want to share my plight and, ultimately, my success in getting a python script to run.
Most important to consider in your troubleshooting: If you're getting an "HTTP error 500 Internal Server Error", then this will probably help you!