Review Taxi (1978)

Mad_Monster_Party

Sandbox Chief Commissioner
MV5BMTM5Nzg2NTA2OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjk5MzYyMQ@@._V1_.jpg


The staff of a New York City taxicab company go about their job while they dream of greater things.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Thoughts on Taxi?

before this year I had seen a handful of episodes, probaby between 5 and 10, but that was about it. But I have started watching it more and more in the last few months and have gotten into it more.

What are your thoughts and opinions on it?

Thanks for any comments in advance!!!:emoji_alien:
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
MV5BMTM5Nzg2NTA2OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjk5MzYyMQ@@._V1_.jpg


Taxi

Created by
Starring
Theme music composer Bob James
Opening theme "Angela"
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 114 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time
24 minutes
Production company(s)
Distributor
Release
Original network

  • ABC (1978–1982)
  • NBC (1982–1983)
Original release September 12, 1978 – June 15, 1983
Taxi is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 12, 1978 to May 6, 1982 and on NBC from September 30, 1982 to June 15, 1983. The series—which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series—focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher. Taxi was produced by the John Charles Walters Company, in association with Paramount Network Television, and was created by James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed Weinberger.


 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10

Cast of the debut season (ABC, 1978–79). From left to right: (back) Marilu Henner, Judd Hirsch; (middle) Andy Kaufman, Jeff Conaway, Tony Danza; (front) Randall Carver, Danny DeVito

Cast of the final season (NBC, 1982–83). From left to right: (back) Kaufman, Carol Kane, DeVito, Hirsch; (front) Danza, Henner, Christopher Lloyd
  • Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch) – Alex is the main protagonist in the sitcom, the compassionate, level-headed core of the show; the one everyone else turns to for advice. At one point, he reveals his anxiety with this unwanted burden. He once worked in an office, with a good chance of advancement, but lost this job owing to his refusal to follow the company line. He was married to Phyllis Bornstein (Louise Lasser), and when she divorced him because of his lack of ambition she sought sole custody of their baby daughter, Cathy. He gave in rather than fight it. He is also estranged from his lothario father, Joe (Jack Gilford). Alex is a recovered compulsive gambler, although he relapses in one episode. A deadpan cynic, he has resigned himself to driving a cab for the rest of his life.
  • Robert L. "Bobby" Wheeler (Jeff Conaway) (1978–1981, recurring 1981–1982) – Bobby is an optimistically naive, struggling actor whose flamboyance is Louie's favourite target. Success as an actor eludes Bobby. Once, he is signed up by a famous manager, but it turns out she does not want to represent him, she only wants him as a lover. Another time he is cast in a pilot for a soap opera called Boise. The show goes into production, but his part is recast. Conaway left the show after Season 3, but made guest appearances in Season 4. On The Howard Stern Show, Taxi writer Sam Simon said that when Conaway was absent during the production of one episode, his dialogue was reassigned to the other cast members who delivered the jokes as well or better, which made the producers realize that Conaway was expendable.[1]
  • Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito) – Louie is the main antagonist of the sitcom. The vain head dispatcher of the Sunshine Cab Company, Louie spends his time holding court inside the caged-in dispatch office at the garage, arguing with and bullying the drivers. He not only lacks morals, he is openly proud of his misdemeanors and outright crimes. Louie will do anything to benefit himself, from taking advantage of a drunken friend of his on, off girlfriend Zena Sherman (played by DeVito's real-life wife Rhea Perlman), to gambling with a young boy, to stealing from the company, to even spying on Elaine while she is changing (almost costing him his job). He lives with his mother (DeVito's real mother, Julia, in two episodes). On very rare occasions he helps his workers, as in the episode in which a cruel hairstylist (played by Ted Danson) gives Elaine a garish makeover just before a very important event, it is Louie who bolsters her confidence to confront him. In 1999, TV Guide ranked De Palma first on its list of the 50 greatest TV characters of all time.[2]
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
  • Elaine O'Connor Nardo (Marilu Henner) – Elaine is a divorced mother of two, struggling to cope while trying to realize her ambitions in the field of fine art. Louie's object of lust, she is attracted to characters played by actors ranging from Tom Selleck to Wallace Shawn. The last name for the character was taken from Patricia Nardo, a scriptwriter, former secretary, and close friend of Taxi co-creator James L. Brooks.[3]
  • Anthony Mark "Tony" Banta (Tony Danza) – The kind-hearted, slow-witted, boxer has little success in the sport (in one episode Banta gives his record as 8 wins, 24 losses and he has been knocked out 14 times). In fact, Louie makes a lot of money betting against him (when Banta makes a conscious decision to throw a fight, Louie decides to bet on Banta because the only way Banta can remain a loser in such a situation is to win). Finally, the boxing commission takes away his license because he has been knocked out one too many times. In the final season, Tony is introduced to new girlfriend Vicki (Anne De Salvo) by Simka. He and Vicki have a falling out after she becomes pregnant by him, but reconcile and get married. The last name for the character was taken from Gloria Banta, a scriptwriter and close friend of Taxi co-creator James L. Brooks.[4]
  • Reverend Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd) (guest star 1978, main cast 1979–1983) – A washed-up figure of the 1960s, Jim lives in a world of his own. He was once a diligent, mature student at Harvard University, with an extremely wealthy father (Victor Buono), but one bite of a drug-laden brownie was enough to get him hooked and send him into a downward spiral. His real last name had been Caldwell; he changed it to Ignatowski, thinking that the backward pronunciation of that name was "Star Child". In a particularly memorable episode, the cabbies help him pass a written exam to become one of them. He occasionally exhibits unexpected talents, such as the ability to play the piano masterfully (much to his own surprise). TV Guide placed Ignatowski 32nd on its list of the 50 greatest TV characters.
  • Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman) – Latka is an immigrant from a strange foreign land, often speaking in his foreign tongue (actually composed of gibberish, often using invented phrases such as "ibi da" or "nik nik"), but when speaking English he speaks with a very heavy accent. He works as a mechanic, fixing the taxis. Latka was an adaptation of Kaufman's "Foreign Man" character, which he originated in his stage act. In this act, "Foreign Man" claimed to be from Caspiar, an island (which does not actually exist) in the Caspian Sea. Kaufman, feeling that he had lost creative control over the character he had created, eventually grew tired of the gag, leading the writers to give Latka multiple personality disorder. This allowed Kaufman to play other characters, the most frequent being a repellent, smooth-talking lounge-lizard persona calling himself Vic Ferrari. In one episode, Latka becomes Alex, with profound insights into "his" life. Just as he is about to reveal to the real Alex the perfect solution for all his problems, he reverts to Latka.
  • Simka Dahblitz-Gravas (Carol Kane) (recurring 1980–1982, starring 1982–1983) – She is from the same country as Latka. They belong to different ethnic groups which traditionally detest each other, but they fall in love and eventually get married. She is much more assertive than her husband, often standing up to Louie on his behalf.
  • John Burns (Randall Carver) (1978–1979) – The naive young man works as a cabbie to pay for college, where he is working towards a degree in forestry. According to Carver, "...the characters of John Burns and Tony Banta were too similar.... Some of the lines were almost interchangeable...,"[5] so he was dropped after the first season without explanation. The premiere episode, "Like Father, Like Daughter," established that John started working for the cab company after he was a passenger in Alex's cab. John did not have change, so he had to ride with Alex to the garage to pay him. Once there, he started hanging around and eventually applied for a job. In the episode "The Great Line," he spontaneously marries a woman named Suzanne.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Recurring[edit]
  • Jeff Bennett (J. Alan Thomas) – Sunshine Cab's assistant dispatcher, he shares the "cage" with Louie but rarely speaks or interacts with the other characters. A quiet African-American man with an afro, Jeff appears throughout the show's run, initially as a bit part player and/or background performer. As the series progresses, Jeff gradually becomes more of a featured supporting player; his evolution culminates in a memorable storyline in the Season 5 episode "Crime and Punishment", in which Louie falsely accuses Jeff of stealing car parts from the company and selling them on the black market—a crime which Louie himself committed. Thomas appeared as himself in the 1999 film Man on the Moon.[6]
  • Tommy Jeffries (T.J. Castronova) – The bartender and waiter at Mario's, the restaurant where the group often hangs out. Tommy is pretty friendly with the whole gang, taking an interest in their personal lives.
  • Zena Sherman (Rhea Perlman) (1979–1982) – She begins a romantic relationship with Louie (played by Perlman's real-life husband DeVito), but marries someone else after they break up.
  • Greta Gravas (Susan Kellermann) (1979–1982) – Latka's mother. She has a short fling with Alex, which causes friction with Latka.
  • Phyllis Bornstein-Consuelos (Louise Lasser) (1980–1982) – Alex's ex-wife, with whom he had a daughter. Phyllis became fed up with his lack of ambition and remarried, but they remain strongly attracted to each other.
  • Cathy (Talia Balsam) (1978–1980) – Phyllis and Alex's daughter. In the first episode of the series, Alex finds out that Cathy, who was a baby when he and Phyllis divorced, is leaving to attend college in Portugal and he drives a long way to meet her for the first time since then. In a later episode, he attends Cathy's wedding.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Guest

Among the many guest stars, Ruth Gordon won an Emmy Award for her guest portrayal of Dee Wilcox in "Sugar Mama" (1979), and Eileen Brennan was nominated for an Emmy for her guest portrayal of Mrs. McKenzie in "Thy Boss's Wife" (1981). Actresses Marcia Wallace and Penny Marshall, psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers, cookie entrepreneur Wally "Famous" Amos, newscaster Edwin Newman, and boxing referee Jimmy Lennon portrayed themselves in separate episodes. George Wendt and Ted Danson, who appeared in separate episodes, went on to star in primary Taxi director Jim Burrows' next series, Cheers. Tom Selleck also had a memorable guest appearance, constituting one of the memorable fares of Cab 804, while Tom Hanks portrayed Reverend Jim's college roommate in the flashback episode "The Road Not Taken, Part 1."

WBC world welterweight champion Carlos Palomino appeared in the episode "One-Punch Banta" as himself (season 1, episode 2, original air date September 19, 1978). Allan Arbus, who portrayed US Army psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman in M*A*S*H, played his manager in the episode. Martial artist and professional wrestler Gene LeBell played himself in multiple episodes as the referee for Tony Banta's boxing matches.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Production

Taxi was inspired by the non-fiction article "Night-Shifting for the Hip Fleet" by Mark Jacobson, which appeared in the September 22, 1975 issue of New York magazine.[10] This article helped suggest the idea for the show to James L. Brooks and David Davis, though nothing from the article was used directly.[11] The article was a profile of several drivers who worked the night shift for a New York cab company.

The series was produced on Stage 23 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California, from July 5, 1978, to February 18, 1983.

When the series was cancelled by ABC, it seemed for a time that the premium cable television network HBO would pick up the series. When it did not, the series was picked up by NBC, which at first kept it on at its ABC time slot of Thursday 9:30 p.m following the first season of Cheers. An NBC promo for Taxi's move to the network featured Danny DeVito in character as Louie saying "Same time, better station!"
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Opening and closing sequence

The opening titles show a cab driving east across the Queensboro Bridge. The footage originally was intended as a "bridge" between scenes and is only about fifteen seconds long; parts of it are repeated to fill the opening. The closing version consisted of a cab driving into the night.

Theme music[edit]
Bob James wrote the opening theme, "Angela", which had been intended for a sequence in episode #3 ("Blind Date"). The producers liked this slower, more melancholy tune better than the up-tempo opening theme they had originally chosen ("Touchdown"), and were able to make the switch before the first episode aired. Both songs are on James' 1978 album, Touchdown.

In 1983, James released The Genie, an LP containing much of the incidental music he had written for Taxi during its run.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Cast reunions

Danny DeVito hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live soon after Taxi was canceled after the fourth season. During the opening monologue, DeVito read a letter supposedly from his mother asking God to forgive ABC for cancelling the show, adding that "but I'll understand if you don't." A filmed bit had him driving around New York looking morose until inspiration strikes, and he blows up the ABC building. In addition, the Taxi cast members were given an opportunity for closure, which up to that point had been denied them due to the abrupt cancellation. The actors took their "final" bows during DeVito's opening monologue, only to have NBC (which aired SNL) pick up the show.

Decades later, most of the cast returned to play their younger selves and briefly re-enact scenes for the Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon. Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Jeff Conaway, Carol Kane, Randall Carver, J. Alan Thomas and Christopher Lloyd all reprised their roles. The only two living members of the cast who did not were Danny DeVito, who produced and co-starred in the film as Kaufman's manager George Shapiro, and Tony Danza, who at the time of filming was performing in A View from the Bridge on Broadway.[13]

Several of the cast members (along with cast members from other Judd Hirsch and Bob Newhart vehicles) reunited in different roles for an episode of the Judd Hirsch/Bob Newhart series George & Leo.

In January 2009, Danny DeVito mentioned wanting to make a Taxi reunion movie
 

Mad_Monster_Party

Sandbox Chief Commissioner
View attachment 8067


Taxi

Created by
Starring
Theme music composer Bob James
Opening theme "Angela"
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 114 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time
24 minutes
Production company(s)
Distributor
Release
Original network

  • ABC (1978–1982)
  • NBC (1982–1983)
Original release September 12, 1978 – June 15, 1983
Taxi is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 12, 1978 to May 6, 1982 and on NBC from September 30, 1982 to June 15, 1983. The series—which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series—focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher. Taxi was produced by the John Charles Walters Company, in association with Paramount Network Television, and was created by James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed Weinberger.


Cool, thanks for all that info!!!:emoji_alien:
 
Top