'' is an award-winning
American Sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on
ABC , and from 1982 to 1983 on
NBC . The series focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of
New York City Taxi drivers working for the fictional "Sunshine Cab Company", as well as their abusive dispatcher. The show was produced by the
John Charles Walters Company and funded by
Paramount .
A non-fiction article entitled "Hip-Shifting for the Night Fleet" by Mark Jacobson, which appeared in the September 22, 1975 issue of ''
New York '' magazine, helped suggest the idea for the show to
James L. Brooks and
David Davis , though nothing from it was actually used.Jeff Sorensen, ''The Taxi Book'', St. Martin's Press, 1987, p. 3. The article was a profile of several drivers who worked the night shift for a New York cab company. (A persistent urban legend claims that the show was based on the
Harry Chapin song, "
Taxi ".)
It was ranked 48th in
TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows Of All Time .
Much of the show focuses on the main characters aspiring to achieve something more fulfilling than driving a taxi. Few of the cabbies identify themselves as drivers; they have other jobs despite being unable to make a living from them. Elaine is a receptionist at an art gallery, Tony is a boxer with a losing record, and Bobby is a struggling actor. John Burns, who was written out of the show after the first season, is working his way through college. The rest of the drivers get "Reverend Jim" Ignatowski, an aging hippie minister burnt out from drugs, a job as a cabbie out of pity. Many episodes involve one of the characters having an opportunity to realize his or her dream and move up in the world, only to see it yanked away. Only Alex, older and disillusioned with life, considers himself a cab driver (see Quotes).
Despite the zany humor regularly featured on the show, there is an undercurrent of despair and sadness to ''Taxi''. The show often tackled such dramatic issues as
Drug Addiction ,
Single Parenthood ,
Blindness ,
Bisexuality , teenage
Runaways ,
Failed Marriages ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Pre-menstrual Mood Disorders , and the loss of a loved one.
- (''' Judd Hirsch ''') - Alex is the sensible, compassionate core of the show, the one everyone else turns to for advice. At one point, he reveals his frustration with this unwanted burden. He once worked in an office, with a good chance of advancement, but lost his job due to his refusal to follow the company line. He was married to Phyllis Bornstein ( Louise Lasser ). When his wife divorced him because of his lack of ambition, she sought sole custody of their baby daughter, Cathy; he gave in rather than fight. He is also estranged from his philandering father, Joe ( Jack Gilford ). Alex is a recovered compulsive gambler, although he relapses in one episode. A pessimist, he has resigned himself to driving a cab for the rest of his life.
- (''' Danny DeVito ''') - The dispatcher for the Sunshine Cab Company is the boss from Hell . He not only has no morals to speak of, he positively revels in his misdeeds. Nothing is beneath him, from taking advantage of a drunken friend of his sometime-girlfriend Zena Sherman (played by real-life wife Rhea Perlman ) to gambling with a young boy to stealing from the company. He lives with his mother (DeVito's real mother, Julia, in two episodes). Under the amoral exterior beats a heart of pure lead. TV Guide ranked De Palma first on its List of the 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time.
- (''' Marilu Henner ''') - Elaine is a beautiful divorced mother of two struggling to cope, while trying to realize her ambitions in the field of fine art. The object of lust of Louie, she is attracted to characters played by actors ranging from Tom Selleck to Wallace Shawn .
- (''' Tony Danza ''') - The sweet-natured, if somewhat dimwitted boxer has little success in pugilism. In fact, Louie makes a lot of money betting against him. Finally, the boxing commission takes away his license because he has been knocked out one too many times. Danza actually was a professional boxer.
- (''' Jeff Conaway ''') (1978-1982) - Bobby is a shallow, conceited actor whose pretensions are Louie's favorite target. Success eludes Bobby. Once, he is signed up by a famous manager, but it turns out she doesn't 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.
- (né Caldwell) (''' Christopher Lloyd ''') (1979-1983) - A burned-out relic of the '60s, Jim lives in a world of his own. He was once a hard-working, serious 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. The cabbies take pity on him and help him pass a written exam to become one of them, in a particularly memorable episode (see Quotes). He occasionally exhibits unexpected talents, such as the ability to play the piano masterfully. '' TV Guide '' placed Ignatowski 32nd on its list of the "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time".
- (''' Andy Kaufman ''') - Latka is an immigrant from a very strange land, often speaking in his invented foreign tongue ("ibi da", "nik nik"). He works as a mechanic, fixing the taxis. Latka was an adaptation of the "Foreign Man" character Kaufman originated in his stand-up comedy act. He grew tired of the gag, so the writers gave Latka multiple personality disorder, allowing Kaufman to play other types of characters. This usually manifests itself as a repellent, smooth-talking lounge-lizard persona calling himself Vic Ferrari. In one episode however, he becomes Alex, with profound insights into "his" life. Just when he is about to reveal to the real Alex the perfect solution for all his problems, he reverts back to Latka.
- (''' Carol Kane ''') (1980-1983) - 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 for him.
- ('''Randall Carver''') (1978-1979) - The naive young man works as a cabbie to pay for college. According to Carver, "...the characters of John Burns and Tony Banta were too similar...Some of the lines were almost interchangeable..."Jeff Sorensen, ''The Taxi Book'', St. Martin's Press, 1987, p. 39., so he was dropped after the first season without explanation. Several years later the producers tried this type of character again, with greater success, as Woody Boyd on '' Cheers ''.
- ('''J. Alan Thomas''') - Sunshine Cab's assistant dispatcher, he shares the "cage" with Louie but rarely speaks or interacts with the other characters. One exception is the Season 5 episode "Crime and Punishment", wherein Louie turns Jeff in for stealing car parts from the company and selling them on the black market (a crime for which Louie is himself the culprit).
The show was acclaimed by critics, but it was never a major ratings success. It performed respectably during its first two seasons, even placing in the Top Ten in its first season behind the ABC powerhouse line-up of ''
Happy Days '', ''
Laverne & Shirley '', and ''
Three's Company '', but numbers plummeted when it was moved from that secure time-slot into more competitive positions. The show was cancelled in 1982 by ABC. The show was then picked up for its fifth and final season by NBC, being paired at first on Thursday night with ''
Cheers ''.
The show's seasonal ratings were as follows:
''Taxi'' is one of the most lauded television shows in American history. During its run, the sitcom was nominated for 31
Emmy Awards and won 18, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series. It was also nominated for 25
Golden Globes , with four wins (three for Best TV Series - Musical/Comedy). In
1979 , it received the
Humanitas Prize in the 30 minute category.
- Comedy Series (1979-1981)
- Lead Actor in a Comedy Series - Judd Hirsch (1981, 1983)
- Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Ruth Gordon (1979)
- Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Carol Kane (1982)
- Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Carol Kane (1983)
- Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - Danny DeVito (1981)
- Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - Christopher Lloyd (1982, 1983)
- Directing in a Comedy Series - James Burrows (1980, 1981)
- Writing in a Comedy Series - Michael Leeson (1981)
- Writing in a Comedy Series - Ken Estin (1982)
- Film Editing for a Series - M. Pam Blumenthal (1979-81), Jack Michon (1981)
- Best Television Series-Comedy (1979-1981), tied in 1980 with '' Alice ''
- Best TV Supporting Actor - Danny DeVito (1980), tied with Vic Tayback in ''Alice''
- Comedy Series (1982, 1983)
- Lead Actor in a Comedy Series - Judd Hirsch (1979, 1980, 1982)
- Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Eileen Brennan (1981)
- Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - Danny DeVito (1979, 1982, 1983)
- Directing in a Comedy Series - James Burrows (1982)
- Writing in a Comedy Series - Michael Leeson (1979)
- Writing in a Comedy Series - Glen Charles and Les Charles (1980, 1981)
- Writing in a Comedy Series - David Lloyd (1981)
- Writing in a Comedy Series - Barry Kemp and Holly Holmberg Brooks (1982)
- Writing in a Comedy Series - Ken Estin (1983)
- Television Series-Comedy (1982-1984)
- Actor in a TV Series-Comedy - Judd Hirsch (1979-1983)
- TV Supporting Actress - Marilu Henner (1979-1983)
- TV Supporting Actress - Carol Kane (1983)
- TV Supporting Actor - Tony Danza (1980)
- TV Supporting Actor - Danny DeVito (1979, 1981, 1982)
- TV Supporting Actor - Jeff Conaway (1979, 1980)
- TV Supporting Actor - Andy Kaufman (1979, 1981)
According to ''The Taxi Book'', David Lloyd, a veteran of ''
The Mary Tyler Moore Show '' (he wrote the award-winning "Chuckles Bites the Dust" script), was responsible for the episodes "Jim Gets a Pet", "Elaine's Strange Triangle", "Louie Bumps into an Old Lady", "Jim Joins the Network", "Nina Loves Alex", "Alex the Gofer" and "Louie Moves Uptown", while Ken Estin wrote "What Price Bobby?", "Alex Jumps Out of an Airplane", "Fledgling", "Vienna Waits", "Tony's Lady", "The Schloogel Show", and "Jim's Inheritance". Other notable writers were
Glen Charles ,
Les Charles , Howard Gewirtz, Katherine Green, Daniel Kallis, Barry Kemp, Michael Leeson, Earl Pomerantz, Ian Praiser and Sam Simon. The writers combined for two Emmy wins (Estin, Leeson) and five nominations.
''
Deep Space Nine '' producer
Ira Steven Behr tried and failed to sell a script about Louie DePalma's outrage when the sleazy uncle he idolizes has a religious conversion and becomes a nice guy. Behr reworked the story for a ''Deep Space Nine'' episode where Quark the
Ferengi has a similar experience with the
Grand Nagus .
: ''
first meeting Alex '': I'm only going to be working here part-time. I'm not really a taxi driver.
:: Oh yeah, I know. We're all part-time here. You see that guy over there? Now he's an actor. The guy on the phone, he's a prize fighter. This lady over here, she's a beautician. The man behind her, he's a writer. Me? I'm a cab driver. I'm the only cab driver in this place.
: ''
a written driving test '': Pssst. What does a yellow light mean?
:: Slow down.
:: Okay. What...does...a...yellow...light...mean?
:: Slow down!
: ''
befuddled '': Okay. Whaaat...doooeees...aaa...yeeel-looow...liiight...meeeaaan?
:Director
James Burrows instructed Conaway and Lloyd to continue repeating their lines until he called ''cut''. The gag wound up being performed at least a half-dozen times in the studio until the audience laughter finally died down. Henner (who was also in the scene) can be seen stabbing her hand with a pen in order to avoid laughing.
The opening titles show a cab driving across the
Queensboro Bridge . The footage was originally intended to be a "bridge" between scenes and is only about fifteen seconds long. Parts of it are subtly repeated a couple of times to accommodate the entire credits. Tony Danza drove the cab in the sequence. He was already in New York in order to shoot a scene that would air in the first season finale. It ended up being the only scene in the whole series actually filmed in New York.
The external shot of the Sunshine Cab Company was an actual garage in New York's West Village. The building has since been demolished. The site now contains an apartment building and a
Rite Aid .
"Angela", the show's instrumental
Theme Song , was written and performed by
Bob James . It was originally written for a sequence in the second episode, but producers liked it better than the original, more uptempo opening theme.
Danny DeVito hosted an episode of ''
Saturday Night Live '' soon after ''Taxi'' was canceled after the fourth season. 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 pick up the show. HBO was also interested in renewing the series for a fifth season after ABC's cancellation.
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 and Christopher Lloyd all reprised their roles. The only two who didn't were Danny DeVito, who produced and co-starred in the film as Kaufman's manager, George Shapiro, and Tony Danza, who declined to participate.
Kaufman wanted his stage character
Tony Clifton to appear on the show. "Clifton" was hired for a guest role, but after throwing a tantrum on stage, had to be escorted off of the Paramount studio lot by security guards. The incident was recreated for ''Man on the Moon''.
Paramount Home Entertainment has released the first three seasons of ''Taxi'' on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. It is unknown if the remaining 2 seasons will be released at some point.
Lovece, Frank and Franco, Jules. Hailing Taxi: The Official Book of the Show. New York: Prentice Hall. 1988.
