Of all the characters who starred on Taxi, were there any who could've had a spinoff? OR Were they simply better as part of an ensemble?

http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/televisioncity/images/taxicast.JPG

Most of the characters on Taxi worked best as part of an ensemble. The one character I could see possibly working in a spinoff is Elaine.

I think the ensemble nature of the show was the dynamic that made it work. Frankly, I can't see any one character anchoring a show built around them.

But then again, many of the same creative people who worked on Taxi later worked on Cheers and many people thought that a spinoff based around the Frasier Crane character wouldn't fly, so who knows...?

If any character would have made good in his own spinoff, I think it would have been the character, Louie, but Danny Devito went on to become a big star instead. Of course Judd (Alex) was the star of Taxi already.

I suppose an Alex spinoff might have worked, as Judd played the lead character and anchor of Taxi. But that was such a great ensemble, it's hard to see any one of those characters out of that context.

I think the ensemble nature of the show was the dynamic that made it work. Frankly, I can't see any one character anchoring a show built around them.

But then again, many of the same creative people who worked on Taxi later worked on Cheers and many people thought that a spinoff based around the Frasier Crane character wouldn't fly, so who knows...?

:yeahthat

They each had their own little "pilots" from time to time. By that I mean the episodes where the cabbies tell stories about their lives or fantasies. In those scenes, we see the characters in a new environment. Of those, I could see Elaine with her own spin-off. Louie is funny but he might be a bit too much for a starring role. Tony might be okay if the supporting cast was good but I would bet that a Tony Banta spin-off would fail.

Of course Jim and Latka were mearly supporting characters and couldn't carry a show on their own.

I could see Bobby Wheeler as the main character in a spin-off following him to Hollywood.

I agree with the ensemble theory. Lots of great characters but I don't see anyone being really able to strike out on their own. Like Dr. Thong said, though, given the right creative team one never knows. I never thought Frasier would be as good as it was (in the first few seasons, anyway), nor did I think it would last that long.

Joey from Friends is a prime example of a character who really needed to be part of a group in order to work. It just didn't work as a spinoff, but at least NBC gave it two seasons instead of two weeks to find an audience.

:yeahthat