When Did Taxi Jump the Shark?

[TMC]

https://popculturereferences.com/whe...ump-the-shark/

In a feature looking at if or when a TV series "jumped the shark," Brian asks you all to determine when (or if) Taxi jumped the shark.



Today, we look at when (or if) you folks believe that Taxi “jumped the shark.”

This is “Just Can’t Jump It,” a feature where we examine shows and whether they “jumped the shark.” Jumped the shark (coined by Jon Hein) means that the show had a specific point in time where, in retrospect, you realize that show was going downhill from there (even if, in some rare occasions, the show later course-corrected). Not every show DOES jump the shark. Some shows just remain good all the way through. And some shows are terrible all the way through. What we’re looking for are moments where a show that you otherwise enjoyed hit a point where it took a noticeable nose dive after that time and if so, what moment was that?

Taxi was an acclaimed sitcom about a cab company in New York City, both the drivers, the dispatcher and the cab company’s mechanic. It has one of the most acclaimed sitcom ensembles of its era, with Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza, Andy Kaufman, Carol Kane, Jeff Conaway and Christopher Lloyd. It ran on ABC for four seasons, before being picked up for a fifth and final season by NBC in the 1982-83 season, paired with a new show by the main director of the series, Jim Borrows, and two of the main writers, Glen and Les Charles, some show about a bar in Boston.

So first…DID IT JUMP THE SHARK? I don’t think it did, no.

WHEN DID IT JUMP THE SHARK As noted, I don’t think it ever did. I think it was still putting out the same high quality episodes in its final season that it was in its first. I mean, like anything, the longer it was on, the stranger some of the relationships became (if only because certain characters seemed to be designed to be people who were only driving a cab until their next step in their life began, but because of the setup of the show, said next step never came), but it was still very, very well written and acted right to the end. It literally won Emmys for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress for its final season.

[Big D In Charge]

Damn right it didn't

[Chocolate Moose]

No. Never jumped.

[CJMD03]

Never do - BUT the Latka and Simka stuff kinda took over.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by CJMD03

Never do - BUT the Latka and Simka stuff kinda took over.

I wonder if Taxi did have anything remotely resembling a "jump the shark" moment it was when Andy Kaufman talked the producers into giving Latka "multiple personality disorder" so he could do different characters on the show from then on.

[markaleen]

I agree with this. Thankfully, where Latka wasn't in every episode, I think it helped the series as a whole avoid taking a questionable direction.