New fan of "Taxi" - my review of this iconic & hilarious series

[Latka Gravas]

Last Fall, I watched - for the first time - all 5 seasons of the classic TV sit-com "Taxi" (1978-1983) on DVD, set in NYC & revolving around a group of cab drivers. This series was one of those that started off extremely strong, and continued that way throughout the series. This is one of the few sitcoms where I saw about 2-3 episodes in the '80's (either on their first release or in re-runs). Though, I never got into the show that much at the time due to being a kid & not really appreciating the humor. As with Cheers & Night Court (which I also recently watched for the first time) I'm glad I waited to watch the show as an adult; I'm appreciating it a lot more, and seeing the series chronologically on the DVD's is - IMHO - the best way to watch the show (yes, I think the DVD's are better than streaming).

Though some episodes were better than others, overall the show was always very funny & entertaining - but also quite poignant/touching at times. I like how all of the Taxi Drivers look out for each other, and were genuine friends even outside of work.

-One of the funniest S01 episodes is when Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito) wants to go to his 20th high school reunion, but has misgivings because he thinks everyone will make fun of him - just like they did in high school. So, Bobby Wheeler (the late Jeff Conaway) goes "in disguise" as Louie & explains the reason he's so much taller is because of a fictitious "growth spurt" that happened in college - LOL. Great episode.

-Another great S01 episode was when Louie De Palma is "hired" to be the "location coordinator" on a big-budget Hollywood film about Taxi drivers; the Hollywood film crew were planning on staying in the taxi depot/garage for a somewhat lengthy film shoot, and Louie was going to be paid well for his "trouble". However, the shoot got cancelled when the crew was with Louie & the other Taxi drivers "celebrating" at an expensive hotel suite, and everyone had to leave. Louie, very upset that his "cash cow" had disappeared, decided to still get something out of the experience - by ripping off some expensive towels & soap from the hotel bathroom - LOL!!! What a cheap-skate - ha ha.

-Christopher Lloyd is my favorite character on the show; his first appearance on the show (Season 1) was as burned-out ex-hippie minister named "Reverend Jim Ignatowski"; he married Latka & a prostitute so Latka could get his green card. Hilarious episode & Lloyd made me laugh out loud here; he acted so zonked out & disoriented that I was surprised he could string even two words together - hilarious.

[Latka Gravas]

Continuing my review of Taxi:

-At one point, Louie De Palma is dating Xena (sp?), a woman who comes into the taxi place to refill the candy/coffee machine; she is played by Rhea Perlman, better known as "Carla" on Cheers (though her appearance(s) on Taxi pre-dates Cheers). After they date for a while, Xena wants Louie to meet her parents. However Louie, afraid he may put his "foot in his mouth", brings Alex along for guidance/support. As it turns out, Louie unintentionally says many inappropriate, awkward things & Xena's parents are disgusted with him, though they're too polite to say anything in front of everyone. However, towards the end of the visit, Xena's mother takes Louie aside & forbids them to marry; if they do, she threatens to hire a hit man to "take Louie out" - HA! HA! Extremely funny. And, what makes this even more hilarious is that Perlman & DeVito are married IRL.

- Jim Ignatowski (Lloyd) buys a race horse with the winnings from his betting(s) at the track. And, since he's so clueless & out of it, he doesn't realize that an apartment in NYC is probably not the best place to house a horse. When the gang visits his apartment to see how he & the horse are doing, they find out that the horse has actually been dead a couple of days - and Ignatowski was completely unaware of this. Very funny in a morbid way. Also, this is the first episode where we see Ignatowski's apartment - the decor somewhat reflects his fractured mindset - LOL.

-Carol Kane - one of my favorite actresses - is introduced in S02 as someone from Latka's country. The combination of her hilarious real high-pitched voice (she sounds like a little kid) & her speaking in the ridiculous made-up language is hilarious. She & Latka get married in a later season.

Going along with this, what's hilarious about Latka's non-specific foreign language is that Andy Kaufman (and others who speak this, including the Kane character) seem to be just making up the nonsensical words as they go along - which obviously adds to the humor.

-In some later episodes, the uncertain Latka experiences a split personality, and becomes "Vic Ferrari", a smooth talking, sharp dressing lounge lizard - LOL.

-One of the best episodes in S05 was when Louie Di Palma was trying to get accepted to live in a high-end apartment/condo. In order to do this, he needed to be interviewed by the board at the apartment. Right before he went in for his interview, you saw the board interviewing the late actress/director Penny Marshall (best known as Laverne in the iconic sitcom Laverne & Shirley) who was playing herself on Taxi. However, despite her stature as a famous actress & a great income, she was still turned down because the board had extremely high standards & didn't want anyone from "the entertainment industry" living there - LOL. The later scene when she showed her disdain for the apartment board (by showing them her backside) was hilarious & unexpected - ha ha.

[Latka Gravas]

Other trivia about the show:

-The great Jim Carrey film Man on the Moon (1999) is a both funny & very sad bio-pic. about the late Andy Kaufman, who played Latka. There are several scenes in the film that recreate the Taxi series. As it turns out, Kaufman's accent was completely fake, since he was American. But, it was convincing enough that if you didn't know any better, you would think Latka/Kaufman was from a foreign country - LOL.

In addition to "Vic Ferrari", Andy Kaufman (Latka) had another obnoxious alter ego - Las Vegas lounge singer "Tony Clifton". As seen in Man in the Moon, Kaufman would disguise himself as Clifton to trick people - using proshetics/wigs/etc. to make himself look completely different....and also undergoing a complete personality change - LOL.

Kaufman wanted Clifton to make an appearance(s) on Taxi, and IIRC even went to far to write this into his contract. However, though Clifton was scheduled & supposed to appear on Taxi in at least one episode, due to "creative differences" (ha ha) he was thrown off the set. Though some of this may have been filmed, Clifton was never actually in any an episode of Taxi - unfortunately. However, the incident with Clifton/Kaufman on the set of Taxi was recreated in the MITM film, for posterity - ha ha:

https://lostmediaarchive.fandom.com/..._Home_Movie%29

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0718454/

While I was watching Taxi, at the same time I was watching Cheers - and, it's amusing to see how various actors/actresses on these '80's sit-coms "cross over" in other shows; they typically don't play the same characters, however.

- Ted Danson (Sam Malone on Cheers) was in one episode - playing an expensive, snobbish hairdresser that Elaine goes to - LOL. He ends up giving her the worst haircut in the history of haircuts, and tells her it looks great - hilarious.
- George Wendt (Norm on Cheers) plays a bug exterminator in one episode, who is hired to kill roaches at the Sunshine Cab Company.
-As mentioned, Rhea Perlman (Carla on Cheers) had a recurring role as Xena on Taxi, Louie Di Palma's on again/off again love interest.

And I'm sure there are others I'm missing.