Taxi (TV series)
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Taxi is a American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC, and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series focused on the every day life of a handful of New York City taxi drivers working for the Sunshine Cab Company, as well as their abusive boss, Louie De Palma, played by actor Danny DeVito. The show was produced by the John Charles Walters Company and funded by Paramount.
Premise/Themes
Much of the show focused on the main characters wanting to achieve something more in life than being taxi cab drivers, which made the show resonate with many working class Americans.
Despite the zany humor regularly featured on the show, there was 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, PMS, and loss of a loved one.
The central metaphor of the show was that the cabbies were forever driving other people to important places and events, but themselves going nowhere. Most of the cabbies view their job as transitory, a step on the way to something bigger and better. Elaine is an aspiring museum curator, Tony is an aspiring boxer, and Bobby is an aspiring actor. Each episode typically involved one of the characters having an opportunity to partially realize their dream and move up the world, but then having the opportunity yanked away.
Only Alex, older and having been beaten down by life, saw himself as a cab driver. Alex's backstory was that he was married with a wife and daughter and a decent office job. He lost everything due to his gambling addiction, and when his former wife sought to have Alex give up any claims of custody over his daughter so that she and her new husband could raise her, Alex gave in rather than fight to maintain some semblance of a relationship with his daughter.
Cast
- Judd Hirsch - Alex Reiger
- Danny DeVito - Louis DePalma
- Marilu Henner - Elaine O'Connor-Nardo
- Tony Danza - Tony Banta
- Jeff Conaway - Bobby Wheeler, from 1978 to 1981
- Christopher Lloyd - Reverend Jim Ignatowski
- Andy Kaufman - Latka Gravas
- Carol Kane - Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, from 1981 to 1983
- Randall Carver - John Burns, from 1978 to 1979
- J. Alan Thomas - Jeff Bennett
Reviews & Ratings
Taxi remains 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 3 for Outstanding Comedy Series. Taxi was also nominated for 25 Golden Globes, with 4 wins (including 3 for Best TV Series - Musical/Comedy), and in 1979 received the Humanitas Prize in the 30 minute category.
While critically lauded, Taxi was never a major ratings success on its own. 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. (DeVito hosted Saturday Night Live soon after, and a filmed bit had him driving around New York looking morose until inspiration strikes and he blows up the ABC building.) The show was then picked up for its 5th and final season by NBC, being paired at first on Thursday night with Cheers (another critically acclaimed ratings disaster at the time, though it would eventually become one of NBC's most popular series).
The show's seasonal ratings were as follows:
Trivia
- The opening credits show a cab driving across the Queensboro Bridge.
- A persistent urban legend says that the show was based on the Harry Chapin song, "Taxi". The show's creators have never confirmed this.
- Deep Space Nine producer Ira Steven Behr tried and failed to sell a script to this series 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.
- Decades later, most of the cast returned to play their younger selves and briefly re-enact Taxi scenes for the Andy Kaufman biopic, Man on the Moon such as Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Jeff Conaway, Carol Kane, Randall Carver and Christopher Lloyd. The only two who didn't were Danny DeVito, who produced and co-stars in the film as Kaufman's manager, George Shapiro; and Tony Danza who declined.
- Kaufman disliked the show and made many demands in order to continue appearing as his popular character, Latka. In order to display Kaufman's acting range, Latka developed multiple personaility disorder. Kaufman also 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 ABC studio's lot by security guards, which was recreated for the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon.
- According to the Internet Movie Database, Danza was actually driving the cab in the opening titles.
- The song playing during the opening credits is "Angela" by Bob James.
Awards & Nominations
Awards Won
Emmy Awards:- Outstanding Comedy Series (1979-1981) 3 wins
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Judd Hirsch (1981, 1983) 2 wins
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Carol Kane (1982)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Carol Kane (1983)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Danny DeVito (1981)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Christopher Lloyd (1982-1983) 2 wins
- Best Television Series-Comedy (1979-1981) 3 wins
- Best TV Supporting Actor Danny DeVito (1980)
Award Nominations
Emmy Awards:- Outstanding Comedy Series (1982-1983) 2 nominations
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Judd Hirsch (1979-1980, 1982) 3 nominations
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Danny DeVito (1979, 1982-1983) 3 nominations
- Best Television Series-Comedy (1982-1984) 2 nominations
- Best Actor in a TV Series-Comedy Judd Hirsch (1979-1983) 5 nominations
- Best TV Supporting Actress Marilu Henner (1979-1983) 5 nominations
- Best TV Supporting Actress Carol Kane (1983)
- Best TV Supporting Actor Tony Danza (1980)
- Best TV Supporting Actor Danny DeVito (1979, 1981-1982) 3 nominations
- Best TV Supporting Actor Jeff Conaway (1979-1980) 2 nominations
- Best TV Supporting Actor Andy Kaufman (1979, 1981) 2 nominations
External links
- [Encyclopedia of Television]
- [Jim's Mario's Taxi fansite] (warning: contains pop-up advertisements)
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