Does "Taxi" still hold up?

[quote] It seemed like "grown up" tv that was boring, kind of like MASH;

MASH seemed boring to me as a grown up.

Taxi was just as boring as MASH to me

What does a yellow light mean? SLOW DOWN! One of the funniest bits to ever be on TV.

Taxi was my favorite show at the time. I loved how the characters were so believable and how it often mixed drama into comedy. It was more character driven than any other comedy. And yes it very much still holds up.

Fun fact: The outside images of the Sunshine Cab Company were from Greenwich Village at 534 Hudson Street, which was then the Dover Garage. The building was razed in the late 1990s and replaced with a six-story condominium with a Rite Aid Pharmacy on the street level.

Yes. Watching it right now and really enjoying it.

[quote] Does "Taxi" still hold up?

No. Uber and Lift have surpassed it.

Haven't seen an episode in a couple of years but last time I did, it held up fine.

It was always on in my family's house when I was growing up and it originally aired. But watching it now, as with so many of the filmed sitcoms of the 70s, it looks so gritty and dirty-looking. I know it was supposed to be a taxi garage, but everything about it looks dirty and awful. Like One Day at a Time. And even Alice, which was videotaped and had no reason to look so filthy all of these years later.

Yes I remember this show well. If you'd like to know what we wore to rehearsals or what we had for lunch on the day we taped any particular episode feel free to reach out to me on twitter.

Who wants to spend a half an hour in some dumpy taxi garage, I feel the same way about Barney Miller, Chico and the Man, Sanford & Son. The set and cast (sorry Wojo worshippers) are so disheveled and unattractive that I am repulsed. Perhaps had they been radio comedies in the 1930s & 40s...

Oh, Lord, yes, Marilu with her photographic memory. I saw her on some talk show and when put to the test, she hemmed and hawed. Ask about her topless table dancing days prior to her landing her SAG card. I'm certain our viewers would be fascinated...

Taxi's gay episode:

yes r3!!!

I love the one where Simka has to sleep with Alex to reverse what Latka did. (I forget what, he cheated?)

Simka: Soft, smooth, milky white. Now ravish me so I can get the hell out of here.

Which cable station airs it nowadays. I can't seem to find it.

It's not on a cable station. It's on DECADES every night as part of their "Smart Comedy" block.

One of my all-time favorite shows. This episode had Tom Hanks, and a moment of absolute brilliance starting at 8:30 when young square Jim tries a pot brownie and we get a flashforward of Ignatowski:

The show had tons of great drug jokes, mostly due to Iggy. But the best was Latka's cocaine cookies.

The scene R3 referenced. Still hilarious and I've seen it hundreds of times.

And from the same episode, another great drug gag. "It was either a tranquilizer or a chiclet."

danny devito with tons of hair

And of course Andy Kaufman:

Tony Danza's ass in those tight jeans holds up very well. His body is timeless.

One of the best ensemble casts ever, and they still had standouts. Danny Devito was so good. In the pilot episode, he spends the first half in the dispatcher cage being a despicable but hilarious monster. There's an amazing moment at 15:00 when he comes out and the audience reacts to their first glimpse at his size. The incongruity was so perfect.

I loved the Altman movie 'Mash', but once I heard the laugh track on the TV spinoff I never watched it again. Taxi might be considered better than Seinfeld on the basis of Jim/Kramer. Kramer was not based on any human being that ever lived. He was just a clown. But wasted, drugged-out bone thin Rev. Jim was exactly like a lot of people you could find in a cloud of cigarette smoke sitting on a stool in a run down neighborhood bar. Yes, Taxi holds up.

Kramer was based on a real person, and they even worked that into the show.

So he was like the TV character? Right.

Apparently he was a lot like him.

[quote]Many of the traits of Kenny Kramer, such as the obsessions with golf, fruit, hot tubs, taking things out of the refrigerator and coming up with strange ideas and inventions, were featured in the show.

The real Kramer also started a Kramer Reality Tour, which the TV Kramer later did on the show. On the tour the real Kramer give several examples of ideas/events on the show that originated with him.

One character I didn’t like was Simka. I found her annoying. They could’ve done more with Latka in general.

Supposedly Andy Kaufman had almost total freedom to do just about whatever he wanted (hence the addition of his Tony Clifton character), so I think it wasn't so much of the show not wanting to do more with Latka than it was Kaufman refusing more.

Some of what he did though was amazing. Especially the multiple personalities running gag.

Taxi is excellent, and holds up very well.

Loving the excuse to look at these old scenes. Chris Lloyd is a national treasure.

Michael Richards (Kramer on Seinfeld) has admitted to basing his character on Rev. Jim. If you watch early episodes of Seinfeld, you'll see he's copying Rev. Jim. (In early episodes of Seinfeld, Costanza is like Woody Allen. Basically, early episodes of Seinfeld are shitty.)

[quote] Oh, Lord, yes, Marilu with her photographic memory. I saw her on some talk show and when put to the test, she hemmed and hawed.

I'd like to see someone really put Marilu to the test on her memory. Something quantifiable and provable.

r32, amazing, I had no idea

Tony Danz ass does.

Taxi is as great today as ever. I'm so glad it's not forgotten. Nothing today compares with that ensamble cast.

Conaway's performance was always so jittery, like he had too much coffee.

R37- His late 70's hairstyle looked like crap- all wigged out.

I have NEVER understood Andy Kaufman's appeal at all!

To me he was just weird and unfunny. I felt like he alone was experiencing his twee schtick as pure genius, but that no one else was.

Jeff Conaway (RIP) was probably on coke. He was on Celebrity Rehab, which also featured his codependent girlfriend. During group therapy, Jeff had flashbacks of being involved, as a child, with child pornography.

He was very, very troubled.

I loved Taxi. Didn't care for Latke but Rev. Jim was funny as shit. This is one of those that could never be made now due to the drug references.

Couldn't stand it then, won't watch it now.

I loved this as well as Barney Miller.

It's shocking to think Christopher Lloyd is now well into his 80s.