One of the very funniest ensemble US sit-coms ever, I loved "Taxi" when it was first transmitted in the late 70's. I was too young to get into "M.A.S.H." from the start, "Soap" started brightly then faded, "Happy Days" and it's spin-offs were too young, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was only shown infrequently in the UK, "The Bob Newhart Show" wasn't picked up at all and "Rhoda" my other favourite of the era, only played on BBC2. "Taxi" was shown on BBC1 in the early evening and I almost never missed an episode.The main character I suppose was Judd Hirsch as Alex, the go-to guy for anyone with a problem, while Marilu Henner as the sassy Elaine, Jeff Conaway as moonlighting actor Bobby and Tony Banta as Tony the dim-witted boxer were prominent in support, indeed the last two of course can be seen as morphing into the character of Joey in "Friends" 20 years or so later. The real scene-stealers of course were Danny DeVito as the nasty, lippy depot manager Louie, Christopher Lloyd as the flaky Reverend Jim Ignatowski and Andy Kaufman as the surreal man-child Latka Graves. Without "Taxi" I doubt there would have been a "Cheers" or indeed "Friends" but with very funny scripts by a talented pool of writers including David Lloyd, the Charles brothers, Ken Estin and Earl Pomeranz and produced by James L Brooks, the laugh count in each episode was usually high and the longer you lived with the characters, the more you liked and almost knew them, especially as the action almost never left the front of the depot where the characters congregated.I've just treated myself by re-watching my favourite episode, where Louie is seduced by the boss's wife, a vamped-up superb guest-shot by Eileen Brennan, in fact I'd go as far to say it's one of the funniest comedic shows ever. They couldn't all hit that standard, of course, but the general consistency kept it going for 114 episodes. It was De Vito and to a lesser degree Lloyd who would go on to break into films and as others have said its perhaps a little surprising that no spin-off shows were ever devised. Perhaps it's better that way though, leaving the employees of the Sunshine Cab Company in our memory as the collective band of cabbies who regularly drove us into fits of laughter, week after week.

Or why I never fell in love with "Taxi".This TV show had a lot going for it, but never reached "greatness" in the sense of true monumental groundbreaking material. It had great chemistry among the talent involved, but the plays, though broken up into four acts for TV, read more like psychological comedies, dealing with a variety of urban social topics, and "solutions" thereof.Whether it's Devito's short man's complex lording it over his employees and lechery towards Marilu Henner's character, or the young boxer and actor striving for the big time but having their hands tied by driving hacks. Each seeks to escape their doldrums, and come to discuss and experience their troubles in a group therapy garage that is a place of emotional healing and comedy.What better medicine than laughter? Well, being a California kid who attended theatre I could appreciate the sketch and thesping, but the themes seemed crazy or obnoxiously eccentric and just plain out there and out of touch. And why was that? Probably because a need was felt to create a socially forward thinking show to help people deal with really crazy and just plain silly inner city psychology. Hence the music, hence Hirsch's character feeling like a shrink, hence the eccentricities of the stories and characters. All presented as if we had just stepped out of Taxi to attend some theatre a block or two away from Radio City Music Hall (minus the Rockettes... you can't have everything).Entertaining, fun and funny, and for me personally it was a time killer before the Dukes of Hazard came on. With a more mature mind I can see it for what it is, and, ironically enough, actually dislike it a bit more than I had previously, all the while still appreciating the theatrics.Ergo, if you're a fan of this show, and want to own the series on DVD, then maybe you better check yourself into Bellevue New York.

This series to me is more of a drama than a comedy. The charters are well developed. Without this series, no one would know who Judd Hirsch (Alex Reiger) even is. But Alex is a straight man in this show who everyone plays off. There are attempts at UN-intelligent humor on occasion, but often the absurdity of the character is played up too hard for quick laughs. This show made Tony Danza who I have never found very appealing even when he did Who's The Boss?. Louie De Palma (Danny Devito) is a funny talented guy who made a lot out of the run of this show but at the same time, his comedy is often limited in this because he always has to be the obnoxious & over-bearing boss, Louie. Andy Kaufman (Ladka) is funny, but often in this is given UN-intelligent dialog.The amazing thing is that every character except Alex is dis-functional in one way or another, yet Alex, the normal guy, is made out of such thin cardboard, that you often wonder what actually holds him together with all the loonies around him. Christopher Lloyd (Jim) was the most consistent of the loonies around Alex, but really hit his stride later in the Back To The Future Series. Even Elaine Nardo (the shows sex symbol) has her problems, although the most memorable quote from the series comes to me from her. I think it was Louie De Palma who was analyzing all the characters in one episode who quick analysis of Elaine in one sentence summed up her abilities on the show. "Nardo has knobs!" Overall, this is the WINGS of the 1980's. It was a steady show which has brief moments of genius but usually is more urbane than funny. Amazing how the urban characters in this show interact at lower levels than you'd expect.There were some very funny episodes, ironically the funniest one is one which makes broad slap stick type fun of gay people. While not politically correct now, I would highly recommend that episode as Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch) gets some major funny stuff in that episode.

They don't make comedies like Taxi anymore. A couple of years ago, a local television station aired a two hours worth of shows like Taxi, Welcome Back Kotter, The Jeffersons, and the Odd Couple on Saturday nights. For those of us who didn't have plans, I stayed in to watch shows that I never got to watch like on prime time because I was too young. Anyway, it ended in less than a year after it started. Sadly, those four shows were superior to our contemporary sitcoms like Will and Grace and Friends. These shows were all set in New York City and they didn't have the attractive group that today's producers need to look at when you want an audience to laugh. Sorry folks at Friends and Will and Grace, the truth is that these four shows were multi-cultural thirty years before Friends and Will and Grace. No, they weren't always attractive to the audience but who casts somebody because of their looks. It's about talent and comic genius. Taxi had a great theme music which I'm listening to right now. It also had an excellent cast of characters played by great talents like Oscar nominee Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Jeff Conway, Tony Danza, Andrew Kaufman (we miss you the most) and Christopher Lloyd. Rhea Perlman also appeared and so many wonderful others. What separates this show from today's ideals about live in New York City is the gritty and struggling of the characters trying to make ends meet. IT still goes on today in the New York City area. You know I find this show believable now more than I ever did.