Taxi

[mippy]

Been binge-watchIng this on YouTube in the hope I can finish it all before it gets taken down. Any fans on here? I'm really enjoying how it feels a bit more gritty and melancholy in places than Cheers - the episode where Rev Jim writes poetry to Elaine to cheer her up had a gutpunch ending that I didn't see coming.

I might also be the only viewer who quite liked John.

[neveragain]

I got the DVD boxset for Christmas and have been working through slowly. It's sweet and (understandably) quite Cheers-like. Nice mix of characters. Latka wouldn't be tolerated today, which is a shame in some ways.

[Jockice]

Night Mr Walters.
Urgh.

[Famous Mortimer]

There are some bits that not only wouldn't fly today, but would result (hopefully) in characters being arrested - the sexual harassment dished out by Louie, for example. I know he's not supposed to be a nice character, but still. And there was one where Alex, a schlubby, unappealing-looking middle-aged man, is celebrated for actually getting to know a woman as a person who was neither young or attractive.

I watched it all a couple of years ago, and loved Christopher Lloyd, but Latka was a boring character and I don't think it's aged as well as, say, "Barney Miller" (which also has some enormous problems).

[mippy]

And there was one where Alex, a schlubby, unappealing-looking middle-aged man, is celebrated for actually getting to know a woman as a person who was neither young or attractive.

I watched it all a couple of years ago, and loved Christopher Lloyd, but Latka was a boring character and I don't think it's aged as well as, say, "Barney Miller" (which also has some enormous problems).

Unless there's more than one, was it not that the character was overweight? That really struck me as something that would fly less today.

[Dusty Substance]

Any fans on here?

I am now, thanks to this thread.

Started to watch the show for the first time ever just two days ago and already I've burnt all of season one and am currently halfway through season two.

Absolutely loving Taxi.

[neveragain]

Unless there's more than one, was it not that the character was overweight? That really struck me as something that would fly less today.

I remember being perturbed by that plot at the start of the episode but that the writers showed their good intentions by the end (even if how they got there was still misjudged, well, of its time).

[Dusty Substance]

I remember being perturbed by that plot at the start of the episode but that the writers showed their good intentions by the end (even if how they got there was still misjudged, well, of its time).

In the 35 episodes I've binge watched over the last few days, there have been a few occasions where I've braced myself for an "of its time" type of joke, but almost every joke about race, sexuality, gender, disability and other such quips has been well extremely well handled. None of them ever seem to come from a place of hatred and are dealt with through awkward humour.

The one single bit in 800 minutes that wouldn't land with a modern audience was when Elaine, the sole woman at a party, is encouraged to dance on a table for the men's pleasure. Not a great moment but not bad going for a 40 year old TV show.

Still, every single episode has at least one big laugh out load joke, which is more than most sitcoms I've attempted in recent years.

I love all the cast, but Danny De Vito is just fucking brilliant.

[mippy]

Where are you watching it? I got up to Season 4 but the YT channel for some reason only has half episodes uploaded. I think this is the only way to "stream" it in the UK, it's not even available as paid-for content on Amazon.

[Gulftastic]

Big fan back in the day. I watched the first episode of Cheers on Channel 4 opening night because it was advertised as being 'from the makers of 'Taxi'.

[Dusty Substance]

Just watched an episode which felt especially dated as we get to see Jim's apartment for the first time which leads to the other characters looking bewildered and the audience laughing at his minimally decorated place, complete with upcycled furniture.

What looked like squalor in 1978 seems like a Brooklyn Manhattan hipster's paradise in 2021.

http://29odkrngwwiml6xqsb8nbfh.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-09-at-10.52.11-AM.png

[mippy]

I'm really baffled as to how all the drivers manage to afford their own apartments, presumably in Manhattan. I know it was the 70s but still.

[Rizla]

https://nymag.com/news/features/50177/

This 1975 magazine article that inspired the show is quite a good read.

[Dusty Substance]

Am I right in thinking that they introduced Rev. Jim as a regular to act as the show's wacky character because Kaufman was being too difficult at the time?

[kngen]

Just watched an episode which felt especially dated as we get to see Jim's apartment for the first time which leads to the other characters looking bewildered and the audience laughing at his minimally decorated place, complete with upcycled furniture.

What looked like squalor in 1978 seems like a Brooklyn Manhattan hipster's paradise in 2021.

http://29odkrngwwiml6xqsb8nbfh.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-09-at-10.52.11-AM.png

Ah, so that's where my lifelong ambition to have an upturned cable wheel as a coffee table came from. Loved the programme as a kid, but never thought Latka was that funny. As I learned more about Andy Kaufman, it seems like they really didn't exploit his talent as this one-note character at all, did they?

I watched a fair chunk of them about 20 years ago when it was repeated on some cable channel or other (it was still brilliant, I was happy to find out). There's an episode where Tony Danza's character decides to give acting a try (with predictable results). Clearly the writers of Friends were taking notes during that one. It's stunning how close it is to a Joey-heavy episode of Friends. Larceny, almost.

[thr0b]

Friends stealing jokes and ideas? Yup. Huge chunks of Friends episodes could be seen to be homages to Seinfeld.

Jason Alexander is even in a latter episode as a character who is so clearly based on George, it's amazing they got away with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3c-zDHZJh4