Series Description

The Taxi TV show was a 30 minute comedy series that aired on ABC for its first four seasons and on NBC for the fifth and final season. It presented a look at the lives of a group of New York City taxi drivers and the nasty dispatcher who tried to rule them. Only one of them was both "well-balanced" and really happy with his "lot in life" as a cabby. The rest of them either dreamed of a better life or were too mentally challenged to care. One wanted to own an art gallery. Another dreamed of being a professional fighter. Then there was the would be actor and another totally fried his brains with drugs. And, of course, there was the Alien "Latka" (Andy Kaufman) who was actually only alien because he was from a foreign land, but is so strange that he could easily have been mistaken for the other type of alien!

Taxi Cast

Danny DeVito .... Louie De Palma
Judd Hirsch .... Alex Rieger
Tony Danza .... Tony Banta
Marilu Henner .... Elaine Nardo
Christopher Lloyd .... Reverend Jim
Andy Kaufman .... Latka Gravas
Jeff Conaway .... Bobby Wheeler
Carol Kane .... Simka Gravas

Taxi Trivia

When Danny DeVito was starting out in the business, he had to have a roommate to make ends meet. His roommate was Michael Douglas.

The idea for the Taxi TV show was from an article in an issue of the New Yorker magazine about cab drivers' lives.

Due to almost identical plotlines and storylines, Taxi has often been referred to as a forerunner for the TV series, "Cheers (1982)". Danny DeVito (Louie De Palma) is married to Rhea Perlman (Carla on Cheers).

Did you ever wonder if Judd Hirsch was really that smart or if his character just seemed to be in comparison to the others? Well, in real life, Judd has a college degree in Physics!

Tony Danza's character on the Taxi TV show dreamed of being a professional fighter. In real life, Tony Danza actually was a fighter before becoming a Taxi cast member.

Andy Kaufman loved to confuse his audiences by doing something they would never suspect or couldn't understand. He appeared on the very first episode of "Saturday Night Live". He played a record with the theme song to "Mighty Mouse". He just stood there looking at the audience while it played and would only sing the words, "Here I Come To Save The Day". It was hilarious, but you couldn't figure out why. When he died, people wouldn't believe it. They thought it was just another one of his gags. Oh yeah, he was also Elvis Presley's favorite as an Elvis impersonator.

His role as "Reverend Jim" was not the first time that Christopher Lloyd was seen as a "less than stable" person. In 1975, three years before the Taxi TV show began, he had a role in the movie, "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" as one of the mental patients. Oh, by the way, Danny DeVito also played one of the mental patients in that movie!

Marilu Henner dated both Tony Danza and Judd Hirsch during the show's run (One at a time).

More than 23 years after the Taxi TV show ended, its theme song would be heard on the Numb3rs TV Show at the end of episode #44 titled, "Blackout". That was a show of endearment for Judd Hirsh (Alex Rieger on Taxi) who also played "Alan Eppes" on Numb3rs!