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DVD Taxi - The Complete First Season
Hail, Taxi. It's great to finally have one of the defining sitcoms of the 1970s available on DVD to take out for a spin. This character-driven humane comedy from the creators of The Mary Tyler Moore Show rolled out of the garage with a full tank of gas: a lightning-in-a-bottle ensemble, smart, witty, and compassionate writing, and extraordinary characters. The Sunshine Cab Company was a much grittier workplace than the sunny WJM newsroom. Its down, but never out employees--single mother Elaine (Marilu Henner), aspiring actor Bobby (Jeff Conaway), hapless boxer Tony (Tony Danza), reptilian dispatcher Louis (Danny DeVito), naive rube John (Randall Carver), and indeterminately foreign mechanic Latka (comic iconoclast Andy Kaufman)--struggled to keep rolling along. Judd Hirsch's salt-of-the-earth cabbie Alex Rieger solved everyone's problems but his own. Half hours don't get more moving than the Humanitas Prize-winning episode, "Blind Date," in which Alex tries to befriend an embittered overweight woman, or funnier than "High School Reunion," in which Bobby impersonates Louie at Louie's reunion to impress his mean former classmates.
Along for the ride in this Emmy-winning first season are a pre-MagnumTom Selleck and Mandy Patinkin ("Memories of Cab 804") and life force Ruth Gordon, who was honored with an Emmy for her performance as one of Alex's most memorable fares ("Sugar Mama"). The poignant episode "Paper Marriage" features Christopher Lloyd as burn-out Reverend Jim, who would join the ensemble in season 2. Regrettably, this three-disc set is a stripped down model, with no commentary or interviews. But there is nothing hack about Taxi itself. This is "must-own" television fare. --Donald Liebenson
"Seinfeld has long been my all-time favorite sitcom. Since viewing the early episodes of "Taxi" Jerry and his pals somehow pale by comparison. More than two decades old now, that series avoided the silliness and reliance on unsubtle sexual or toilet humor of today. It perfectly melded very funny material with pungent reality.
A Reminder of Just How Great a Sitcom Can Be
Critics of the situation comedy generally agree there've been five truly great sitcoms: I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, All In the Family, M.A.S.H and Seinfeld. Two of those shows were still in first-run during the late 1970s/early '80s. It was a common thing then for people to ask me, "Which do you like best, All In the Family or M.A.S.H.?" My answer was always the same: "I prefer Taxi." Though Taxi lacked the social satire of All In the Family or the grandiose, larger-than-life quality of the best episodes of M.A.S.H., what it had, more than any other sitcom I've ever seen, was a cast of believable, sympathetic, real world characters dealing with real world problems.
Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsh) is the heart and soul of the Sunshine Cab Co. While every other driver considers being a cabbie merely a sidelight to their "real" job, Alex is the only person willing to say, "I'm a cab driver." Alex's compassion and common sense makes him the guy everyone comes to when they have a problem.
Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito) is Sunshine's irascible dispatcher. Snide, abusive, cheap, avaricious, dishonest, lecherous, DeVito's portrayal of this walking emotional toxic waste dump won him numerous Emmies and paved the way for a very successful career as a motion picture actor, director and producer.
Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway) is an aspiring actor with the attention span of a fruit fly.
Tony Banta (Tony Danza) is the world's worst middleweight boxer, and even dumber than Bobby.
John Burns (Randall Carver) - and I hate to say this in case Carver's reading it, I don't want to hurt his feelings - was the weak link in Taxi's first season. John was just boring, he combined the low IQ of Bobby and Tony with none of their charm. After Season 1, the character disappeared.
Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner) is a hard working divorcee who moonlights at Sunshine to support two kids while pursuing her "real job" at an art galley. I had SUCH a crush on Marilu Henner when I was a teenager. Auburn hair, great face and figure, and, to all appearances, a really nice person to boot. What more could you want?
Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman) is Sunshine's mechanic, an immigrant from an unnamed Balkan country whose native language sounds like speaking in tongues. As a teenager I couldn't understand why so many people raved about the character of Latka. I didn't like him at all; he was the one jarring note in an otherwise believable real world cast. My girlfriend, while watching the first episode of Taxi on DVD with me (she'd never before seen the show), as soon as Latka appeared on-screen said, "Obviously he's going to be the most popular character." Me: "Why do you say that?" Her: "Because all the other characters are so normal. And here you've got this total weirdo walking around in the middle of all that normalcy. He's something different and exotic." Okay, so after 20-plus years, I understand.
In the very first episode, we see exactly what made Taxi so great: real human emotion. In "Like Father, Like Daughter" Alex meets the daughter he hasn't seen since his divorce 15 years before. They finally meet in an airport departure lounge five minutes before her plane leaves. Their conversation, shown in real time, encompasses that five minutes and contains enough pain, honesty and humor to fill any ten episodes of most other sitcoms. After that first episode - which I saw back on September 12, 1978 - I said to myself, "If they can maintain that level of quality, this show has me as a fan forever."
In the 8th episode, arguably the most memorable character in Taxi history makes his first appearance. In "Paper Marriage" the Reverend Jim (Christopher Lloyd) officiates at Latka's marriage of convenience to avoid deportation. During the service Reverend Jim, a total drug burnout, goes through a long, impassioned speech about the sanctity of marriage, then crows triumphantly, "I bet you all thought I was gonna screw up, didn't ya!" In that moment Lloyd won the hearts of Taxi fans everywhere, ensuring his return in Season 2 as a series regular.
In "Sugar Mama" Ruth Gordon, in an Emmy winning performance, is a rich and lonely widow who pays Alex, repeatedly, to drive her around town and talk to her. Eventually he begins to feel like a kept man.
In "Mama Gravas" Alex meets and winds up in bed with Latka's mother. The role of Greta Gravas required a woman very tall, somewhat rawboned, and sexy as hell. Whoever cast Susan Kellermann should have received a special Emmy.
The first season ends with a two-parter, "Memories of Cab 804" in which each cabbie reminisces about special moments experienced in a recently totaled cab. Of note, in Cab 804 Elaine met the man of her dreams who looked amazing like a young Tom Selleck. Wait a minute....it WAS a young Tom Selleck! Alex delivered a baby in Cab 804 whose father looked amazingly like a young Mandy Patinkin. Wait a minute....okay, you get the idea.
Season 1 of Taxi proved just how much humanity could be shoehorned into a half hour sitcom. And they did it week after week; few indeed were the missteps. It's great to have these episodes on DVD. There are no "extras," not even captioning. But who cares? What's important is the show itself, one of the best sitcoms ever. Period.
Taxi Season 1 is AWSOME!
The set is definitely complete because of the lines between John and Bobby in the pilot haven't been included in any of the reruns I've seen. And "TAXI" appears in a big graphic at the end of the tag scene right before the closing credits in that pilot and that's never been shown in reruns either. The other episodes are awsome too, and look like they must have been fully restored, but this has got to be the best pilot show for any comedy series ever. It's too bad there are no extras or commentaries by Tony Danza, Danny Devito or Judd Hirsh but I love these dvd's anyway. Hey Paramount, when are you gonna release "BOSOM BUDDIES"?!
I recently showed my wife taxi for the first time. She says she enjoys the series. She likes the variety of personalities and how each episode takes one of those personalities.
Great Show!! All three seasons are fun!! Looking forward to season four. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judd Hirsch DVD Release Date: Released the 01 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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From the melancholy opening notes of the theme song, Taxi promised to be a different kind of sitcom, epitomized by the show's central character, Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch, Ordinary People): down to earth and compassionate, with neuroses that smacked of real life and not the forced zaniness of too many television shows. Alex was the conscience and emotional caretaker of a makeshift family of cab drivers working out of a grungy garage in New York City, run by the domineering Louis De Palma (Danny DeVito, who would go on to be a bigger star than the rest of the cast in movies like Get Shorty and Batman Returns). Taxi didn't always maintain a degree of realism--if you haven't seen it in a long time, you may be surprised by some of the cornier jokes and bits... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judd Hirsch DVD Release Date: Released the 13 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The brainchild of veteran writer-directors Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker, the comedy/drama Barney Miller (1975-1982) offered a very human look at the inner workings of a New York City police precinct; its wry and observant scripts, aided by a stellar cast, helped earn the series three Emmy Awards and a devoted fan base, which should be pleased by this two-disc set that compiles its entire first season. Viewers familiar with the series' later seasons will notice substantial differences in the cast and storyline; episodes divide Barney's (Hal Linden) time evenly between the 12th Precinct and his apartment, which he shares with wife Barbara Barrie and two children (all of whom would be phased out of the series). The first season squad was composed of Abe Vigoda's dyspeptic... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Hal Linden Director(s): Hal Linden - Danny Arnold - Allen Baron - Bruce Bilson (II) - Bob Finkel DVD Release Date: Released the 20 January 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In addition to inspiring a college drinking game that's never gone out of style, The Bob Newhart Show gave one of America's greatest stand-up comedians a perfect sitcom showcase. This wasn't Newhart's first TV show (following the success of his comedy albums, he hosted a short-lived variety show in 1961-62), but it was the first to transfer his wry, inimitable wit to an effective alter ego, and as mild-mannered psychologist Bob Hartley, 43-year-old Newhart found a sublime character conduit for stone-faced sarcasm that was biting but never malicious.
Watch our exclusive... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 12 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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One of the zaniest and bawdiest shows to hit network primetime in the 1980s, Night Court starred Harry Anderson as the Mel Tormé-loving, magic-playing, too-young judge Harry Stone presiding over the night beat of New York. Joining him were lecherous assistant district attorney Dan (John Larroquette), bald Bunyanesque bailiff Bull (Richard Moll), uptight court clerk Lana (Karen Austin), earnest public defender Elizabeth (Paula Kelly), and grizzled bailiff Selma (Selma Hacker).
In between cases involving ladies of the evening, a derelict who thinks he's Santa, and sparring spouses, the court staff spends most of their spare time trying to figure out the judge's age and background, making jokes about Bull's imposing appearance, or, in Dan's case, propositioning any woman... More Info about this DVD Director(s): John Larroquette - Charles Robinson - Christine Ballard - Alan Bergmann - Lee Bernhardi DVD Release Date: Released the 08 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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