Taxi (1 Viewer)

[The Obsolete Man]

This. When Amazon recently had a sale on every season bundled together, I almost bought it. But then I checked out some of the reviews of the individual seasons. I could probably grit my teeth and tolerate most of the cuts, because I honestly don't remember as much of the individual music from this show as I do from shows like WKRP and Murphy Brown. But speaking as a Billy Joel fan, how do you not have the song "Vienna" in the episode "Vienna Waits"? So I'll pass. Still a great series, though. Especially once Rev. Jim shows up.

Buy it.Seasons 4 and 5 are the only ones hit by music edits, and still only a handful of episodes. Those two seasons had the misfortune of being released under CBS and their CUT ALL THE MUSIC policy, while S1-3 were Paramount releases and escaped uncut (IIRC).

 

[Hasslein]

I just noticed "Vienna Waits" is on hulu with the Billy Joel song throughout...

 

[younger1968]

I plan to get the set down the road, but due to budgetary concerns I had to delay my purchase of the complete set for Taxi. Taxi is a great show, but not one of my favorites as such I dedicated my funds towards Batman as well as WKRP.

 

[albert_m2]

I just ordered Taxi this afternoon from an Amazon vendor for $39.99 (I mention that because Amazon's own price is at $70 as I type this)

 

[classictvfan40]

I just ordered Taxi this afternoon from an Amazon vendor for $39.99 (I mention that because Amazon's own price is at $70 as I type this)

I also got it for $39 from Amazon. They had it on sale. I am glad I did because it went back up to around $60.

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

I ordered the complete series from Amazon tonight for $40 but had to click the buy used & new link to find it at that price. I've noticed that Amazon has been placing some higher priced item from the marketplace sellers over their cheaper options in my wish list lately. I'm glad I'm getting it at a good price.

 

[classictvfan40]

Got my copy yesterday and I love the packaging. Ive never seen a complete series packaged this way with cascading dvds effect.

 

[bmasters9]

Got my copy yesterday and I love the packaging. Ive never seen a complete series packaged this way with cascading dvds effect.

What specifically do you mean by "cascading DVDs"?

 

[albert_m2]

I ordered the complete series from Amazon tonight for $40 but had to click the buy used & new link to find it at that price

Yeah I had hoped to help by mentioning it was one of their vendor's. I've noticed that with some other movie/tv sets from time to time too.

 

[Tardo317]

Out of stock at Amazon at $49.00. But just picked up the re-packaged set for $36.74 pre-tax at B&N with today's 25% off code.

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

What specifically do you mean by "cascading DVDs"?

The discs are held on 9 flip pages with no overlapping discs, 2 discs, 1 on each side of the first 8 pages, and the last disc is by itself on the final page. The flip pages are not attached to the outer Amaray case. The whole thing is removable. The case is about the size of the Mill Creek That 70s Show case and there is an episode guide printed on the reverse side of the artwork insert. There's also a slip cover. I really like it as well as the episodes so far, almost done with disc 2.

 

[bmasters9]

The discs are held on 9 flip pages with no overlapping discs, 2 discs, 1 on each side of the first 8 pages, and the last disc is by itself on the final page. The flip pages are not attached to the outer Amaray case. The whole thing is removable. The case is about the size of the Mill Creek That 70s Show case and there is an episode guide printed on the reverse side of the artwork insert. There's also a slip cover. I really like it as well as the episodes so far, almost done with disc 2.

That's exactly what I wanted to know! In other words, it's packed like a normal seasonal keepcase release would be packed, except that this is a full-series release. Is that correct?

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

Yes, it's like those slimmer Season sets but, obviously, thicker because of the amount of discs.

 

[albert_m2]

Yeah, the packaging is interesting and seems to work well. I'm glad I got this and really enjoying watching the show.

 

[The Drifter]

Last Fall, I watched - for the first time - all 5 seasons of the classic TV sit-com "Taxi" (1978-1983) on DVD, set in NYC & revolving around a group of cab drivers. This series was one of those that started off extremely strong, and continued that way throughout the series.

Though some episodes were better than others, overall the show was always very funny & entertaining - but also quite poignant/touching at times. I like how all of the Taxi Drivers look out for each other, and were genuine friends even outside of work.

One of the funniest S01 episodes is when Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito) wants to go to his 20th high school reunion, but has misgivings because he thinks everyone will make fun of him - just like they did in high school. So, Bobby Wheeler (the late Jeff Conaway) goes "in disguise" as Louie & explains the reason he's so much taller is because of a fictitious "growth spurt" that happened in college - LOL. Great episode.

Another great S01 episode was when Louie De Palma is "hired" to be the "location coordinator" on a big-budget Hollywood film about Taxi drivers; the Hollywood film crew were planning on staying in the taxi depot/garage for a somewhat lengthy film shoot, and Louie was going to be paid well for his "trouble". However, the shoot got cancelled when the crew was with Louie & the other Taxi drivers "celebrating" at an expensive hotel suite, and everyone had to leave. Louie, very upset that his "cash cow" had disappeared, decided to still get something out of the experience - by ripping off some expensive towels & soap from the hotel bathroom - LOL!!! What a cheap-skate - ha ha.

Christopher Lloyd was my favorite character on the show; his first appearance on the show (Season 1) was playing a burned-out ex-hippie minister named "Reverend Jim Ignatowski"; he married Latka & a prostitute so Latka could get his green card. Hilarious episode & Lloyd made me laugh out loud here; he acted so zonked out & disoriented that I was surprised he could string even two words together - hilarious.

 

[The Drifter]

Continuing my review of Taxi:

-At one point, Louie De Palma is dating Xena (sp?), a woman who comes into the taxi place to refill the candy/coffee machine; she is played by Rhea Perlman, better known as "Carla" on Cheers (though her appearance(s) on Taxi pre-dates Cheers). After they date for a while, Xena wants Louie to meet her parents. However Louie, afraid he may put his "foot in his mouth", brings Alex along for guidance/support. As it turns out, Louie unintentionally says many inappropriate, awkward things & Xena's parents are disgusted with him, though they're too polite to say anything in front of everyone. However, towards the end of the visit, Xena's mother takes Louie aside & forbids them to marry; if they do, she threatens to hire a hit man to "take Louie out" - HA! HA! Extremely funny. And, what makes this even more hilarious is that Perlman & DeVito are married IRL.

- Jim Ignatowski (Lloyd) buys a race horse with the winnings from his betting(s) at the track. And, since he's so clueless & out of it, he doesn't realize that an apartment in NYC is probably not the best place to house a horse. When the gang visits his apartment to see how he & the horse are doing, they find out that the horse has actually been dead a couple of days - and Ignatowski was completely unaware of this. Very funny in a morbid way. Also, this is the first episode where we see Ignatowski's apartment - the decor somewhat reflects his fractured mindset - LOL.

-Carol Kane - one of my favorite actresses - is introduced in S02 as someone from Latka's country. The combination of her hilarious real high-pitched voice (she sounds like a little kid) & her speaking in the ridiculous made-up language is hilarious. She & Latka get married in a later season.

Going along with this, what's hilarious about Latka's non-specific foreign language is that Andy Kaufman (and others who speak this, including the Kane character) seem to be just making up the nonsensical words as they go along - which obviously adds to the humor.

-In some later episodes, the uncertain Latka experiences a split personality, and becomes "Vic Ferrari", a smooth talking, sharp dressing lounge lizard - LOL.

-One of the best episodes in S05 was when Louie Di Palma was trying to get accepted to live in a high-end apartment/condo. In order to do this, he needed to be interviewed by the board at the apartment. Right before he went in for his interview, you saw the board interviewing the late actress/director Penny Marshall (best known as Laverne in the iconic sitcom Laverne & Shirley) who was playing herself on Taxi. However, despite her stature as a famous actress & a great income, she was still turned down because the board had extremely high standards & didn't want anyone from "the entertainment industry" living there - LOL.

Side-note: Also worth noting is the great Jim Carrey film "Man on the Moon" (1999); this is a both funny & very sad bio-pic. about the late Andy Kaufman, who played Latka. There are several scenes in the film that recreate the Taxi series. As it turns out, Kaufman's accent was completely fake, since he was American. But, it was convincing enough that if you didn't know any better, you would think Latka/Kaufman was from a foreign country - LOL.

 

[B-ROLL]

Continuing my review of Taxi:

-At one point, Louie De Palma is dating Xena (sp?), a woman who comes into the taxi place to refill the candy/coffee machine; she is played by Rhea Perlman, better known as "Carla" on Cheers (though her appearance(s) on Taxi pre-dates Cheers). After they date for a while, Xena wants Louie to meet her parents. However Louie, afraid he may put his "foot in his mouth", brings Alex along for guidance/support. As it turns out, Louie unintentionally says many inappropriate, awkward things & Xena's parents are disgusted with him, though they're too polite to say anything in front of everyone. However, towards the end of the visit, Xena's mother takes Louie aside & forbids them to marry; if they do, she threatens to hire a hit man to "take Louie out" - HA! HA! Extremely funny. And, what makes this even more hilarious is that Perlman & DeVito are married IRL.

- Jim Ignatowski (Lloyd) buys a race horse with the winnings from his betting(s) at the track. And, since he's so clueless & out of it, he doesn't realize that an apartment in NYC is probably not the best place to house a horse. When the gang visits his apartment to see how he & the horse are doing, they find out that the horse has actually been dead a couple of days - and Ignatowski was completely unaware of this. Very funny in a morbid way. Also, this is the first episode where we see Ignatowski's apartment - the decor somewhat reflects his fractured mindset - LOL.

-Carol Kane - one of my favorite actresses - is introduced in S02 as someone from Latka's country. The combination of her hilarious real high-pitched voice (she sounds like a little kid) & her speaking in the ridiculous made-up language is hilarious. She & Latka get married in a later season.

Going along with this, what's hilarious about Latka's non-specific foreign language is that Andy Kaufman (and others who speak this, including the Kane character) seem to be just making up the nonsensical words as they go along - which obviously adds to the humor.

-In some later episodes, the uncertain Latka experiences a split personality, and becomes "Vic Ferrari", a smooth talking, sharp dressing lounge lizard - LOL.

-One of the best episodes in S05 was when Louie Di Palma was trying to get accepted to live in a high-end apartment/condo. In order to do this, he needed to be interviewed by the board at the apartment. Right before he went in for his interview, you saw the board interviewing the late actress/director Penny Marshall (best known as Laverne in the iconic sitcom Laverne & Shirley) who was playing herself on Taxi. However, despite her stature as a famous actress & a great income, she was still turned down because the board had extremely high standards & didn't want anyone from "the entertainment industry" living there - LOL.

Side-note: Also worth noting is the great Jim Carrey film "Man on the Moon" (1999); this is a both funny & very sad bio-pic. about the late Andy Kaufman, who played Latka. There are several scenes in the film that recreate the Taxi series. As it turns out, Kaufman's accent was completely fake, since he was American. But, it was convincing enough that if you didn't know any better, you would think Latka/Kaufman was from a foreign country - LOL.

"Now, peel me like a grape and I can get outta here!"

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

I've read that the 1-hour clip special - "A Taxi Celebration" (the last season 5 episode produced, though not the last one aired) - was split up even on the DVD set... correct?

~Ben

 

[The Drifter]

I've read that the 1-hour clip special - "A Taxi Celebration" (the last season 5 episode produced, though not the last one aired) - was split up even on the DVD set... correct?

It's been a while since I saw the episode(s) & don't own the set. However, I believe that's correct - I do remember that the special was broken up into two episodes.

 

[bmasters9]

It's been a while since I saw the episode(s) & don't own the set. However, I believe that's correct - I do remember that the special was broken up into two episodes.

You are indeed correct-- proof from episode guide within fifth-and-final-season individual release: