Taxi (1 Viewer)

[Neil_Duffy]

Is it my imagination, but did I read somewhere that series one of Taxi was coming out on DVD this year, or was it just in the works?

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Neil, it is not your imagination Here's a thread on Taxi and there was news about it on TVShowsOnDVD.com from last fall regarding it.

 

[Chris:L]

I'd like to know how they'll take care of the cover art. Cover Art, with me, is one of the top priorities.

 

[Sam Favate]

According to a list of Paramount releases for the rest of the year in the Film & Documentary area, Taxi - Season 1 is scheduled for Oct. 12.

Many other TV shows on the list, for those that don't often look in the other forums:

Happy Days S1 - Aug 17
Laverne & Shirley S1 - Aug 17
I love Lucy S2 - Aug 31
Mork & Mindy S1 - Sep 7
Andy Griffith S1 - Oct 12
Hogans Heroes S1 - Oct 12

Looks like a great slate from Paramount all around. No word on the Star Trek TOS sets, but I would guess they're still on the way.

 

[David Coleman]

I am so looking forward to TAXI when it comes out!!

 

[Chris:L]

And it's called Season not Series...

 

[George_W_K]

Neil is from the UK where their seasons are called series.

 

[Rob Keil]

Taxi is a must-buy for me.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

Poor Randall Carver. He can't even get his picture into the cover art.

I hope that the fact that Reverend Jim was not a regular in the first season (he appeared only in the episode where Latka marries the hooker to keep from being deported) doesn't hurt the sales. But the first season was very good -- though darker than the show later became -- and it shouldn't disappoint any but the hardest-core Reverend Jim fans.

IMO the style of sitcom that James L. Brooks created in Taxi was a big influence on Cheers and Brooks' own The Simpsons, especially in the way it mixed realism with more nutty humor (anything involving Latka).

 

[Chris:L]

The thing I don't like about the show Taxi is that Andy Kaufman helped cancel the show.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

Andy Kaufman didn't cause the show to be cancelled. It was cancelled because it was getting terrible ratings on NBC (which picked it up after it was cancelled by ABC). It was still good, but once a show has gotten poor ratings on not one but two networks, it's time for it to go.

 

[Rob P S]

Plus, the show went off the air without "jumping the shark," even though the last season had a few more clunkers than usual.

 

[Craig Sherman]

I remember it being unceremoniously cancelled, and Danny Devito being upset that they didn't get to do a proper finale, with a "curtain call." So, that spring (or was it Fall?), when Devito was hosting Saturday Night Live, he welcomed his costars Hirsch, Lloyd, Henner, Danza, and Conaway (no Kaufman, IIRC) to the SNL stage to take a bow. It was a truly classy moment on TV.

Have I remembered it correctly?

CS

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

Yes, though frankly I think the show's producers should have seen the writing on the wall and tried to wrap things up a little more than they did (it wasn't like the show's cancellation was a huge surprise).

Here's an interesting bit of trivia: after Taxi was dropped by ABC, the then-fledgeling cable network HBO tried to get it. They wanted to hit the big time by taking a well-known network show and producing new episodes with less censorship and a more "edgy" tone. But NBC wanted Taxi too, and of course outbid HBO. (Frankly I don't think I would have wanted to see an HBO-ized Taxi.)

One impressive thing about Taxi is how many of the writers went on to create important shows of their own. A short list:

- Glen and Les Charles: Created Cheers (with Taxi director James Burrows)
- Michael Leeson: Created The Cosby Show (with Taxi co-creator Ed. Weinberger)
- Sam Simon: Co-created The Simpsons (which of course was produced by Taxi's head honcho James L. Brooks)
- Barry Kemp: Created Newhart and Coach

 

[Craig Sherman]

And then there's that cast...

With the notable exception of Randall Carver. Man, what happened to him? I can see why he didn't play himself in the Taxi sequences in Man on the Moon, as time has not been kind to him, so he only had a second of screen time in the funeral sequence, but what's he done in the interim?

I always thought Glen & Les saw John (Carver's character) as the proto-Woody Boyd. Or maybe the other way around.

CDE,

CS

 

[Randy*S]

TVShowsOnDVD.com had the cover art in the news section. And no it does'nt have Randall Carver. They always leave poor ol' Randall out. Too bad, John was not a great character at all but I like Randall Carver a little better than Woody Harrelson. (One of the reasons why I'm not really into Cheers.)
Anyway, he was listed in the opening credits and I wish he was included just for historial reference.

 

[Sam Favate]

I think the artwork looks good, and I will be getting this one as soon as it comes out, one of the best shows of the 1970s.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

I read that Carver was dropped because it was felt that he and Tony Danza were playing very similar characters -- both naive guys, both not too bright -- and Danza's character had more potential, so he was the one who stayed. Plus, of course, the decision to make Reverend Jim a regular meant that they had to drop at least one character to make room.

What I've always found a bit surprising is that Cheers (from many of the same people) caught on in a way that Taxi did not. Taxi was acclaimed and won a zillion Emmys (I still think that WKRP, the other great sitcom of 1978, should have won a couple), but it was never a huge hit; it lasted as long as it did mostly because it was in the slot after Three's Company, and once it was taken out of that slot, the ratings tanked. Cheers was a much bigger hit, and yet Cheers was IMO a much darker show -- Taxi had losers, but characters like Norm were loser losers -- and not as wacky as Taxi. I prefer Taxi, while respecting Cheers as a fine show; but I always wonder why Taxi wasn't a bigger hit. Or WKRP for that matter. Maybe it just wasn't an era that was receptive to workplace ensemble comedies.

 

[Rob P S]

The release has been delayed a few weeks:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=2007

 

[Chris:L]

What is it with Taxi? Why does Taxi appear more loveable than Cheers?