History Main / Taxi

* For the French action comedy movies, [[Film/{{Taxi}} click here]].

* For the various theatrical comedy movies, [[Film/{{Taxi}} click here]] [[Creator/LucBesson for the]] [[EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench French Finesse]]...

* For the various theatrical comedy movies, [[Film/{{Taxi}} click here.]]

* For the 1998 Luc Besson French comedy movie, [[Film/{{Taxi}} click here.]]

Your driver will follow all the traffic rules and regulations. A receipt will be provided upon request.

* For the ABC television sitcom starring Judd Hirsch and Creator/AndyKaufman, [[Series/{{Taxi}} click here.]]

* For the 1998 French comedy movie, [[Film/{{Taxi}} click here.]]

Your driver will follow all the traffic rules and regulations. A receipt will be provided upon request.

* For the ABC television sitcom starring Judd Hirsch andCreator/AndyKaufman, [[Series/{{Taxi}} click here.]]

[[redirect:Series/{{Taxi}}]]

[[re*direct:Series/{{Taxi}}]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51HNJEXMMVL_4731.jpg]]
->'''Elaine Nardo''': I'm only going to be working here part-time. I'm not really a taxi driver.\\
'''Alex Rieger''': Oh yeah, I know. We're all part-time here. You see that guy over there? He's an actor. The guy on the phone, he's a prize fighter. This lady over here, she's a beautician. The man behind her, he's a writer. Me? I'm a cab driver. I'm the only cab driver in this place.
->-- [[WelcomeEpisode Pilot]]

This seminal WorkCom, which was co-created by JamesLBrooks and ran from 1978-83, was set in the grungy headquarters of the New York City-based Sunshine Cab Company.

The cast included:
* Divorced everyman Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch).
* Bombshell single-mom/art-gallery receptionist Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner).
* Would-be actor Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway).
* Perennially losing (and possibly brain-damaged) boxer Tony Banta (Tony Danza).
* Wide-eyed immigrant mechanic Latka Gravas (AndyKaufman).
* 60's uber-burnout "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski (ChristopherLloyd).
* Their vile toad of a dispatcher Louie De Palma (Danny [=DeVito=]).

Extremely well-acted and written, the show remains a high point in American sitcom history. As listed below, if you want to see just about any standard sitcom Trope done ''right'', this is the place to come.

If you're looking for the Luc Besson film, you'd want [[{{Film/Taxi}} this link]].
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!!This Show Provides Examples Of:
* AbsenteeActor: Latka doesn't appear in every episode, as per the terms of Andy Kaufman's contract.
** Judd Hirsch had to miss one episode due to his role in the film ''OrdinaryPeople''. It's explained that Alex is [[WrittenInAbsence away on a skiing trip]].
* AccidentalMarriage: John Burns gets into one of these, and it actually sticks.
* ActorAllusion: There were a number of in-joke references to AndyKaufman's stand-up act, including having his alter ego Vic Ferrari sing the "MightyMouse" theme.
* TheAllegedCar: The company's taxis never [[EveryCarIsAPinto exploded]], but they did everything short of that.
** TruthInTelevision: Taxis in major cities can cover as much mileage in a few weeks as the average personal car does in a year; naturally, breakdowns are more frequent.
* AmbiguouslyJewish: Alex, for the most part. A couple of characters finally mentioned his being Jewish toward the end of the series.
* AndThisIsFor: Simka slaps Latka for each family member of hers he unknowingly mocked with his jokes in "Guess Who's Coming for Brefnish" ("I hope you have a small family...").
* AscendedExtra: Louie's BeleagueredAssistant, Jeff. Although he never quite made "regular" status, he did get to be [[ADayInTheLimelight the focus of one episode]] where he's accused of selling auto parts on the black market.
* AsHerself / AsHimself
** Wally "Famous" Amos appeared to Latka in a vision at the end of "Latka's Cookies".
** Dr. Joyce Brothers was the one to cure Latka of his SplitPersonality in "The Wedding of Latka and Simka".
** Jim was set up on a date with his celebrity crush [[TheBobNewhartShow Marcia]] [[TheSimpsons Wallace]] in "The Schloogel Show".
** [[LaverneAndShirley Penny Marshall]] was rejected as a potential tenant by the exclusive high-rise Louie was trying to get into in "Louie Moves Uptown".
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: The fictional language spoken by Latka, and later his fellow immigrant/wife Simka.
* BadBoss: Louie.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: When Louie's Jerkass antics finally cause Alex to snap, he rips the front off of Louie's wire-mesh dispatcher cage with his bare hands.
** In "Fantasy Borough", Latka's attempt to share his fantasy with the others is cut short by Louie forcing him to go back to work. In Latka's subsequent daydream he and Louie have switched roles, costumes, and personalities, and it climaxes with Latka about to ''execute Louie by firing squad''.
* BigLittleMan: In the first episode, Louie spends most of his time in the dispacher's cage. When he exit it for the first time to yell at someone and we see how short he really is, it gets a big laugh from the audience.
* BittersweetEnding: Almost every week. The cabbies always lose in their attempts to fulfil their dreams and get out of the garage, but there's usually a moment of hope at the very end.
* TheBoxingEpisode: Tony was naturally the focus of a number of these.
* BreakTheCutie: Bobby. He always comes closer than anyone to getting out of the garage, and always has his dreams crushed in the most humiliating way possible. Louie delights in reminding Bobby what a failure he is.
** WordOfGod is that Louie relishes humiliating Bobby because he's jealous of Bobby's good looks and likability.
* TheBusCameBack: "Bobby Doesn't Live Here Anymore" was the farewell episode for Jeff Conaway as Bobby, who had left the show a year earlier.
* TheCameo: Several examples over the course of the show.
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: A single marijuana-laced brownie sent son-of-wealth-and-privilege Jim spiraling down his life-path.
* {{Casanova}}: Latka's alter ego Vic Ferrari; the former once referred to the latter as "that two-bit [[Main/{{Malaproper}} bossa nova]]!"
* TheCastShowoff: Andy Kaufman, with a season 4 subplot involving Latka's multiple personalities.
* CatchPhrase: "Tank you veddy much" for Latka, though it predated the show via Andy Kaufman's stage act (Latka was a redressed version of his Foreign Man persona).
* CelebrityIsOverrated: Subverted. "I'd like to tell you there are more important things than being rich and famous... I'd like to tell you, [[SubvertedTrope but it's a crock]]. Being famous is great."
** This coming from Famous Amos, no less.
* ChannelHop: From {{ABC}} to {{NBC}} in its last season.
* ChristmasEpisode: Seasons 1 and 5 each had one.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: John Burns (Randall Carver), who was written out after season 1.
* CitizenshipMarriage: Latka got this in Season 1 ("Paper Marriage", the first episode to focus on him) before finally marrying Simka in season 4.
* ClassReunion: Louie has Bobby attend one in his place. HilarityEnsues.
* ClipShow: "A Taxi Celebration", in season 5.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Jim.
* CourtroomEpisode: "Louie Bumps Into an Old Lady"
* CrazyCulturalComparison: The traditions from Latka and Simka's unnamed country.
* CrazyPrepared: When Latka needs a styptic pencil, Jim reveals that he's wearing one behind his ear.
--> '''Alex:''' Jim, why do you carry a styptic pencil behind your ear?
--> '''Jim:''' In light of what just happened, the question is: why don't you?
* TheDanza: Tony Danza played Tony.
** TropeNamer UrExample, since this was Danza's first role.
* DeadPetSketch: With a pair of goldfishes. The owner, Tony can actually tell the difference between his goldfishes and a replacement.
* DeadpanSnarker: Louie, and frequently Alex.
* DidYouJustHaveSex: A split second after walking in the door Simka ''immediately'' yells at Latka, "You did it with another woman!"
* DirectedByCastMember: Danny [=DeVito=] (3 episodes)
* TheDitz: Tony was definitely one of these. John Burns was sort of one, too.
** Latka sometimes ''seemed'' like one, but that was arguably more a case of ObfuscatingStupidity.
* DreamSequence: The "Fantasy Borough" episode.
* DrugsAreBad: Jim is pretty much a walking cautionary tale.
* EruditeStoner: Jim. ("I must have taken.. music lessons..")
* EverybodyOwnsAFord: Subverted; the Checker Marathon taxis were ''not'' supplied by the manufacturer (who, as makers of the then-memetic NYC taxi and with very few sales to the general public, had no need for the ProductPlacement publicity).
* {{Expy}}: ''{{Cheers}}''. When ''Taxi'' was paired up with the new show for its first year on NBC, many critics described ''Cheers'' as ''Taxi'' in a bar.
** Also, ''{{Wings}}''. Ironically, ''Wings'' was often referred to as "''Cheers'' in an airport".
** Also, Glen Charles, Les Charles and James Burrows (creators of Cheers) used to work for ''Taxi''.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Of a sort; most of the characters have dreams of stardom or glory outside of the cab garage, and view driving cabs as something temporary, but it's pretty clear that ultimately they aren't going anywhere. Part of Alex being the OnlySaneMan is that he's really the only one who accepts that he's a cabbie, and not a boxer / actor / artist (and so on)-in-waiting.
-->'''Louie:''' Only one guy ever escaped this garage.....and that's JamesCaan! And he'll be back!
* FriendsRentControl: Subverted in an episode where Louie considers moving into a huge, very expensive, apartment.
** Less dramatically, the apartments that Alex, Bobby, etc. live in seem awfully nice for somebody drawing a cabbie's pay, even given an admittedly cheaper '70s NYC.
*** Subverted/Lampshaded by an episode in which Latka accidentally puts an unrefundable deposit on a luxury apartment (he thought it was a year's rent when it was only a month's) and the cabbies chip in to help him pay for the place in exchange for using it as a hang out.
*** Also subverted in Jim's residence: a condemned building which eventually gets torn down.
* FunnyForeigner: Latka, Simka.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Shots of Jim sniffing the paint as the gang get together to paint an apartment. Director Jim Burrows said he was surprised ABC let him keep it.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Pretty much anyone above Louie in the Sunshine Cab business-hierarchy.
** Specifically, the garage's owner, Mr. [=McKenzie=], is treated like this, but actually appears (and is played by Stephen Elliott) in "Thy Boss's Wife". Oddly enough, he continues to be given the faceless treatment from that episode on.
* HorribleCampingTrip: "The Call of the Mild".
* HotMom: Elaine
** Latka's mom, whom Alex briefly dates.
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Subverted (without actual killing) by Louie in an episode involving an arrogant hairdresser.
* ImmuneToDrugs: Jim.
* InstrumentalThemeTune: Bob James' "Angela", originally written for a character of that name in the Season 1 episode "Blind Date" before being [[BootstrappedTheme bootstrapped]] for the series itself.
* IntoxicationEnsues:
** Latka's cookies turn out to have a very special extra ingredient.
** Another time Alex is given uppers as a headache remedy before being summoned to see the boss.
** Yet another time Jim innocently puts something in Louie's coffee.
---> '''Alex''': Hey, hey, hey, I saw that! What did you put in his coffee?\\
'''Jim''': Well... it's either a tranqualizer or a chiclet.\\
(In the middle of giving out cab assignments, Louie falls asleep, snoring loudly.)\\
'''Alex''': I think we can rule out a chiclet.
* IvyLeagueForEveryone: Jim had once attended Harvard.
* JerkAss: Louie is among the archetypal examples, although we're occasionally given hints that it's at least somewhat of a [[JerkassFacade facade]].
* LastNameBasis: Louie only calls the cabbies by their last name.
* LineOfSightName: Alex ends up having to pretend to be named "Bill Board" when Elaine desperately makes up a name for an imaginary boyfriend.
** Better that than Carman Gea.
** Alex later jokes: "Well, I'm better off than my brothers: Switch and Clip."
* LocalHangout: Mario's.
* LovesMyAlterEgo: Happens to Latka in "Simka Returns" where Simka sleeps not with him but with his suave alter ego Vic Ferrari.
** Slightly subverted in that Simka knows Vic and Latka are the same person, she just finds the Vic personality more attractive.
* MadMagazine: ''Taxing''
* {{Malaproper}}: Latka.
--> '''Alex''': Latka, what your mother and I did was indiscreet.\\
'''Latka''': You mean not even indoors?
* MateOrDie: Almost leads to the end of Latka and Simka's marriage: Latka sleeps with a female cabbie to stay warm in a snowstorm; according to their reverend, to right this infidelity Simka has to have sex with one of the male cabbies. When Alex refuses, they divorce - but then Jim asks why they can't ''just remarry''...
* TheMovie: The AndyKaufman biopic ''ManOnTheMoon'' featured scenes recreating memorable ''Taxi'' segments with most of the original surviving cast; who unfortunately looked 20 years older, especialy when contrasted with JimCarrey as Kaufman.
** And Danny De Vito is forced to be {{He Who Must Not Be Seen}} as he played another role in the film.
* MushroomSamba: Latka sees Famous Amos when trying to recover from cookies his grandmother sent him that turned out to have coca leaves (the basis for cocaine).
* NaiveNewcomer: John Burns in season 1.
** Elaine, sort of, in the pilot episode.
* TheNapoleon: Louis.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: "Simka's Monthlies" reveals her PMS is so crippling that it's enough to cause her to miss an appointment with the immigration board that she must appear at in order to become an American citizen. Edges into VerySpecialEpisode territory.
* ObfuscatingDisability: Subverted when Louie thinks a woman in a wheelchair is scamming him and pushes her down a flight of stairs. It turns out she wasn't faking this time.
* OnlySaneMan: Alex.
* PrettyInMink: The characters would pick up a few rich ladies as customers.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Christopher Lloyd (season 2), Carol Kane (season 5)
* PropheticFallacy: One memorable episode featured Jim predicting Alex's death. Namely, that right before it happened, he would do the cancan while wearing a green shirt and a baseball catcher's mask. Alex actually does it to show he's not afraid of Jim's 'prediction,' [[TemptingFate and then the doorbell rings...]]
-->Did you see it, Reiger!? It was hideous!!
* PutOnABus: Jeff Conaway left the show after the third season, so for most of season 4 Bobby's only appearances were in leftover episodes produced for season 3. Eventually he [[TheBusCameBack returned]] for a departure episode where he moved away to try his luck in Hollywood.
* RealitySubtext: AndyKaufman's character develops multiple identities? You don't say!
* ReunionRevenge: Actor-cabbie Bobby attends Louie's class reunion as Louie.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Latka and Simka's wedding ceremony climaxes with a set of questions they have to answer correctly. When Latka gets the last one wrong, Simka declares she will marry him anyway even if she has to defy their religion. Thus, they pass the true test of the strength of their love.
* SitcomCharacterArchetypes
** Alex: Square and Sage
** Louie: Bully
** Latka, Jim, and Tony: Goofball
** Bobby: Charmer
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Elaine, at least until Simka became a semi-regular.
* SplitPersonality: In the last episode of Season 3, Latka reinvented himself as suave-but-smug Vic Ferrari to be more attractive to women. Eventually, Vic found it hard to remember who he once was; while Alex helped Latka out of this, early in Season 4 it was revealed that Latka now had multiple personalities. This became an ongoing subplot that tied in to the return of Simka later that season (Latka had to fight Vic for her affections); ultimately Latka was cured and free to propose to Simka.
** One notable personality Latka developed was that of Alex himself -- not only was it a dead-on imitation (props to Andy Kaufman), but Alex found out Latka lived his life better than he did himself (making better choices, giving better advice, etc.)
* StarMakingRole: For Hirsch, [=DeVito=], Danza, Kaufman and Lloyd.
* StudioAudience
* TheTaxi
* TokenMinority: Jeff.
* UnCanceled: The show jumped networks (from ABC to NBC) and hung around for one more season.
* VanityPlate: "Good night, Mr. Walters!" [grumbles]
* VitriolicBestBuds: Alex and Louie.
* WackyGuy: Jim and Latka.
* WaitingForABreak: Bobby, the aspiring actor who spends the series driving a cab while waiting to get a StarMakingRole.
** Most of the cabbies except Alex claim that they're only driving to support themselves until they get a break in their dream jobs (boxing, art).
* WelcomeEpisode: Although Alex is the closest thing the show has to a central character, the first episode is Elaine's first day at the company.
* WhamLine: "Could I please just say one word in my defense? SELTZER!" ("Jim's Mario's")
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: "Memories of Cab 804", "On the Job", "The Road Not Taken"
* WhosOnFirst: "What does a yellow light mean?"
* WhyDidntYouJustSaySo
* WorkCom
* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: Latka's name is Yiddish for "potato pancake."
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