History YMMV / Taxi

* OnceOriginalNowCommon: That joke in which Danny [=DeVito=] gets off and reveals just how short he really is was met with outrageous laughter because a lot of people didn't know just how ''short'' [=DeVito=] really is.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: At the time the show began, Creator/DannyDeVito's height wasn't well-known, so the pilot was able to make a surprise joke with it when he climbs out of the cage and appears next to the other actors he'd just been ordering around.

** Once, Alex told Jim that he didn't see ''Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial'' because he didn't like sci-fi. Years later, Creator/JuddHirsch was in ''Film/IndependenceDay'', one of the most successful science fiction flicks of all time.

** Zena is best known as [[Series/{{Cheers}} Carla Tortelli]] these days.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Zena is best known as [[Series/{{Cheers}} Carla Tortelli]] these days.

** For international audiences, the first film had Creator/MarionCotillard a good decade or so before she became an Oscar-winning Hollywood actress.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/RichardSammel as the chief of the Mercedes gang. He's most well known outside Germany for his later roles in ''Film/OSS117CairoNestOfSpies'', ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' and ''Series/{{The Strain|TV Series}}''.

** A group of criminals drive three slightly tuned black Japanese cars in ''Taxi 2''. The movie was released one year before ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious''.

** Meta example: The show become of the TropeNamers for TheDanza (the other being ''Series/WhosTheBoss'') when they gave Creator/TonyDanza's character the name Tony. They did this because they were afraid he wouldn't be able to respond to someone else's name. Their fears became justified in ''[[Film/TheCannonballRun Cannonball Run II]]'' when Danza's character introduced himself as "Tony". The character's name was Terry. [[note]] Ironically, Terry himself was an example of The Danza as he was played by Terry Bradshaw in the first film. [[/note]]

** The show's treatment of what was already starting to be called sexual harassment. Louie's harassment of Elaine is usually PlayedForLaughs except in "Louie Goes too Far," and in "Thy Boss's Wife," it's PlayedForLaughs that the owner's wife routinely coerces male employees into having sex with her ("even if you don't, she tells her husband you did," Louie explains), and may even have gotten them ''killed''.

* GrowingTheBeard: When John Burns left after the first season and Reverend Jim joined in the second.

** In another episode, Louie is watching TV, and the program is playing a public-domain song called ''Temptation Sensation'', which is better known these days as the theme from ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', which of course also stars Danny [=DeVito=]. Amusingly, both shows also have an intro sequence that consists of footage filmed from a car while a cast member drove.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** When Latka was convincing his mother he would be better off in America, he showed her a ''People'' magazine and explained "In America, a man can become another UsefulNotes/OJSimpson!"
** In the earlier "Latka's Revolting", Latka intends to return to his homeland to fight a revolution. Taking that his fictional country is much a spoof of Eastern European countries, it lost much of its hilarity some twelve years later when these countries faced general unrest.

** Jeff, the guy who stood next to Louie in the "box", was originally just an extra who also served to stand in for Creator/AndyKaufman in rehearsals (Kaufman had arranged in his contract that he did not have to attend these; because he had a photographic memory, he was able to work near-flawlessly when it was time to film), but over time he was given lines, some of them even significant. During the final season, he got ADayInTheLimelight.

** Jeff, the guy who stood next to Louie in the "box", was originally just an extra, but over time he was given lines, some of them even significant. During the final season, he got ADayInTheLimelight.

** In an earlier episode, Latka's goes to fight a revolution in his homeland. Taking that his fictional country is much a spoof of Eastern European countries, it lost much of its' hilarity some twelve years later when these countries faced general unrest.

** Once, Alex told Jim that he didn't see Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial because he didn't like sci-fi. Years later, Creator/JuddHirsch was in ''Film/IndependenceDay'', one of the most successful science fiction flicks of all time.

-->The hardest part is when they tell their kids not to stare.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: This series was set in the late 70s/early 80s, i.e. then-present/contemporary setting, years before rideshare apps, like Uber and Lyft, have become increasingly popular, affecting taxicab industries, like one in New York City, the series' location setting.

* ValuesResonance: In one episode, Elaine starts dating a man she and the others meet at a bar, but it turns out the guy is bisexual and was trying to ask ''Tony'' out instead of her. The awkwardness doesn't come from gay panic or Tony feeling threatened by a guy hitting on him, but [[PoorCommunicationKills everybody wondering how to break the news to Elaine]] ([[StatingTheSimpleSolution the guy ends up being honest]] and they stay friends). Considering even in the 21st Century [[NoBisexuals it's hard to get representation for bisexual people]], the fact ''Taxi'' did it very naturally while still being funny in the late 70s is remarkable.

* WhatAnIdiot: Reverend Jim has to retake his driver's test.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Him to at least know the basics of driving since he does that for a living.\\
'''Instead''': He takes the written test, looks at the first question, and whispers "What does a yellow light mean?"\\
'''So''': Bobby whispers "Slow down."\\
'''You'd Expect''': Reverend Jim to recognize this is what a yellow light means.\\
'''Instead''': He repeats the question, only slower.\\
'''Then, You'd Expect''': Bobby to clarify his previous answer.\\
'''Instead''': He repeats "Slow down."\\
'''Result''': Reverend Jim repeats the question even more slowly.

* TearJerker: Louie describing the humiliating ordeal of having to get new clothes from children's stores due to his size, clearly Creator/Danny DeVito speaking from his own experience.

* ValuesDissonance: In "The Unkindest Cut", Louie's [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Crowning Moment of Awesome]], dumping goop over Elaine's stuck-up tormenter (Ted Danson), is somewhat undone when he decides to top off his revenge by assaulting the man's receptionist as well. Made even worse by showing the woman clearly traumatized by the incident immediately afterward.

* ValuesDissonance: In "The Unkindest Cut", Louie's MomentOfAwesome, dumping goop over Elaine's stuck-up tormenter (Ted Danson), is somewhat undone when he decides to top off his revenge by assaulting the man's receptionist as well. Made even worse by showing the woman clearly traumatized by the incident immediately afterwards.

* ValuesDissonance: In "The Unkindest Cut", Louie's CrowningMomentOfAwesome, dumping goop over Elaine's stuck-up tormenter (Ted Danson), is somewhat undone when he decides to top off his revenge by assaulting the man's receptionist as well. Made even worse by showing the woman clearly traumatized by the incident immediately afterwards.