Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Taxi: Cast Photo

Taxi aired from September 1978 until July 1983 on ABC and NBC.

The focus of this sitcom was the happy cabbies of New York's Sunshine Cab Company. Cab driving may be fun , but it was just a job for this crew , most of whom were working part-time as they tried to make it in other fields.

Cast members included: Alex ( Judd Hirsch), the most experienced and most conservative of the group, and the only full-time driver; Bobby ( Jeff Conaway), a frustrated actor waiting for his big break; Elaine ( Marilu Henner), an art gallery receptionist trying to pick up a few extra bucks; Tony ( Tony Danza), the boxer who never won a fight and John ( Randall Carver), the student and all-around lost soul. Latka ( Andy Kaufman)was the company's mechanic, of indeterminate nationality and butchered English and Louie ( Danny DeVito) was the pint-sized, petty, tyrant dispatcher who ran things from a wire cage in the center of the garage. Joining the cast as a regular driver in its second season, was Reverend Jim ( Christopher Lloyd), a spaced-out ex-hippie.

During the 1980-1981 season, Latka started to date a rather ditzy lady from his homeland named Simka ( Carol Kane), and at the end of that season, they were married. Falling ratings led ABC to give Taxi the axe in the spring of 1982 and for a time it seemed that the pay-cable network Home Box Office would pick up the series. That was not to be , however, as NBC decided to give Taxi a new life. Promotional announcements on NBC during the summer of 1982 showed series star Danny DeVito looking up at the camera and saying "Same time, better network!" Despite critical acclaim for the ensemble acting, the wit and charm of the writing and the faith of a new network, Taxi obtained the same low ratings on NBC as it had the prior year on ABC, and faded from sight the following summer.

Andy Kaufman who played Latka died of lung cancer in May 1984 at the age of thirty-five.

An Article from The New York Times

TELEVISION REVIEW; Andy Kaufman's Beloved Antics

By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: March 29, 1995

The most original comedian of the last few decades is celebrated with appropriate zest in tonight's NBC special, "A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman." Kaufman was born in New York on Jan. 17, 1949. He died of lung cancer on May 16, 1984.

Kaufman was perhaps best known for playing Latka Gravis, the immigrant mechanic on "Taxi." Based on the Foreign Man character Kaufman had developed for his stand-up routines, Latka was the embodiment of cunning innocence, warning his sometimes exasperated co-workers that they could not hit him because "I am weak and defenseless and cute." Latka eventually began a romance with a fellow immigrant named Simka, played to perfection by Carol Kane. Over a candlelight dinner, Latka would tell her sweet nothings like, "That's what I like about you: you eat like a swine."

As noted by Lily Tomlin, who is among the many comic stars who participate in this fond reminiscence, Kaufman was always demonstrating that "you did not have to tell a joke to make someone laugh." He did characters, ranging in breathtaking variety from the "intergender" wrestler whose opponents were women, to Tony Clifton, a smarmy comedian who would actually get audiences to hate him. Many couldn't believe that Tony Clifton was actually Kaufman, and it turns out that at least sometimes they were right. Jim Carrey reveals the secret behind the character in this special.

Nothing seemed beyond Kaufman's comic creativity. He did one of the best Elvis impersonations ever. He offered readings from "The Great Gatsby," warning the audience to keep the boos down because "we have a long time to go." He appeared in sketches that exploded in anger and fistfights, leaving the audience totally confused as to whether the mayhem was real or staged. His unpredictability and constant innovation made him a favorite with talk-show hosts from Johnny Carson to David Letterman. And his presence is still felt, right down to the R.E.M. song "Man on the Moon," which speaks to "Andy" as if he were still alive.

In fact, some friends were initially convinced that the announcement of Kaufman's death at 35 was just another of his elaborate put-ons. Unfortunately, for the fragile art of comedy, it wasn't. A COMEDY SALUTE TO ANDY KAUFMAN NBC, tonight at 10 (Channel 4 in New York) Written by John Davies and Bob Zmuda; produced by Mr. Davies. A presentation of Shapiro/West Productions. George Shapiro, Howard West and Mr. Zmuda, executive producers. Marilu Henner and Bob Saget, hosts. WITH: David Letterman, Jay Leno, Lily Tomlin, Jim Carrey, Michael Richards, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Rodney Dangerfield, Garry Shandling, Richard Belzer, Bobcat Goldthwait, Judd Hirsch, Carol Kane, Alan King, Robert Klein, Richard Lewis, Super Dave Osborne, Carl Reiner, Rita Rudner, Sinbad and Lorne Michaels.

For more on Taxi go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi_(TV_series)

For two great reviews of Taxi go to http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/taxi.htm and http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/T/htmlT/taxi/taxi.htm