The TV series "Taxi" (1978-1983)
Yesterday I learned that James Burrows passed away on June 19th. I offer you my review of the Taxi series, written 10 years ago.
This spring, I discovered the sitcom "Taxi." In honor of director James Burrows' 75th birthday, SBC Drama hosted a retrospective of his series. I'm at that age when you begin to appreciate what you once took for granted. But it never occurred to me that his series "Friends" had equally talented predecessors. Even more talented, because "Taxi" is simply chock-full of A-list stars.
Let's start with dispatcher Louie De Palma, played by Danny DeVito. It feels as if Louie's character was created using Soviet propaganda posters as a template. DeVito's character's lack of conscience, heartlessness, and cunning usually serve as the cause of the stupid situations he gets into.
At the other extreme is the sixties junkie Jim Ignatovsky, played by Christopher Lloyd. The finest hour for both actors was the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," shot in 1975 by Czech director Miloš Forman and produced by Michael Douglas (Danilovic), a descendant of Mogilev Jews.
The creative charge the actors received during the filming of the movie launched them into a stellar orbit from which they have remained to this day.
Christopher Lloyd successfully used his role as a half-crazy hero in the film "Back to the Future" (1985), directed by Robert Zemeckis, the son of a Lithuanian father and an Italian mother.
The next character in the series "Taxi" is an immigrant, auto mechanic Latka Gravas, played by Andy Kaufman. His name and demeanor suggest his Czech origins, although this is never explicitly stated in the series. Even Latka's sideburns are the same as Milos Forman's during the filming of Flights.
A long time ago, I watched the movie "Man on the Moon" (1999) with Jim Carrey. That was the first time I heard about Andy Kaufman. And only now I learned that the director of the film was Milos Forman.
Last but not least is taxi driver Alex Rieger, played by Judd Hirsch. As he wryly remarks, he's the only cabbie in the cab company, because everyone else considers themselves anything—actors, boxers, art gallery administrators—but not cabbies. He reminds me of another famous New Yorker movie hero, about whom another shameless movie character named Louis said, "I suspect, dear Rick, that your cynicism is just a mask, and that deep down you're sentimental."
Now I also understand why Judd Hirsch played Leonard's father on The Big Bang Theory.
And finally, a couple of shots from the James Burrows tribute in February of this year.
