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The series "Taxi" became
a cult classic, great syndicated viewing like "Seinfeld"
if not better. This is a fantastic show to watch over and
over again, whether you want to watch it for that classic
opening theme that is about as late 70's as you can get, or
just for the pure loathesomeness of Louis DePalma (which is
a rare kind of hateful character that producers are almost
afraid to bring to the forefront nowdays).
The characters in this tv show
almost existed in a completely different world, and each one
of them not coming from the same universe as the other. On
one hand you've got Judd Hirsch, who is the relatable guy
and the voice of reason all throughout the series, and then
you've got Andy Kaufman's "Latka" who comes from
a country that in reality most certainly does not exist. But
these characters like each other, they accept each other,
almost in a way that says they know about ten other people
who are exactly like Latka or Reverend Jim. And if the characters
don't like one another, then the brilliance exists in the
screen chemistry which is most certainly there.********
Season 3 was almost a low point
in the series, but not because of content, but more to do
with the ratings. As far as content goes, it was really in
this season that the layout was made for the remaining seasons.
We knew what we would get, we knew the characters inside and
out, and how they would react to the situation given to them.
The previous seasons dealt a lot with putting Latka in a more
prominent light, just as Season 1 did for Lloyd's Jim. *****
During Season 3, ABC moved the
program to Wednesday night , which is a mistake considering
that a fair amount of its ratings came from the fact that
it had previously been shown following "Three's Company" on
tuesday.The show was a darling at the Emmy's and the word
of mouth was always fantastic, and it most certainly has gone
on to be classic television viewing for anyone, so it's always
hard to believe that the audience just didn't follow it to
Wednesday night. Even more shocking, the show remained in
that time slot until ABC cancelled it. It was later picked
up by NBC.*******
There are some fantastic episodes
included in this season, some of which include "Tony's Sister
and Jim" where Julie Kavner guest stars as Tony's sister.
Tony attempts to set her up on a date with Alex, only to find
that she much prefers Jim. We get more into the character
of Bobby in "The Ten Percent Solution" where it seems like
Tony has more of a chance at landing an acting role than the
wannabe actor Bobby does. ******
Quite possibly the most famous
episode in the collection, and certainly one of the best of
the series is "Latka's Cookies." In this episode Latka tries
to become the next Famous Amos with his special cookie recipe
in which the secret ingredient is an illegal drug that only
causes the consumers to want more and more. This episode was
also immortalized in "Man on the Moon" and contains the classic
scene where Latka doesn't believe there's drugs in the cookies
until he tries it and gets a little excited.*******
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