User reviews

Taxi ran for five seasons on television and sadly came to an end when too many of its cast members decided to strike out on their own and most had really successful careers. Can you imagine a show where Danny DeVito, Tony Danza, Andy Kaufman, and Christopher Lloyd all appeared and many times in the same episodes? Getting them at their full market big screen value would cause any studio to go chapter 11.

All of these people got their first big break on Taxi a comedy with only one set for most of the episodes. DeVito was cab dispatcher Louis DiPalma, a bully and a tyrant who reveled in his rule over the lives of his drivers. DeVito had few redeeming qualities other than he was a realist. Part of his realism was stepping on the dreams of others.

People like Tony Danza who drove a cab to pay the rent, but was really a boxer looking for the career path upwards and more than likely missed it drove for DeVito. Jeff Conaway was an actor who drove between gigs as most of the actors I know do something else for a living and dream of becoming stars. John Randall Carver was a young law student who left after a season. Marilu Henner was a divorcée and constantly avoiding the innuendos of DeVito of which there were plenty. She was sexually harassed, maybe the most sexually harassed woman ever to be a television character.

Funniest of all was Christopher Lloyd who was a drugged out refugee of the 60s. He replaced Carver and DeVito's barbs never bothered him because he dealt with them through ignorance. A lot like the way Chico Marx dealt with Groucho in their films.

The only one who could really deal with DeVito was Judd Hirsch who was as much New York as Jerry Orbach on Law And Order. He was a 40 something man who had no attachments and no pretensions, he drove a cab to earn a living and liked his job. He was friend and counselor to all and was one of the favorite characters I liked in all the decades of watching the tube.

Lastly there was Andy Kaufman who sadly did not live long after Taxi finished its run. He was unique to say the least in his comedy. The garage mechanic from some unnamed Eastern European country which allowed Kaufman to develop his own accent for his own country. He drove DeVito and the rest nuts with his nonsequiters in a foreign accent.

Taxi had one of the great ensemble casts in the history of television and incubated many a career still going to this day.

The first season of this classic sitcom started off on the ground running as we're introduced to the down-trodden, brow-beaten denizen taxi drivers of the Sunshine Cab Company, the advice giving Alex Reirger (Judd Hirsh), failed boxer Tony Banta (Tony Danza, failed actor Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway), new immigrant, Latka (superbly played by Andy Kaufman) as well as new cab drivers Elaine and John (Marilu Henner and Randall Carver respectively), and cranky, hateful boss Louie De Palma (Dsnny DeVito, in the role of his career). These people are life losers, but the writing is such that they are NEVER treated as such. All of the characters were highly relatable and one couldn't help but feel empathetic to each of them. We're laughing with these guys, not at them. And it's a very funny, poignant show. Guest stars this season included Former Welterweight Champion of the World Carlos Palomino, Tom Selleck, Jeffrey Tambor, Martin Mull, and Suzanne Kent in a very memorable part as Alex's blind date, the overweight self-pitying Angela who would return next season in a surprising way. The first Season of Taxi was a few outstanding shows, a few funny ones, but not a clunker in the bunch. And you have no choice but to love that theme song.

My Season 1 grade: A

When Jim Brooks, David Davis, Ed. Weinberger and Stan Daniels left MTM to form their own production company, they applied what worked well for them on shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda to create and produce their own show and it would become Taxi.

The show was a true ensemble comedy like The Mary Tyler Moore Show with outstanding writing and a great cast with nobody dominating the story lines like Fonzie on Happy Days and Urkel on Family Matters,

The cast was anchored by Judd Hirsch, who played career cabbie Alex Rieger. He's the father figure of the bunch and supportive to would be boxer Tony Banta, played by Tony Danza, aspiring actor Bobby Wheeler, played by Jeff Conaway and the lone female driver Elaine Nardo, portrayed by Marilu Henner.

Also adding to the hysteria was Andy Kaufman as mechanic Latka, who comes from an unidentified foreign country. He created his mannerisms and language that brought a lot to each episode he was in.

But to me, the best character on the show was Louie DePalma, the nasty dispatcher that turned out to be the role that put Danny DeVito on the map. DeVito's portrayal of Louie turned to be the meanest boss on TV since Mr. Slate on The Flintstones. One the other side of the coin, Taxi was also the show that he worked with the woman who would become his wife, Rhea Perlman.

Another character who to me was very funny was Reverend Jim, the Christopher Lloyd character who became a regular in the second season after Randall Carver was let go. His portrayal of a burned out hippie, especially in the episode where he took his driver's test was outstanding.

One other character who came along later in the run was Simka Dahblitz, played by Carol Kane. She would later marry Latka.

The show would also be the launching pad for brothers Glen and Les Charles, who would later team up with James Burrows to create and produce another classic comedy, Cheers. Though Taxi won 18 Emmys and had a healthy five year run, it was sent to the garage after moving to NBC in the 1982-83 season. I'll close with the tag line that was heard after the closing credits "Thank you Mr. Walters."

Taxi was, during it's five-year run, the most funny, engaging, memorable, and heartbreaking show on television. The show helped to redefine situation comedies and created a handful of classic characters.

The show revolves around the drivers at the Sunshine Cab company: Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch) was the good-hearted mensch who finds himself solving everyone else's problems. Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway) is an aspiring actor and ladies man. Tony Banta (Tony Danza) is a struggling boxer who can never seem to win a fight. Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner) is a single mother of two with dreams of opening her own art gallery. Reverend Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd) is an absolute space cadet, and Louie DePalma (Danny DeVito) is surely the nastiest, angriest, most miserable boss in history. Thanks to DeVito's charm, he is still somehow lovable.

Besides the great acting in "Taxi," there was the writing- always funny and often bittersweet without ever being maudlin or melodramatic. There are episodes that can make you laugh so hard you cry, and vice versa. Thanks to the genius of director James Burrows Taxi stands as one of television's best shows. And who can forget the haunting theme by Bob James?

If you get a chance to see "Taxi," take it... here's hoping it gets a DVD release in the near future.

Grade: A+

It doesn't happen very often, but from time to time in history the human race has managed to create something so supreme, so perfect and so outstanding that not even does it become a wonder, but it also lifts the entire creativity in man to a higher level and sets a new standard according to what people are able to create and how they evolve. The show Taxi is the result of one of those man made manifestations.

Its real, its genius and its surprising. Its the art of acting, humor and intelligence come together. It captures centuries of human knowledge and wisdom. So marvelous put together, that not only will it be the best creation of its time, but its also an ideal for all times.

Many shows since are a reflection of TAXI, with many ideas, taken more or less directly from the show, and have become famous on that base. But they will never ever reach the hight of the original: TAXI Which once and for all proofs what a unique and unbeatable masterpiece TAXI is. A true wonder. Now, then and forever.

Had this show been recent, I wouldn't have rated it 10 stars. The pacing of the episodes is usually slow. Some episodes are not properly finished. The writing is lazy after season 1. Some of the actors' comedic signature moves take longer than necessary. And I find the social and psychological topics more than a bit tiring.

However...

I saw this show on reruns, and it wasn't exactly a part of my childhood memories. And yet, I liked it. Binge-watching it after all these years, I still like it despite its many flaws. I like how the actors don't take themselves very seriously, even in the more serious episodes. I like how, mostly Ms Henner and some of the other actors, cannot contain themselves (or maybe even don't try to) in some scenes. I like the not-really-trying-hard feeling of the production. The show has some sort of 'we can do it more professionally but we're choosing not to' feel. I think the last show I saw with a similar attitude was Just Shoot Me.

There's no need to rate informatively a 35 year old sitcom. My rating is totally sentimental but who cares... 10 star out of 10, for being whatever it is.

And Christopher Lloyd is amazing as Reverend Jim. Reverend Jim's lines are literally ahead of their times. This character can find a place in any sitcom of today, as is.

The season for the rating is that my favorite character, John, was let go after the first season. In hindsight Jeff Conaway should have been let go. Reverend Jim was an interesting character. Kind of reminds me of a night shift driver with the company I drove for. The cabs brought back memories. Here you have a boxer who was the poster child for a tomato, the actor who couldn't get a break, a female who really wants to run an art gallery, a burn out who is unable to do anything else, a mid-westerner who's first time in "The Big City", and finally someone who actually admits to being a cab driver. Then there Louie De Palma the dispatcher from Hades. When I became a dispatcher I could sometimes feel the "spirit inside me. Some of the characters I worked with was a photo journalist whose divorce left him sour with world. Although he was standoffish if you got to know him he was okay. There was a driver who was very quiet, spoke slow, and drove even slower to the point he almost got a ticket for driving too slow Once during time in the dispatch office he, the dispatcher, and I had a serious conversation about Erwin Rommel. Double D lady, the dispatcher's girlfriend as well as another girlfriend. The Jamaican "Sensation" his stories about experience with passengers crack everyone up. The "self proclaimed" hit man (the deed was "somewhere" up north") and some interesting dispatchers.

During some of the episodes the drivers could communicate via their radios. Sorry but that never happened. This is an underrated series however.

One of the very funniest ensemble US sit-coms ever, I loved "Taxi" when it was first transmitted in the late 70's. I was too young to get into "M.A.S.H." from the start, "Soap" started brightly then faded, "Happy Days" and it's spin-offs were too young, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was only shown infrequently in the UK, "The Bob Newhart Show" wasn't picked up at all and "Rhoda" my other favourite of the era, only played on BBC2. "Taxi" was shown on BBC1 in the early evening and I almost never missed an episode.

The main character I suppose was Judd Hirsch as Alex, the go-to guy for anyone with a problem, while Marilu Henner as the sassy Elaine, Jeff Conaway as moonlighting actor Bobby and Tony Banta as Tony the dim-witted boxer were prominent in support, indeed the last two of course can be seen as morphing into the character of Joey in "Friends" 20 years or so later.

The real scene-stealers of course were Danny DeVito as the nasty, lippy depot manager Louie, Christopher Lloyd as the flaky Reverend Jim Ignatowski and Andy Kaufman as the surreal man-child Latka Graves. Without "Taxi" I doubt there would have been a "Cheers" or indeed "Friends" but with very funny scripts by a talented pool of writers including David Lloyd, the Charles brothers, Ken Estin and Earl Pomeranz and produced by James L Brooks, the laugh count in each episode was usually high and the longer you lived with the characters, the more you liked and almost knew them, especially as the action almost never left the front of the depot where the characters congregated.

I've just treated myself by re-watching my favourite episode, where Louie is seduced by the boss's wife, a vamped-up superb guest-shot by Eileen Brennan, in fact I'd go as far to say it's one of the funniest comedic shows ever. They couldn't all hit that standard, of course, but the general consistency kept it going for 114 episodes. It was De Vito and to a lesser degree Lloyd who would go on to break into films and as others have said its perhaps a little surprising that no spin-off shows were ever devised.

Perhaps it's better that way though, leaving the employees of the Sunshine Cab Company in our memory as the collective band of cabbies who regularly drove us into fits of laughter, week after week.

Taxi was a sitcom that ran from 1978 - 1983 (114 episodes). It won multiple Emmy awards and helped to launch a few of its actors onto bigger and better things. However at times, Taxi seems to have been missed or forgotten about by the masses.

Taxi is set in New York at the Sunshine cab company. The taxi drivers and crew are an oddball group. The shows focus on a group of taxi drivers, some who have dreams of doing something else career wise. Driving a cab is just a way to make a few bucks in-between reaching their goal. Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway) is a would be actor, Tony Banta (Tony Danza) a struggling boxer, Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner) is a mum and a receptionist at an art gallery.

The exception is Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch), he is a full time taxi driver and has very little asperations of doing anything else for a job. Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch) is also the voice of reason and the reluctant leader of the group.

Finishing off the group is - the mean spirted and nasty boss/dispatcher Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito), bumbling mechanic Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman) and the spaced out "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd).

Most stories revolve around the ups and downs of the taxi drivers. There is plenty of humor but also a touch of drama and a sense of good morals. The stories are usually entertaining and are more than just a few laughs. Taxi starts to find its groove by the middle of season 2. Taxi isn't a top tier TV sitcom, but its a solid 2nd tier sitcom.

I first watched Taxi in 1978, it was on late night TV, and I became a fan. I hadn't seen an episode of Taxi for over 35 years. But very recently I watched some episodes of Taxi on YouTube. I still enjoyed the show, even if its a little dated by now. One thing I noticed is Taxi and Seinfeld seem to have some similarities. Alex Reiger is like Jerry Seinfeld both are leaders of their clans and are realists. Bobby Wheeler and Tony Banta are like George Constanza, but not as shallow as George! Latka Gravas and "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski are Kramers. Elaine Nardo is like Elaine Benes sassy and intelligent, Louie De Palma is Newman! Just remember that Taxi was around 11 years before Seinfeld.

This is a workplace sitcom about the Sunshine Cab company in NYC. Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito) is the diminutive bitter dispatcher. Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch) is the respected long timer. Single mom Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner) is the new driver who works at an art gallery. Tony Banta (Tony Danza) is a struggling boxer. Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway) is a struggling actor. Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman) is the foreign mechanic. Reverend Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd) officiates Latka's marriage for INS and then later gets a job as a driver.

This James L. Brooks show is one of exceptional goodness. The cast is amazing. It puts many including Kaufman and Lloyd on the map. There has not been a character like Latka before and unlikely one like him after. One after another, the characters are simply exceptional. I was a bit young at the time but I remember quite a few of the episodes. While binge watching the show recently, the show remains hilarious. It has not gone dated. The sharp writing and the great cast do not age. It's classic TV at its best. It lasted four seasons on ABC and NBC renewed it for one more season.

Definitely considered a classic, Taxi is a sitcom following lead Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch), a taxi driver in New York, and a regular crew of other drivers of the Sunshine Cab Company. Notably Danny Devito stars as the mean spirited taxi dispatcher (funnily this role is likely what made him a clear get for the much later Always Sunny), Tony Danza got his big start as the boxer Tony Banta (supposedly his name was changed to match the actor due to concerns he would forget to respond to his fake name), Christopher Lloyd in later seasons as the Reverend Jim, and of course my favourite Andy Kaufman as the enigma foreigner Latka Gravas. Andy Kaufman is hilarious any time he's on screen, I'd almost recommend the show just for more of him, his life and psyche are so strange and compelling (would recommend checking out Man on the Moon with Jim Carrey for more), he's a rabbit hole of mystery certainly. But outside of the strange comedian the show is a fairly vanilla (at least to modern standards) take on a working class sitcom. Of course "working class sitcoms" were something a bit new at the time, the lead reminds me much of Al Waxman from King of Kensington (premiering on CBC just a few years earlier), in his ever-morally just personality, always trying to do the right thing no matter the circumstances he comes up against. A pretty classic trope for a lead, it works decently well for what it is. The show often attempts to be progressive in its narratives, which ironically more than not ends up being where it falls the most tone-deaf, especially to modern ears, but the series as a whole is quite fun and self-aware. If you haven't seen it I'd certainly recommend at least checking out a few episodes.

My favorite episode was when Alex got his old dog, Buddy, back from the farm where he had been staying for the past several years.

Before Alex went to pick him up, he told everyone at the shop what a great dog he was and all about his great "play dead" trick, where Alex does a Lone Ranger routine before pretending to shoot Buddy. When Alex gets Buddy back to his apartment, he tries over and over to get Buddy to perform the trick, but Buddy has apparently forgotten it. Buddy isn't well and Alex takes him to the vet. After the vet gives Alex the bad news that Buddy doesn't have much longer to live. Alex takes Buddy home and treats him like a king. He even sautes his dog food in a wine sauce. Alex's date one night thinks it is some of Alex's gourmet cooking and helps herself.

Then one day Alex brings Buddy into work with him. Everyone wants Alex to do the famous "play dead" trick but he begs off, knowing that Buddy has forgotten it. But finally, under great pressure, especially from Louie, Alex tries one more time. And, you got it, this time Buddy slumps over and collapses on the floor right on cue. But he doesn't get up and you know what happened. Tony is the only one not to figure it out and makes some inappropriate comment. But everyone else slowly circles around Alex and Buddy and tears are welling in everyone's eyes, including mine. Alex chokes when he tries to say something and Nardo tries to comfort him. The camera goes from face to face and then slowly pans down to Buddy, lying lifeless on the floor. But then, lo and behold, Buddy slowly turns his head to the side to look up at the stunned crew standing there shocked and crying.

Buddy had done the best "play dead" trick any dog had ever done! I literally jumped out of my chair and shouted something like "I do not believe it!" at the TV. The bastards totally punked me. They had me crying, for God's sake. Sadness turned to shock, to amazement, to anger, to laughter, and then finally to sadness again. Because, after the last break, Alex was sitting alone on the bench at work looking completely lost. He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out Buddy's empty collar and broke down in tears. And so did I! And that was the end of the best Taxi episode, or any situation comedy episode I have ever seen or probably ever will see.

More so, than anything, it's the characters and their committed performances that make the show work. We really get into their lives at the cab rank. Christopher Lyodd is a classic, Judd Hirsch likable, as so the late unforgotten Jeff Conaway, in more happier times, as well as the impulsive and enterprising Tony Daanza, where it's really groucho old Danny Devito's great acting that steals the show. It is entertaining, and quite funny, and when it is, it's gold sometimes, but it just doesn't stack up the comedy quota. The show's theme is great, and in it's after ending, it's always great to see the human creator, resigning himself, from the office, to take off for the weekend. Still Taxi is very entertaining, where may'be I would of found it more funnier at the time, when I saw it as a kid, or even if I was an adult in that time. Watch it especially for Devito and LYODD. One show especially funny, has Hirsch, developing a gambling addiction. Hey, how many taxi drivers have them?

This series to me is more of a drama than a comedy. The charters are well developed. Without this series, no one would know who Judd Hirsch (Alex Reiger) even is. But Alex is a straight man in this show who everyone plays off. There are attempts at UN-intelligent humor on occasion, but often the absurdity of the character is played up too hard for quick laughs. This show made Tony Danza who I have never found very appealing even when he did Who's The Boss?. Louie De Palma (Danny Devito) is a funny talented guy who made a lot out of the run of this show but at the same time, his comedy is often limited in this because he always has to be the obnoxious & over-bearing boss, Louie. Andy Kaufman (Ladka) is funny, but often in this is given UN-intelligent dialog.

The amazing thing is that every character except Alex is dis-functional in one way or another, yet Alex, the normal guy, is made out of such thin cardboard, that you often wonder what actually holds him together with all the loonies around him. Christopher Lloyd (Jim) was the most consistent of the loonies around Alex, but really hit his stride later in the Back To The Future Series. Even Elaine Nardo (the shows sex symbol) has her problems, although the most memorable quote from the series comes to me from her. I think it was Louie De Palma who was analyzing all the characters in one episode who quick analysis of Elaine in one sentence summed up her abilities on the show. "Nardo has knobs!" Overall, this is the WINGS of the 1980's. It was a steady show which has brief moments of genius but usually is more urbane than funny. Amazing how the urban characters in this show interact at lower levels than you'd expect.

There were some very funny episodes, ironically the funniest one is one which makes broad slap stick type fun of gay people. While not politically correct now, I would highly recommend that episode as Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch) gets some major funny stuff in that episode.

Taxi was, and still is, the greatest sit-com I've ever seen. The Louie DePalma, Iggy and Rieger characters were simply magnificent creations. I would laugh until I cried while watching this show. It's still funny today in re-runs. Louie's "affair" with Emily (which was revived in a later episode) is particularly hilarious. Iggy playing piano at a black-tie

gala (as Elaine's "date" for the evening) is both amusing and heart-warming. The scripts were excellent as they blended wry, sarcastic humor with some degree of pathos in each episode. This show succeeded at a time when there was no "political correctness" to erode its rough edges. It's very doubtful one of the three major networks would create and air a show like this in today's more conservative climate.

Forty years later this show is still funny. Andy Kaufman, Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd are comedic geniuses. Judd Hirsch is the perfect straight man and Tony Danza, Jeff Conaway and Marilu Henner are the perfect supporting cast, as well as Carol Kane and Rhea Pearlman occassionally.. There were also numerous memorable guest actors including Tom Selleck, Tom Hanks, Penny Marshall, Ted Danson and others. There were some sad, poignant moments along with the humor, and often a moral. This show will be a classic for many years to come.

TAKE a bunch of real, stock-type characters, tweak 'em a little to give 'em some outstanding and unique personalities. Bring them together under an artistic umbrella; which creates a natural and ongoing reason to together. The addition of a foible laden grouch of a boss with an over-active yet under nourished libido and a general hatred for mankind makes for the sort of antagonism which we know will provide plenty of great, comic situations for many a week and multiple season run.

THE ADDITION of a leading character, who somehow maintains an even keel, supplying the rest of the stock company of characters with sterling, unerring paragon of wisdom and bright shining beacon of hope, is the other ingredient which gives fine balance to a series premise and its stories. In this way, a series, no matter how seemingly far out, off the wall and ludicrous its "funny" characters may seem to be.

IN the case of TAXI (John-Charles-Walters Productions/Paramount Television/ABC/NBC, 1978-83), the line-up is peppered with a fine assortment of madly disposed tenants; each of which are walking examples of the best in sheer comic zaniness. We have Bobby (Jeff Conaway) an aspiring Actor, Elaine (Marilu Henner) a sort of underachieving Professional Woman, Tony (Tony Danza) Prizefighter, Reverend Jim (Christopher Lloyd) relic of '60's and Latka (Andy Kauffman) newly arrived immigrant auto mechanic of unknown, mythical ethnicity.

TOPPING off this menu is Louie DePalma (Danny DeVito) the cab dispatcher with zero scruples and even less socially redeeming qualities. While ruling the garage like the barn boss of a major penitentiary, Louie is equally adept at being overly obsequious and subservient to the Cab Company's owner, Mr. McKenzie; who he both worships and fears. Complicating this relationship even further is the fact that a very physical Mrs McKenzie (Eileen Brennan) has designs on Louie's bod. The whole situation is a topper to such a fine a group of stories ever seen since the hey day of THE HONEYMOONERS in 1855-56.

THE one remaining peculiarity remaining lies with Judd Hirsch's characterization of Alex Reiger. Whereas this character would normally be above all of the various temptations plaguing his co-workers; being a sort of Sheriff Andy Taylor at heart the direct opposite is truer in this case.

CABBIE Alex, you see, is every bit as human as any of his seemingly lesser peers. His lead and counterbalance to the zany happenings is a most unique characterization in the annals of Television. This is the true reason that TAXI proved to be so memorable, unique and figuratively being directly ancestral to later outstanding sitcoms as CHEERS, COACH and FRAZIER. .

I like 'Taxi', I appreciate the above average quality of the writing, the good central performances given by people like Judd Hirsch and Andy Kauffman, but for me I don't rank it as highly as other sitcoms such as 'Cheers'.

I can't fault though that this show has some lovely moments along the way. There is at least one big, big laugh in every episode.

Perhaps it went on a little too long towards the end, but it was a fun ride while it lasted.

Check it out if you get a chance.

Taxi was a creative show that will be remembered for years to come. Each episode featured huge laughs that make your sides hurt, due in no small part to Christopher Lloyd. My favorite episode is the one where Jim takes the test to be a driver. The cast had a unique chemistry that you don't see on shows these days. Taxi isn't television, it's TELEVISION.

They were all dreamers . Hoping for something better but ending up in Sunshine Cab Company. This show is perhaps the funniest show from its time frame. Great comedy all around. Devito was Top Notch and his hand gestures,acrobatics and facial expressions were not to be missed. Made of stone, Louis DePalma, the dispatcher truly had a heart of gold, seen on very rare occasions. You had Andy Kaufman as the mechanic , simply awesome making up his own language from a fictional nation, Another true artist in the field. Tony Danza, Jeff Conaway would be boxer and would be actor respectably. Elaine the sexiest mom around, raising a pre teen son, just stringing cab job and museum job to make ends meet. Christopher Lloyd another true classic , the reformed or maybe not so much drug abuser, was simply another artist with just wonderful expressions,lingo and overall comedic appearance. The first cast member of any sitcom , that I recall as a drug user . Of course the glue of this cast , Mr. Judd Hirsch'Alex Rieger', the wannabe cab psychologist with baggage in his own life. This was just a wonderful sitcom that provided nonstop laughter. Throw in some excellent guest stars from the 5 year run and this show is in the big leagues with more prominent sitcoms in American History. It deserves its due . Hopefully in the era of dvds and webstreaming , this show will get its kudos.