Episode Review: Taxi - One-Punch Banta

 

Synopsis

Tony gets the chance to spar with a professional boxer at the gym, but things aren't what they seem.

Thoughts

This episode gives Tony Danza a chance to shine, and he does well. I'm not sure if he's more famous for Taxi or Who's the Boss (which is where I know him from). 

Like the first episode, this one also makes a point of showing how tight-knit the group of cabbies are, and the support they give each other. The other cabbies pitch in to buy Tony a boxer's robe, and at one point Alex is giving some advice about driving a cab to Elaine and John, and tells them not to feel bad if they don't know this information already because he's had 10 years experience. This sort of...being good to each other, I guess, isn't so common in the shows I've watched. I noticed Glen and Les Charles, and James Burrows, mentioned in the credits, and even their show Cheers didn't feature this level of intercharacter support (I'm remembering the episode where Cliff was in the hospital and nobody wanted to visit him).

Louie gets a moment alone in the garage which is pretty funny (and I wonder if it gets cut for syndication -- it seems prime to be), though Latka barely appears, and John doesn't have much to do here either. Louie comes across as very despicable and unlikable, and while I realize that's the point, I hope they tone him down a bit as the show goes on. Though at the end, even he admits he was rooting for Tony, and for a brief moment shows some geniality.

The first season of most TV shows tends to be a little atypical in hindsight as the show goes on, so I'm curious as to how much the rest of the series is like the first two episodes, especially in regard to how supportive the characters are of each other.

Episode Review: Taxi - Like Father, Like Daughter

Taxi was a show I'd known about from syndication when I was a kid, but I'd never watched an episode until yesterday. I recently picked up the entire series for $30, and will be reviewing each episode as I watch them for the first time.

The first episode of Season 1, Like Father, Like Daughter, introduces us to the characters and the taxi garage they work out of. Cab driver Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch) shows up with a passenger, John Burns (Randall Carver) because he didn't have change for the bill John gave him. There, we also meet Alex's coworkers, which include struggling actor Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway), losing boxer Tony Banta (Tony Danza, who I know mostly from Who's the Boss), their abusive dispatcher Louie De Palma (Danny Devito), new employee Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner, who is a mainstay on Hallmark Channel these days), and mechanic Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman). And because this is the first episode I've ever watched, I had to look up these character and actor names on Wikipedia!

While at the garage, John, who has an incredibly positive attitude, raves about how great their pay phone is, because the change compartment can be opened and therefore anyone can just keep inserting the same coin and call anywhere! This prompts the employees to begin making phone calls they normally wouldn’t, or couldn’t, make. Alex is encouraged to make a call to the daughter his hasn’t spoken to in 15 years, only to learn she’s left for college, but will be making a connecting flight in Miami, Florida. So, Alex, along with Bobby, Tony, Latka, and even John (who he’s just met) borrow a cab and drive from New York City to Miami so Alex can talk to his daughter and see her for the first time since she was a toddler.

As first episodes go, this one’s very unusual, given the heartfelt plot. I liked that Alex’s coworkers and John made the trip with him, and when Alex waded into the passenger area to try and find his daughter, Bobby said “Don’t worry, we won’t leave you.” as a show of support. It’s a very touching scene, more so than most premiere episodes of sitcoms. I'm looking forward to watching the next episode.

At the end of the episode, John becomes a driver for the cab company as well, and the series’ ensemble is set in motion.

Resuming This Blog

It's been almost 7 years since I've written anything here, and I honestly don't know if anyone has ever visited this blog. My original point in starting this blog, apart from my regular blog, My Life and Code, was as a way to find a little solace in the classic TV shows I love, as a refuge from the craziness of everyday life. Different people unwind in different ways, and for me, certain TV shows help me unwind.

As evidenced by the limited number of posts written here so far, the plan didn't really pan out. And it was starting to get to the point where I'd only be writing when someone from the world of classic TV had passed away.

I recently purchased the DVD boxed set of Taxi for $30. I'd never watched a single episode, but based on the talent behind the show, and the things I'd already heard about it, I thought I'd take a chance. I've since watched the first episode, and afterwards decided that it would be an interesting exercise of sorts to review each episode as I watched it. Taxi is a classic series, but one that I'm only experiencing now, decades after it premiered. So, if anyone is reading this, I'm about to embark on an episode-by-episode, watched-for-the-first-time journey through Taxi.