Taxi's Fourth Season Keeps the Laugh Meter Running

CBS/Paramount presents the continuing adventures of the employees of the Sunshine Cab Company with the release of the Fourth Season of Taxi, the final year it aired on ABC. The following year on NBC would its last.

The cast of characters feature fulltime cabbie Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch), divorced mother Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner) who also works in an art gallery, former boxer Tony Banta (Tony Danza), '60s burnout Reverend Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd), and mechanic Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman) an immigrant from the island of Caspiar. They all work under the mean and vengeful eye of head dispatcher Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito), one of the more despicable characters in television sitcoms.

This season, Louie's shenanigans include sleeping with his girlfriend's drunken friend, attempting to ruin his mother's wedding to an elderly Japanese man, and getting caught peeping on Elaine as she changes clothes. Actor Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway), a former series regular, makes a return appearance after having left for Hollywood in "Bobby Doesn't Live Here Anymore," as does Simka (Carol Kane), a young woman from Caspiar who Latka fell in love with though she's a different ethnicity.

The strength of the show comes from the writing. Creators James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed.Weinberger have an amazing pedigree in television comedy. Their combined resume of series they created, produced, or wrote for include The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, The Bob Newheart Show, The Simpsons, Get Smart, The Munsters, and The Cosby Show. Writer Sam Simon went on to develop The Simpsons with Brooks and Mtt Groenig, and Glen & Les Charles created Cheers.

It's hard to believe ABC cancelled the series after this season because it is consistently very funny. "Jim The Psychic" finds Alex tempting fate after Jim predicts the bizarre circumstances of his death. "Cooking For Two" finds Louie in one of the few instances where he acts like a compassionate human being when he takes a recently homeless Jim into his apartment. Naturally, the fates punish his kindness.

Alex and Louie seek team up and revenge for Elaine in "The Unkindest Cut" after she receives a terrible haircut, which cost a whopping $200, and is insulted by the stylist (Ted Danson). The best part of this season occurred due to Kaufman's boredom with playing Latka. To accommodate him, the writers gave Latka multiple personality disorder, which manifests itself in sleazy womanizer Vic Ferrari and co-worker Alex Rieger, to Alex's frustration.

The DVDs are presented in an aspect ratio of 4:3 and the audio is mono.

If you are looking for quality sitcoms, hail Taxi - The Fourth Season. It offers almost 10 hours of laughs as the meter runs.