Now that we’ve disconnected our 2008 TV, we watch television from past decades. “Taxi” first aired in an era when I didn’t watch much ‘vision (late ’70s, early ’80s), so I became a fan in reruns. Somewhere along the way, someone in the house gave me a season of “Taxi” on DVD. We periodically watch that, as we did tonight.
One thing that hooked me about “Taxi”–beyond the delight in watching the occasionally brilliant ensemble work of Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Andy Kaufman, Marilu Henner, Judd Hirsch, et al.–was the theme. I love what I’ll call it’s winsome (if not melancholy) quality at the opening and what I’ve always heard as the lonely sound of the little reprise at the end. What other sitcom theme has such a sad tug to it?
For the record, the theme was the work of “smooth jazz” master Bob James, who assembled a pretty amazing crew to record the “Taxi” music during the show’s five-year run. The theme itself is called “Angela,” and I’m guessing it refers to a series of episodes involving the Judd Hirsch character, Alex Rieger, and a bitter and unattractive blind date. (The MP3 is for sale at Amazon.)
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The truth is I never saw the show but I did see the opening credits a few times. It shows the taxi crossing the 59th St. Bridge (from Queens to Manhattan). That stands to reason since there are a lot of taxi garages on the Queens side of the bridge. That part of Queens is called Long Island City. Perhaps the slightly melanchloic sounds refers to the start of the twelve hour shift the drivers typically work.
I didn’t realize that show had such a good cast. Andy Kaufman is kind of a legend around here. Among other things he was in Paul Seide’s high school graduation class. But that is another story.
The truth is I never saw the show but I did see the opening credits a few times. It shows the taxi crossing the 59th St. Bridge (from Queens to Manhattan). That stands to reason since there are a lot of taxi garages on the Queens side of the bridge. That part of Queens is called Long Island City. Perhaps the slightly melanchloic sounds refers to the start of the twelve hour shift the drivers typically work.
I didn’t realize that show had such a good cast. Andy Kaufman is kind of a legend around here. Among other things he was in Paul Seide’s high school graduation class. But that is another story.
The 12-hour shift could lead to serious melancholia. One of the odd things about that opening sequence is how roughly it’s shot and edited. They had a few second more theme song than decent video, and they simply repeat a few seconds of the video. It’s a sign that despite the talent involved, the show was really made on the cheap. Also, if you watch the credit sequence, the cab is leaving Manhattan across the bridge. The camera pans two or three times to the left, or south down the East River. In the repeated footage you can just catch a glimpse of the World Trade Center towers.
The cast was great–Carol Kane was Andy Kaufman’s love interest, and Rhea Perlman did a great turn, too, as Danny DeVito’s girlfriend. The writing wasn’t too shabby, either, but the thing that carried most episodes was the performance of Kaufman, DeVito, and Lloyd. No one else really holds a candle to them.