Taxi: The Complete 3rd Season (DVD)
APPROX. 550 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1980 - MPA RATING: NR
" Burrows and the Charles brothers don't mind going for tears as well as laughs, and with this talented cast it really works.
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9) "Thy Boss's Wife"—A funny episode finds Louie warning the gang that one of them is due to be the prey for the boss's wife (Eileen Brennan), who has a fling with a cabbie to get back at her husband every time they have a fight.
10) "The Costume Party"—Another funny one has the cabbies dressing up for what they think is a celebrity bash after Bobby finds a briefcase in his cab with an appointment book full of famous names . . . and a date for the party.
11) "Elaine's Old Friend"—When Elaine picks up a fare who's an old high school rival, she concocts a professor-boyfriend . . . who turns out to be a reluctant Alex.
12) "Out of Commission"—When the medical board revokes Tony's license because he's taken one too many blows to the head, Tony schemes to get back into the ring.
13) "Zen and the Art of Cab Driving"—Lloyd is hilarious in this episode about Jim studying a self-help technique called "dynamic perfectionism" and taking it to the max . . . Ignatowski style.
14) "Louie's Mother"—A classic episode finds Louie moving out of his mother's apartment and throwing the world's worst guys-only party.
15) "Bobby's Roommate"—When Elaine needs a place to live, Bobby asks him to be his roommate . . . something that comes with more complications than either expected.
16) "Louie Bumps into an Old Lady"—Another classic, a variation on the old fraud sitcom, finds Louie in a panic after he hits an old lady with a cab . . . and she sues him for a million bucks.
17) "Bobby and the Critic"—DeVito shines again in this episode about Bobby facing off against a nasty theater critic and writing the kind of letter you do to vent . . . not mail. That is, unless you have Louie for a postman.
18-19) "On the Job, Parts 1 & 2"—The cabbies reminisce when it looks as if the company is going belly-up.
20) "Latka the Playboy"—Latka gets tired of being the cute foreigner and studies Playboy and English language tapes to change his image. What emerges is alter ego Vic Ferrari . . . which would have been funny had it stayed a single episode. Alas, the "Taxi" gang tried to milk this the fourth season, and basically beat this gag to a pulp.
Video: For whatever reason—whether it's the transfer or film stock—Taxi just isn't as sharp as you'd like it to be. With a 1.33:1 aspect ratio stretched to fit a widescreen there's sometimes some fattening of heads on the edges, and the picture is grainy and slightly fuzzy. It's not serious enough to make you want to throttle the manufacturers, but with a show of Emmy-winning caliber you'd wish for better results. The reality, of course, is that restorations are expensive, and I suspect that 1980 film stock just didn't hold up as well as earlier black and white stock and later color film.
Audio: Nothing special here either: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. There's a very, very slight hiss, but otherwise it's average.
Extras: As with most of the TV-on-DVD releases, there are no extras.
Bottom Line: There are some outrageously funny and equally sensitive episodes this season, which reinforced the gap between the viewing public's and Emmy voters' tastes. For my money, the Emmy voters were right. "Taxi" is an intelligent comedy that has as much heart as it does brains. Burrows and the Charles brothers don't mind going for tears as well as laughs, and with this talented cast it really works.
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