History Trivia / Taxi

* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/LucBesson always had Samy Naceri in mind for Daniel Morales, having been impressed by their brief collaboration on ''Film/TheProfessional''.

* PlayingGertrude: Creator/VictorBuono appeared on one episode as Mr. Caldwell, Jim's estranged father. Buono and Christopher Lloyd were born ''in the same year.''

** At the Golden Globes, Creator/JeffConaway punched Kaufman in the face believing Andy thought he was better than the rest of his co-stars. After that, Kaufman never participated in any of the other cast-and-crew get-togethers ever again. Though according to Conaway he and Andy made up for the punching incident and even hung out a few times outside of work.

** At the Golden Globes, Creator/JeffConaway punched Kaufman in the face believing Andy thought he was better than the rest of his co-stars. After that, Kaufman never participated in any of the other cast-and-crew get-togethers ever again.

** Creator/JeffConaway personally despised Kaufman more than anyone. At the Golden Globes, he punched Kaufman in the face believing Andy thought he was better than the rest of his co-stars. After that, Kaufman never participated in any of the other cast-and-crew get-togethers ever again.

* CreatorBacklash: Jeff Conaway admitted that he found the role of Bobby rather monotonous to play. He identified with the character but felt Bobby to be underwritten compared to other, more defined characters like Louie or Jim.

* CreatorBacklash: Jeff Conaway admitted that he found the role of Bobby rather repetitive to play. He identified with the character but felt Bobby to be rather underwritten compared to other, more defined characters like Louie or Jim.

* CreatorCouple: Louie's girlfriend Zena was potrayed by Creator/DannyDeVito's real-life wife Creator/RheaPerlman.
* CreatorsPest: Some of the writers apparently felt that Simka was this when she became a semi-regular in the final season (with a more abrasive personality than she had in her guest appearances). According to an interview with writer-producers Glen and Les Charles, some writers simply refused to write for Simka.

* UnCancelled: The show was abruptly cancelled by Creator/{{ABC}} after its fourth season, but it was picked by Creator/{{NBC}} for another year before being cancelled for good.

** In 2013, on the National Public Radio program ''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'', Creator/TonyDanza said that when he auditioned, he read with Creator/MandyPatinkin, who was auditioning for the role of Alex Reiger.

* HostilityOnTheSet: The cast despised it whenever Creator/AndyKaufman played Tony Clifton on the show because Kaufman refused to break character and acted as boorishly as humanly possible to everyone. It got to the point where everyone banded together and threatened to revolt if Kaufman wasn't fired immediately. The producers managed to come up with a compromise where they called Tony Clifton into a cast meeting, fired him, and had security guards physically throw him off the lot. This ensured that Kaufman couldn't bring the Clifton persona back onto the show and satisfied the rest of the cast enough to keep on working with Kaufman.

* RealitySubtext: Creator/AndyKaufman's character develops multiple identities? You don't say!

* TroubledProduction: Creator/AndyKaufman never took the show seriously and often made ludicrous demands, most notably his showing up to the set in-character as Tony Clifton and causing utter chaos. To a lesser extent, Jeff Conaway suffered from a heroin addiction that kept leaving him unable to work for long periods, until he was fired.

* WagTheDirector: Creator/AndyKaufman didn't want to do the series due to his dislike of sitcoms and had several conditions for doing so - that he only had to be on the set two days a week, fourteen episodes per season and that Tony Clifton make guest appearances.

** Tellingly, Conaway and Danza were the only two ''Taxi'' regulars who did not appear in ''Film/ManOnTheMoon''[[note]]Creator/DannyDeVito appears not AsHimself but as Kaufman's manager George Shapiro[[/note]].

* UnderageCasting: General Bertineau mentions that he fought in the Algerian War, which ended in 1962. Actor Jean-Christophe Bouvet was born in 1947 -- he was 15 in 1962, which is under the minimum age of military service back then (19).

** And a special bonus round for the 1931 gangster film with Creator/JamesCagney and Creator/LorettaYoung.

** And a special bonus round involving [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023556/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_20 James Cagney...]]

* UnderAgeCasting: General Bertineau mentions that he fought in the Algerian War, which ended in 1962. Actor Jean-Christophe Bouvet was born in 1947 -- he was 15 in 1962, which is under the minimum age of military service back then (19).
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The first four movies are shaping up into this as TheNineties and [[TurnOfTheMillennium early 2000s]] are getting further and further away. Of particular note: the cars, old police radars, [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfFrance the presidency of Jacques Chirac]], people paying things in francs (France has adopted the euro currency since), Daniel's "Zinedine Zidane #10" soccer jersey (Zinedine Zidane was the then-biggest star in French soccer, especially after helping the French team win the FIFA World Cup in 1998) and soccer player Djibril Cissé playing at the Olympique de Marseille (he has retired since).

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: This series was set in the late 70s/early 80s, i.e. then-present/contemporary setting, years before rideshare apps, like Uber and Lyft, have become increasingly popular, affecting taxicab industries, like one in New York City, the series' location setting.

** Time will tell if ''Taxi 5'' killed the franchise a second time.

* OutOfOrder: A mostly unintentional example (because of the SAG strike in the summer of 1980). Two episodes ("Jim the Psychic" and "Fledging", the last featuring Jeff Conaway as a regular) were filmed in late '80 for the third season, but they aired in September and December 1981 (during the fourth season), respectively.

* ActorSharedBackground: Tony Danza was an amateur boxer prior to appearing on ''Taxi''.

* CastTheRunnerUp: The producers originally wanted an African-American actor to play Bobby. Cleavon Little was a finalist for the part. Jeff Conaway was originally considered to play John, but asked to audition for Bobby. Conaway was the only white actor who was considered for the role. Casting director Joel Thurm later said that he thought Cleavon would have been a better fit to play the character.

* HostilityOnTheSet: The cast despised it whenever Andy Kaufman played Tony Clifton on the show because Kaufman refused to break character and acted as boorishly as humanly possible to everyone. It got to the point where everyone banded together and threatened to revolt if Kaufman wasn't fired immediately. The producers managed to come up with a compromise where they called Tony Clifton into a cast meeting, fired him, and had security guards physically throw him off the lot. This ensured that Kaufman couldn't bring the Clifton persona back onto the show and satisfied the rest of the cast enough to keep on working with Kaufman.
** Conversely, Tony Danza has stated that Andy himself wasn't rude or hostile while ''working'', despite his distaste for the show, but he sometimes rubbed people the wrong way with his complete detachment; even with his two-days-a-week stipulation, his absence forced the crew to often use a stand-in because he could never make rehearsal on time, and he'd stay separate from the other actors and meditate in the parking lot before filming. At one point Danza lost his patience, pulled a fire extinguisher off the wall and sprayed him with foam just to get ''some'' kind of reaction -- and Andy calmly stared at him as he did it.

* RealLifeRelative: Louie's girlfriend Zena was potrayed by Danny [=DeVito=]'s real-life wife Rhea Perlman.
** Also, [=DeVito=]'s own mother Julia appeared as Louie's mom in a few episodes.
** Tony Danza's son Marc Anthony appeared in two episodes of the second season, appearing in one as the kid Tony wanted to adopt.

* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: Jeff Conway's drug problems led to him leaving the show after three seasons. One time, he was so strung out that he couldn't perform, so Bobby's lines were given to the other characters. It was then that the producers realized that Conway was expendable.

* HostilityOnTheSet: The cast despised it whenever Andy Kaufman played Tony Clifton on the show because Kaufman refused to break character and acted as boorishly as humanly possible to everyone. It got to the point where everyone banded together and threatened to revolt if Kaufman wasn't fired immediately. The producers managed to come up with a compromise where they called Tony Clifton into a cast meeting, fired him, and had security guards physically throw him off the lot. This ensured that Kaufman couldn't bring the Clifton persona back onto the show and satisfied the rest of the cast enough to keep on working with Kaufman. Conversely, Tony Danza has stated that Andy himself wasn't rude or hostile while ''working'', despite his distaste for the show, but he sometimes rubbed people the wrong way with his complete detachment; even with his two-days-a-week stipulation, his absence forced the crew to often use a stand-in because he could never make rehearsal on time, and he'd stay separate from the other actors and meditate in the parking lot before filming.

* HostilityOnTheSet: The cast despised it whenever Andy Kaufman played Tony Clifton on the show because Kaufman refused to break character and acted as boorishly as humanly possible to everyone. It got to the point where everyone banded together and threatened to revolt if Kaufman wasn't fired immediately. The producers managed to come up with a compromise where they called Tony Clifton into a cast meeting, fired him, and had security guards physically throw him off the lot. This ensured that Kaufman couldn't bring the Clifton persona back onto the show and satisfied the rest of the cast enough to keep on working with Kaufman.