Characters / Taxi (Series)

The core characters of the 1970's/1980's sitcom Taxi include:

Main Characters

Alex Rieger

Alex Rieger

Played By: Judd Hirsch

The heart and soul of the series. After having a nice office job, his lack of ambition got him fired, he lost contact with his family, and ended up a taxi driver content to spend the rest of his life driving cabs.

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• Afraid of Doctors: Alex is petrified about the idea of going to the dentist, and told Elaine to make an appointment and not tell him until it was time to go so he didn't have time to chicken out.
• Ambiguously Jewish: Not too gently confirmed in a late episode by two members of a co-op board.
• Berserk Button: He doesn't react well when he gets compared with pelicans.
• Better as Friends: One episode has Elaine on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and starts to come on to Alex as a way of compensating. Seeing as she's obviously very vulnerable, he turns her away. Later, after she has spoken to a therapist, Alex says he's glad they "stopped before we did something we both would have... fondly remembered for the rest of our lives." Cue laughter from Elaine.
• Beware the Nice Ones: In "Bobby's Big Break", when Louie was ranting about how he was going to put Bobby through ultimate hell when he returned to the garage after being dropped from a soap opera, Alex finally snapped and tore the front of Louie's wire-mesh dispatcher's cage with his bare hands and proceeded to yank Louie out of the cage and grab him roughly by the scruff of his shirt until Louie compromised.
• Billed Above the Title: "Judd Hirsch in ... TAXI."
• Boyfriend Bluff: In "Elaine's Old Friend", Alex posed as Elaine's college professor boyfriend, Bill Board, an act that managed to woo Elaine and even Elaine's friend while she was on a date with her own boyfriend. Even afterward, Elaine considered they should take their relationship further, but the end of the episode left it ambiguous as to whether or not anything was going to come out of it.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He's definitely got more brains than most of the cast and even had a decently successful office gig but his lack of ambition got him fired and he now seems content to just drive cabs the rest of his life.
• Compressed Vice: His revealed to be a compulsive gambling vice in "Alex Goes Off the Wagon".
• The Confidant: He's the one the rest of the cabbies and Louie turn to for advice.
• Deadpan Snarker: Especially towards Louie.
• Gag Nose: Something Louie constantly teases him about.
• The Gambling Addict: He enjoys gambling and bets, although he manages keeps it compressed most of the time.
• Motor Mouth: Happened when he was given some uppers in "Men Are Such Beasts".
• Only Sane Man: And how. When your friends and co-workers include an egotistical actor, a wacky immigrant mechanic, a burned-out relic of the '60s, a boxer one straw short of a haystack, and a vile toad of a dispatcher who likes to torture his employees, you know you must be the most normal one of the bunch. In a more bittersweet sense, he's the only one who truly accepts that he's a cab-driver and not just temporarily driving cabs until something bigger and better comes along.
• The Reliable One: Despite Alex's initial sour demeanor when given one of his friends' problems, he always comes through in the end and everybody knows they can rely on him. Secretly, however, it's something that Alex resents, as learned in "Mr. Personalities", when Latka (as Alex) relates all of Alex's innermost thoughts to a psychiatrist.
• The Stoic: In a cast of ham, he stands out for being very reserved and not prone to huge displays of emotion.
• Straight Man: Alex became this in later seasons.
• The Un-Favourite: The reason Alex is strangely nonchalant about his father having a heart attack.

Bobby Wheeler

Robert L. "Bobby" Wheeler

Played By: Jeff Conaway (Seasons 1-3)

A struggling actor.

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• The Ace: His being good-looking and at least potentially on the way to a successful acting career meant that audiences could enjoy him as the butt of Louie's cruel jokes without too much guilt.
• Bad "Bad Acting": The acting stints that he lands are full of this.
• Break the Cutie: He always comes closer than anyone to getting out of the garage, and always has his dreams crushed in the most humiliating way possible. Louie delights in reminding Bobby what a failure he is.
• Butt-Monkey: Bobby has the unfortunate plug of being Louie's favorite of the cabbies to pick on.
• Genre Savvy: Being an actor, he was often this. Like when the entire garage crowded the door awaiting for some movie people, only to be stopped by him, calling them "a bunch of 'groupies'".
• Put on a Bus: To Hollywood.
  • The Bus Came Back: For a guest appearance in the episode "Bobby Doesn't Live Here Anymore."
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The "sensitive guy" to Tony's "manly man". Subverted with Bobby's selfishness.
• Straight Man: To Tony. Lampshaded in an early episode, after Tony said "Touché" instead of the more conventional "Bon appetit":
  Bobby: Why do you always have to annoy me?

Louie De Palma

Louie DePalma

Played By: Danny DeVito

The diminutive, but despotical dispatcher at the Sunshine Cab Company.

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• The Antagonist: Well, he's the closest thing the show has to one.
• Abhorrent Admirer: Regularly hits on Elaine who wants absolutely nothing to do with him. When she has to go on a date with him to end a strike, on the night of the date, she ends up putting away quite a bit of alcohol. When he finds out how much, he exclaims he thought that was enough to kill someone. She replied that she thought that too.
• Bad Boss: Louie once cooked the books in order to try to stop a strike (then agreed to the union's demands only when Elaine agreed to date him), embezzles from the company, and treats the employees like complete dirt. It can best be summed up by this dialogue in an early episode, after Latka fixes a taxi, and Louie rips a part out:
  Louie: Now you can put that back in. You know why I did that, Latka?
  Latka: Because, you are (a) terrible person?
  Louie: Yes.
• Basement-Dweller: Still lives with his mother but seems to resent her at times.
• Berserk Button: There's one word Louie hates more than anything... "accident".
• Big Ego, Hidden Depths: In "Louie Goes Too Far", Elaine asks Louie if his privacy has been ever violated (this after she caught him peeping while changing clothes). We then learn that Louie has to go to the kids' department of the store each time he buys new clothes, feeling very humiliated.
• Big Little Man: Louie spends most of his time in the dispacher's cage during the pilot, and the audience has a big laugh when they see Louie at full height.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He acts friendly and accommodating when he first meets Elaine. Then he finds out she's a taxi driver, and starts screaming at her for making him think that she was "a regular person."
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Right from the first time the old dispatcher asked him to fill in, Louie found out he could make extra cash by letting his employee know he accepted bribes for favors, not that most of what they got was any good. He even told Latka to pay him before he could take a sick day. It's not just money either. He always gets the first candy bar by threatening to call whoever doesn't move last for a cab.
• Butt-Monkey: Whenever he's not the one causing the humiliation.
• Casanova Wannabe: He is known for confidently hitting on women to no avail, most notably on Elaine.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's known for his snarky lines and dry sense of humor, often used when mocking his co-workers.
• Determinator: Louie always expected Zena to come back to him after they broke up, being clearly shocked when Zena told him she was going to get married.
• Friendless Background: He had this in high school.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: No one, except Jim and perhaps Latka (and even the latter is revealed to have often fantasized about him in front of a firing squad!). The "friend" part is questionable, but he does start to hang out with the cabbies outside of the garage more and more as the series progresses.
• Hates Being Touched: Especially by "cabbies"!
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: In the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon, Louie is absent and not even mentioned in the stretch that deals with Kaufman's tenure on Taxi...because Danny DeVito was busy playing Kaufman's agent George Shapiro! (DeVito explained that he was fascinated by Shapiro's relationship with Kaufman and when the biopic was being floated, he was determined to play Shapiro, not realizing this would raise a Celebrity Paradox when it came to Taxi until it was too late.)
• Hopeless Suitor: To Elaine, who sees him as an Abhorrent Admirer.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: He may try his best to hide it, but there's one reason Louie wants to hang out with Alex and Co. once in a while.
• Jerkass: A classic example on television. He's a very unplesant man who frequently berates and bullies his employees.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He has his moments (particularly where Latka, "the poodle I never had", is concerned) as early as "Paper Marriage" in Season One: Having already attempted to turn Latka into the immigration authorities, the cabbies understandably suspect that he will tell them Latka is marrying a call girl to get his green card. But when the officials ask, he tells them Latka is actually marrying for love.
• Karma Houdini: He occasionally gets away with his various schemes and less-than-legal activities. In "Crime and Punishment," he steals parts of the cabs to sell for himself, then blames his assistant Jeff for the theft, who gets fired for it. When Alex forces him to confess, Mr. Ratledge, who owns Sunshine, thinks Louie is pulling an I Am Spartacus moment and praises him for it. Though Mr. Ratledge does rehire Jeff, Louie is the one who comes out on top, and can only remark that "Crime pays."
• Large Ham: Much like most of Danny DeVito's characters — many of those he played later are Expys of Louie in some way.
• Limited Wardrobe: He is rarely seen in clothes other than a grey three-piece suit (mostly with the jacket off), pink shirt and red tie.
• The Napoleon: He's played by the famously dimunitive Danny DeVito and is a short-tempered jerk.
• No Indoor Voice: He's pretty much always speaking as loud as he can.
• The Peeping Tom: He did this in "Louie Goes Too Far", peeping on Elaine changing through a hole in the wall separating the two restrooms; however, in this case, as he was fired for it.
• Stalker Shrine: Somehow the cabbies think that Louie's pasting of a photo of Zena's face over a bikini-clad calendar girl seems to be quite weird (that's how Jim knew of Zena in "Louie Meets The Folks").
• Trademark Favorite Food: Baby Ruth chocolate bars, fresh out of the vending machine.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Downplayed. In "Louie and the Blind Girl", she elects to get surgery that could restore her sight. Louie is terrified that she'll dump him once she sees what he actually looks like. But he stands by her side, and true to the trope, when she first sees him she says that he's everything she imagined.
  Judy: Oh, Louie, you're beautiful!... You're exactly the way I pictured you... Except I thought you had a little more hair between your eyebrows.
  Louie: It grows back!
• Vocal Evolution: His voice was much deeper early on, and had a stronger "Italian toughie" accent. Beginning in season 2, Louie adopted his more familiar shrill tone.

Elaine O'Connor-Nardo

Elaine O'Connor Nardo

Played By: Marilu Henner

An aspiring artist and single mother.

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• Audience Surrogate: She's introduced in the pilot as an outsider to the garage and the world of cabbies, giving the writers an excuse to have the characters explain how things work for her.
• Better as Friends: One episode has Elaine is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and starts to come on to Alex as a way of compensating. Seeing as she's obviously very vulnerable, he turns her away. Later, after she has spoken to a therapist, Alex says he's glad they "stopped before we did something we both would have... fondly remembered for the rest of our lives." Cue laughter from Elaine.
• Deadpan Snarker: She can be quite sarcastic at times, particularly whenever Louie tries to make an advance to her.
• Lust Object: She's been the object of Louie's desires ever since her first day at work, and she simply sees him as an Abhorrent Admirer, mostly for his Jerkass attitude.
• Ms. Fanservice: She's incredibly attractive and frequently dresses well. And though she never shows as much skin as the average young woman in a late 1970s TV show, she often goes braless.
• Nice Girl: She's extremely kind and supportive of her friends, and despite her love for the fine arts, she isn't a snobbish
• One of the Boys: She's by no means a Tomboy, but she quickly builds a rapport with the rest of the male cast and hangs out with them often.
• Quirky Girl, Quirky Tux: One episode had Elaine have an Imagine Spot where all the characters including herself were dressed in tuxedos and performing "The Lullaby of Broadway". Her tux is not quite the fishnet variety. Her tights are more sheer with sequins.
• The Smurfette Principle: Was the only female character on the show until Simka joined the cast.
• Sex Goddess: A Running Gag involves her casually commenting or quipping about her bedroom prowess, not realizing the effect it has on the guys.
  Bobby: When I act with a real pro, I get better.
  Alex: Yeah, it's the same with tennis. When I play with an "A" player, I get better.
  Elaine: Yeah, it's the same with sex.
  Alex: Beat ...You get better?
  Elaine: They do.
• Starving Artist: She's an aspiring artist, but since the profession isn't lucrative she resorts to working on the garage to support her children.
• Straight Man: To everybody except the more reasonable Alex.
• Struggling Single Mother: She's a divorced mother with two children, who started to work at the garage so she could provide for them.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The feminine counterpart to the sharp-tongued Simka.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: A couple of episodes suggest that she and Alex may have a thing for one another, but the show was cancelled before anything ever came out of it.

Tony Banta

Anthony Mark "Tony" Banta

Played By: Tony Danza

A wannabe amateur boxer who gets some big breaks that always crumble down.

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• The Ace: After Bobby left the show, Tony became this.
• The Big Guy: As a boxer, Tony is very muscular.
• The Ditz: He's not too bright.
• Dumb Muscle: As an amateur boxer, he's physically impressive, but also incredibly unintelligent.
• Heroic BSoD: When his license was revoked because of boxing being too dangerous for him.
• Noodle Incident: His year spent in the Vietnam War.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Elaine; Tony is the only male character in the main cast that never expressed any romantic interest or attraction to her but was always willing to help her out.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The "manly man" to Bobby's "sensitive guy". Subverted given how moronic Tony can be.

Reverend Jim Ignatowski

Reverend Jim "Iggy" Ignatowski (birth name James Caldwell)

Played By: Christopher Lloyd

A gentle burned-out hippie, Jim first appeared in a one-shot role in the first season, being hired to officiate Latka's green card "wedding", but he was so well-received that the producers brought him back early in Season 2, and he became a regular just a few weeks in.

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• Catchphrase: "Okey-doke!"
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': A single marijuana-laced brownie sent the bright, wealthy, and promising young Harvard student James Caldwell into a downward spiral of drugs in the '60s and transformed him into the Jim Ignatowski that the cabbies all know and love.
• Cleans Up Nicely: When he takes Elaine out to see a concert violinist, she's blown away to see how he looked a suit and tie. Too bad he was a day early for the concert.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Jim lives in a world of his own, from having visions of the original Mouseketeers to mistaking a cigarette machine for a record machine, to actually believing his apartment plays hide-and-seek with him.
• Drugs Are Bad: Jim is basically a walking cautionary tale.
• Extreme Doormat: When he was James Caldwell.
• Fingertip Drug Analysis: When going through Latka's cookies, he was able to find out the secret ingredient was actually coca leaves. Just by chewing through them, he could pinpoint where it was grown and the quality, the same way some people can identify a fine wine.
  Jim: Peru...southern Peru. '74, before the rains...
• Genius Ditz / Idiot Savant: Jim may be slow at times (justified since he used to be a drug addict), but you'll be surprised at how much his apparent social delusions prove to be quite accurate, especially in "Jim Joins the Network." After all, before getting into drugs, he did go to Harvard.
• Hippie Name: Played With. Jim changed his last name to Ignatowski, because he was so high he thought it was "Star Child" spelled backwards.
• Horrible Judge of Character: As detailed elsewhere, while Latka is more subservient than anything and has his rebellious or resentful moments, Jim is exceedingly friendly with Louie (in his own way) and hardly ever calls him anything other than "Boss", thinking of him as a friend, mentor and role model.
  "Boss, nobody could want to believe you more than I want to believe you. I've had four heroes in my life — Saint Thomas Aquinas, Mahatma Gandhi, Alan Alda, and you."
• Ivy League for Everyone: As mentioned, Jim was attending Harvard in the '60s when he took that fatal pot brownie.
• Large Ham: This is Christopher Lloyd, after all.
• Lethally Stupid: He managed to burn Louie's apartment to ashes because he was cooking beans... putting a bean bag into the stove.
• Limited Wardrobe: Hardly ever seen out of the beat-up denim. It's eventually revealed that it's the only work clothes that he owns.
• Mr. Imagination: Although he sees himself as a "down-to-earth" man.
• Noodle Incident: Lots of them. He was thrown out of the Democratic Convention in Chicago for stealing decorations, and attended Woodstock ("500,000 people...lucky for them I went or it would have only been 499,999"). He spent a year of his life making a macrame couch, and was once traded from his commune to another one for two goats and an unspecified Donovan album.
• Nostalgia Filter: Jim has a big one for The '60s.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He can be quite clever at times, at least when he isn't stoned. For instance, his words of advice have convinced Alex to stop gambling, and (in the series' last original episode) wound up buying the cabbies' favorite hangout, Mario's, and turned it into a success.
• Overly Long Gag: "What does a yellow light mean?"
• Promotion to Opening Titles: In Season 2.
• Sdrawkcab Name: He choose the name Ignatowski because he thought it spelled "Star Child" backwards.
• Special Guest: Listed as such during his initial appearance, although Jim later proved to be a Fake Guest Star in Season 2 when he became a series regular.
• Stoners Are Funny: Jim's habit has gotten him in some rather odd situations to say the least; He lived in a condemned building, bought a racehorse he renamed Gary (to erase his "slave name") and kept him in his living room, and spent a considerable period of time trying to become the "perfect" cabbie only to spend all his earnings on a wall of TVs. He screamed in his sleep, and thought weekends were nine days long because "we switched to the metric system."
• Suddenly Always Knew That: Jim is brought to a fancy party by Elaine who is hoping to impress someone but needs a date to attend the party. Jim proceeds to humiliate Elaine by acting like the '60s burn-out that he is, only to save the situation by sitting down at the piano and playing brilliantly. The other guests assume that Jim was just having a bit of fun, and so Elaine succeeds in her goal. Jim's befuddled reaction to his own playing: "I must have taken... music lessons..."
• Trademark Favorite Food: Spaghetti-Os; he has fifty cans of the stuff in his apartment.

Latka Gravas

Latka Gravas

Played By: Andy Kaufman

The Sunshine Cab Company's immigrant mechanic. Created as an Expy of performer Andy Kaufman's stage persona of "Foreign Man" and intended as a Breakout Character, the show eventually took him in a Denser and Wackier direction via a multiple personality disorder over late Season 3 and the bulk of Season 4. But The Power of Love for fellow old-worlder Simka Dahblitz brought him around, and Latka became the second and last regular character (and longest-serving one) to get married in the course of the series.

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• Abandoned Catchphrase: Early on, Latka ended every sentence with "Tank you veddy much", a carryover from Kaufman's stage act. As he became more fluent in English, this was gradually dropped during the third season.
• Aborted Declaration of Love: In "Simka Returns", whenever Latka tries to tell Simka he loves her, he turns into Vic Ferrari before he can complete his speech — until Simka rejects Vic for good.
• Always Someone Better: The Vic Ferrari persona is this to Latka himself; he is more cultured, confident, seductive, and witty (if in an often-abrasive way). However, although Simka is initially attracted to him to the point of sleeping with him and planning to run away with him, she realizes how shallow he is compared to Latka's sincere love and rejects him.
• And Starring: And Andy Kaufman as Latka Gravas.
• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Latka's native language. Most of this was Kaufman's creation and he had to teach it to Carol Kane when she made her first appearance as Simka, but a few specific words were added by the writers ("nik-nik" = "love", for instance).
• Berserk Button: Go ahead, try to mention Vic Ferrari to Latka. Or mess with his woman, Simka.
• Beware the Nice Ones: It has been shown that despite his innocent demeanor on the job, Latka can at times get carried away in his thoughts; in the episode "Fantasy Borough" he daydreams that he and Louie have switched roles, with Latka as the top sarge and Louie as the harrowed mechanic. Ultimately, it climaxes with Latka about to execute Louie by firing squad. When Louie snaps Latka out of the reverie moments later and pisses him off again, Latka simply says "Fire!" much to Louie's befuddlement.
  • Earlier in "Paper Marriage" he gives Louie the silent treatment after the latter tries to turn him over to immigration officials. Louie tries to make things up to him by offering him not one, but two dollars, but Latka simply draws a lighter out of his pocket and sets the bills on fire, leaving a panicked Louie to blow out the flames. (Bobby: "Kinda beautiful, isn't it? It never occurred to him to just drop it!")
• Big Eater: He once managed to eat almost an entire box of chocolates within seconds, thinking Louie wanted him to leave one instead of just taking one.
• Cannot Talk to Women: Why Latka creates the Vic Ferrari alter ego, who can, in "Latka the Playboy".
• The Casanova: But only as Vic Ferrari, a persona he creates specifically to be more confident when approaching women but who ends up being a love-them-and-leave-them type. When Latka finds out Vic intends to run away with Simka, he refers to him as a "two-bit bossa nova!"
• Citizenship Marriage: He received one of these in Season 1's "Paper Marriage" to avoid deportation; eventually he sincerely wed Simka in Season 4.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He is innocent and polite but extremely naive and can have a hard time reconciling the ways of "the old country" with his new life.
• Cloud Cuckoo Land: The customs of his unnamed native homeland are used to explain his odd behavior.
• Cursed with Awesome: The Vic Ferrari personality helps Latka score with multiple women, but the reason he eventually wants to dispose of him is because Vic continuously interferes with Latka's own life and even attempts to take over completely.
• A Day in the Limelight: "Paper Marriage", "Mama Gravas", "The Apartment", "Latka's Revolting", "Guess Who's Coming For Brefnish", "Latka's Cookies", "Latka the Playboy", "Mr. Personalities", "Simka Returns"; with Simka, "The Wedding of Latka and Simka" and the "Scenskees from a Marriage" two-parter. This is relatively few compared to the other regulars, but that's mostly because Andy Kaufman's contract did not require him to be in every episode.
• Did You Just Have Sex?: Simka realizes that Latka "did it with another woman" immediately after he walks into the apartment in "Scenskees from a Marriage: Part 1".
• The Ditz: He seems like one at times, but it's arguably more Obfuscating Stupidity.
• Expy: Of Kaufman's "Foreign Man" character, which he originated in his acts before he was offered a role on this show.
• Extreme Doormat: Especially when faced with Louie's wrath.
• Funny Foreigner: Of course. In "Latka the Playboy" Latka lampshades this by complaining that all his co-workers just condescend to him as "that cute little foreigner."
• Happily Married: Although they do bicker as married couples occasionally do (it's just such an argument that proves their marriage is legitimate to the immigration officer in "Simka's Monthlies"), aside from the crisis of the "Scenskees from a Marriage" two-parter, he is this with Simka. "A Grand Gesture", the penultimate episode, reveals they hope to have a child together.
• Immigrant Patriotism: He's an immigrant from an unnamed European country who firmly believes in The American Dream (Type 1).
• Literal-Minded: In "Mama Gravas", when Latka is telling the gang his mother is arriving soon.
  John: When does her plane land?
  Latka: Right at the end of flight.
• Mate or Die: This almost ruins Latka and Simka's marriage when he sleeps with a female cabbie to keep from freezing to death in a snowstorm in the "Scenskees from a Marriage" two-parter, because though they still love each other their country's traditions require them to divorce unless Simka sleeps with one of his co-workers in turn and Alex refuses to do so. The crisis is solved when they divorce but Reverend Jim then points out that they can just remarry — and they promptly head out to do so.
• Meaningful Appearance: Latka wears white overalls, which accentuate his innocence, on the job. It's more obvious in the later seasons, when they're considerably less grimy than before.
• Momma's Boy: After his father died, his mother was all he had left, so you can guess how Latka reacted when Alex slept with his mother.
• Mr. Imagination: He seemingly fantasizes with Louie suffering at his hands.
• Ruritania: This is the only explanation given on the show as to where Latka might be from. Drawings of the country are like nothing that can be identified as a known location, while its native dress styles suggest an Eastern European land. (In Kaufman's stage act, Foreign Man was said to come from a fictional island nation in the Caspian Sea called "Caspiar", but this was never explicitly adapted into Latka's backstory.)
• Split Personality: Develops one in "Latka the Playboy" and it sticks for most of Season 4.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Kaufman was perceived as this by the show's cast and crew, particularly by Tony Danza, due to the unusual provisions in his contract that among other things meant he didn't have to attend all the rehearsals. But largely because he only appeared in, at most, half the episodes per season he was never actually this.

Simka Dahblitz

Simka Dahblitz-Gravas

Played By: Carol Kane (Seasons 2, 4-5)

Latka's feisty Distaff Counterpart. Initially appearing as a one-off character in Season 2's "Guess Who's Coming to Brefnish", her relationship with him fell apart owing to his prejudice against the "mountain people" of their home country, as she happened to be one of them. After an unsuccessful attempt to make a go of it in Omaha, Nebraska, she returned to New York City in Season 4 and ultimately gave Latka a reason to give up his multiple personalities. By season's end they were wed, and she was a regular in the fifth and final season.

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• All Periods Are PMS: In "Simka's Monthlies", the final episode to air, this threatens her marriage to Latka because she cannot make the meeting with the immigration board that would finalize her U.S. citizenship (thus risking deportation). Inverted, in that she actually does have PMS (as opposed to a normal period where she acts like she does).
• And This Is for...: Simka slaps Latka for each family member of hers he unknowingly mocked with his jokes in "Guess Who's Coming for Brefnish" ("I hope you have a small family...").
• Big Eater: Described as this by Latka (and he doesn't mind at all: "That's what I like about you — you eat like a swine!").
• Bilingual Bonus / Yiddish as a Second Language: Her name means "happiness" in Yiddish.
• The Bus Came Back: In "Simka Returns"; she joins the main cast in Season 5.
• '80s Hair: In the last season.
• Fiery Redhead: Starting in Season 4 (she was blond in her initial appearance).
• Pitbull Dates Puppy: The Pitbull in her relationship with Latka.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: In Season 5.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: In her re-encounter with Latka, Simka tells she was "used and thrown away like and old shoe" when referring to the relationships she had after the events of "Guess Who's Coming For Brefnish."
• Sitcom Character Archetypes: Goofball, like her husband, but she's a bit more worldly-wise and sharp-tongued than he is.
• Women Are Wiser: As previously mentioned, Simka would often stand up to Louie for Latka.

John Burns

John Burns

Played By: Randall Carver (Season 1)

A somewhat nerdy college student from the Midwest who became a cabbie after having to go to the garage since Alex didn't have enough change for fifty bucks. He had a couple of episodes centered on him (with one of them focused on his Accidental Marriage), but he was quickly Demoted to Extra and was written out after the first season. Portrayed by Randall Carver.

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• Accidental Marriage: In "The Great Line", he picks up a girl at Mario's with the line, "Let's just skip everything and get married." To his surprise, she accepts the proposal and they get married... and stay married for the rest of his time on the show. His last episode has him mention they both have contemplated having kids, but they have no idea how... how to raise them, that is.
• Audience Surrogate: He's introduced in the pilot as an outsider to the garage and the world of cabbies, giving the writers an excuse to have the characters explain how things work for him. Ironically, unlike Elaine, his character is gone after season 1.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He is never seen or mentioned after Season 1.
• Demoted to Extra: By the end of the first season, no less. Lampshaded in one of his last appearances, where he mentions having taken a week off for studying, something seemingly only Alex noticed.
• A Day in the Limelight: "The Great Line" and "Money Troubles."
• The Ditz: He's not too bright.
• The Generic Guy: According to Randall Carver himself, this was the reason John Burns was written out of the show, as his and Tony's roles were practically interchangeable.
• Give Geeks a Chance: He was the first regular on the show who got married. While this was actually an accident, he and his wife Suzanne quickly took a liking to each other and they remained married.
• Insane Troll Logic: Once Tony complained that the apples in the snack machine were "old and mushy". Here's John's explanation:
  John: They do put new apples in the machine, but to get to the new apples, you have to eat all the old apples, but because the old apples are so old, very few people eat them. So, by the time you get to the new apples, they're old apples".
• Naïve Newcomer: Particularly in the show's Welcome Episode.

Recurring Characters

Jeff Bennett

Jeff Bennett

Played By: J Alan Thomas

Louie's right-hand man.

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• Ascended Extra: While he never quite made "regular" status, Jeff had the episode "Crime and Punishment" centered on him when Louie accuses him of stealing car parts. Plus, Thomas filled in for Andy Kaufman during rehearsals whenever Kaufman was not present, and his role in the episodes where he was given something to do basically took the "Louie foil" slot that Latka often held.
• Living Prop: Was this at the beginning of the show before over time getting a promotion.
• Running Gag: Louie can never quite recall his last name. It's Bennett.

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