Taxi
Elaine and the Lame Duck
TV Flash files “Elaine and the Lame Duck” as hour 17 of 114 in the TV Flash guide — Taxi (1978–1983) on ABC/NBC, season 1, episode 17, aired 1979-02-13, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E17: listed hour 17 of 114 in the Taxi guide, hour 17 of 22 in season 1. It aired 1979-02-13 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Louie Sees the Light” (S01E16). Next is “Bobby's Big Break” (S01E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Alex feels sympathy for a fare who's a real loser with the women and arranges a date for the man with Elaine, who later discovers that her klutzy companion for the evening is a U.S. Congressman.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Elaine and the Lame Duck sit in the Taxi guide?
S01E17 is listed hour 17 of 114 — hour 17 of 22 in season 1, season 1 episode 17.
When did Taxi S01E17 air?
Elaine and the Lame Duck aired 1979-02-13 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Does the ABC-to-NBC hop ruin the binge?
No. The garage, the writing, and the ensemble remain the show. The network move is production weather, not a reboot.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Judd Hirsch's weary Alex holds a garage of beautiful losers while Danny DeVito's Louie tyrannizes the dispatcher booth. James L. Brooks character comedy at Emmy altitude: Christopher Lloyd, Andy Kaufman, Tony Danza, Marilu Henner. Bittersweet workplace sitcom after ABC, then NBC, without sugar.
Picture a New York garage after midnight, fluorescent light the color of unpaid ambition, and a dispatcher booth small enough to be a weapon. Taxi (1978–1983) began on ABC, hopped to NBC, and still mixed blue-collar fatalism with character comedy so precise it became the thinking fan's late-1970s half-hour. James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed. Weinberger built it in the MTM tradition of workplace family without sugar. Judd Hirsch's Alex holds the bench of beautiful losers; Danny DeVito's Louie…
Filed against
- Judd Hirsch as Alex Reiger
Judd Hirsch’s Alex Reiger held Taxi’s garage of beautiful losers — Danny DeVito’s Louie tyrannizing the dispatcher booth, James L. Brooks character comedy at Emmy altitude, Christopher Lloyd, Andy Kaufman, Tony Danza, Marilu Henner.…
- Danny DeVito as Louie De Palma
Danny DeVito’s Louie De Palma tyrannized Taxi’s dispatcher booth like a gargoyle with a time card — 1970s catalog James L. Brooks character comedy, then It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia recasting the growl as Frank Reynolds’s trash-human…
- Marilu Henner as Elaine Nardo
Marilu Henner drove the night shift as Elaine Nardo on Taxi — Judd Hirsch’s weary Alex, a garage of beautiful losers, Danny DeVito’s Louie in the dispatcher booth. James L. Brooks character comedy at Emmy altitude, bittersweet workplace…
- Tony Danza as Tony Banta
Tony Danza’s Tony Banta boxed a garage of beautiful losers on Taxi — Judd Hirsch’s weary Alex, DeVito’s Louie, Kaufman, Lloyd, Henner, Emmy-altitude character comedy — then flipped gender roles as the ex-jock housekeeper on Who’s the…
- Christopher Lloyd as Reverend Jim Ignatowski
Christopher Lloyd played Reverend Jim Ignatowski on Taxi — Judd Hirsch's weary Alex holding a garage of beautiful losers, Danny DeVito's Louie tyrannizing the dispatcher booth. James L. Brooks character comedy at Emmy altitude: Kaufman,…
- Andy Kaufman as Latka Gravas
Andy Kaufman’s Latka Gravas made Taxi a garage of beautiful losers with an extra planet in it — Judd Hirsch’s weary Alex, DeVito’s Louie, James L. Brooks character comedy after ABC then NBC. Bittersweet workplace sitcom at altitude. TV…