Taxi
Simka's Monthlies
TV Flash files “Simka's Monthlies” as a desk essential hour — Taxi (1978–1983) on ABC/NBC, season 5, episode 24, aired 1983-06-15, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E24: listed hour 114 of 114 in the Taxi guide, last listed hour of season 5. It aired 1983-06-15 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “A Grand Gesture” (S05E23). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “Simka's Monthlies”. Simka's Monthlies is the 1983 NBC tail. Five seasons of ABC-then-NBC garage fatalism, still refusing a hug the network could merchandize as a family.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Simka fails to show up for another citizenship appointment. Latka explains, back at the garage, that she is suffering from her "kremkapush" which consists of craving for salt and erratic behavior.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Simka's Monthlies sit in the Taxi guide?
S05E24 is listed hour 114 of 114 — last listed hour of season 5, season 5 episode 24.
When did Taxi S05E24 air?
Simka's Monthlies aired 1983-06-15 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…