Taxi! was a BBC television comedy-drama series transmitted in 1963 and 1964.
Created by Ted Willis, who had developed Dixon of Dock Green , Willis was well aware of taxicab drivers inclination to provide stories, and intended 12 individual plays for what became the first series. Starring Sid James as cab firm owner and driver Sid Stone, it is similar to his role in the near contemporary film Carry On Cabby (1963), but the programme was more a drama with humour than comedy, Jack Rosenthal scripted a few episodes and Bill Owen appeared as the cab firm's co-owner Fred Cudell with Ray Brooks as driver Terry Mills. The three men shared part of a converted house, with Sid Stone tending to interfere in the lives of his colleagues and his customers. [1] James' character was, according to John Fisher, "streetwise, but conscientious". [2]
While ratings for the first series were poor, it was transmitted in the summer, [3] a second series was broadcast in 1964. Female neighbours were now introduced, and Bill Owen's character was written out. [1] The series was produced by Michael Mills among others. Of the 26 episodes broadcast, only one is believed to still exist due to wiping. [4]
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Taxi is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 12, 1978, to May 6, 1982, and on NBC from September 30, 1982, to June 15, 1983. It focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher. For most of the run of the show, the ensemble cast consisted of taxi drivers Alex Reiger, Bobby Wheeler, Elaine Nardo, Tony Banta, and "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski, along with dispatcher Louie De Palma and mechanic Latka Gravas. Taxi was produced by the John Charles Walters Company, in association with Paramount Network Television, and was created by James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed. Weinberger, all of whom were brought on board after working on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
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