Taxi (TV Series) Like Father, Like Daughter (1978) User Reviews

Touching Start To A Great TV Series

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 3 February 2010]

It's pretty neat to go back and see the first episode ever of "Taxi," one of the most entertaining TV shows of its era.

Most of the cast is already employed at the Taxi company with Louie as the dispatcher, along with "Alex," "Bobby," "Tony" and "Latka." Soon, "Elaine Nardo" comes down to the garage and joins the fellas. Boy, Marilu Henner really looked good, but you know that. Her episode here she looked the best I've ever seen her, with just a touch of makeup.

In addition to Elaine - who stayed on the show for all 114 episodes, there was another new "recruit," a guy named "John Burns," played by Randall Carver. Apparently he was another actor-wannabe like Bobby "John" lasted about 20 episodes and his role on this show was ended.

The focus of this first story centers around the last five minutes or so, after "Alex Reiger," the unofficial leader of this small group of featured cabbies, drives to Miami with a couple of the guys to meet the daughter he left at the age of two. She is now 17. Their reunion is very touching......really good stuff.

It's this kind of melodrama mixed in with the great comedy that helped make "Taxi" such a successful show.

Talia Balsam is a beautiful 17-year-old actress who plays "Cathy," the daughter Alex hasn't seen in 15 years. Talia is still acting, most recently on a TV show called "Mad Men." She has some claims-to-fame in her personal life: 1 - she is the daughter of famous actor Martin Balsam; 2 - Her mom was actress Joyce Van Patten; 3 - she was married to George Clooney.

Like Father, Like Daughter

[bobcobb301 · 8/10 · 4 October 2017]

Although a lot of shows in today's era start off with weak pilots and eventually get better, this classic show got off to a pretty strong start. Some of the characters are a bit clichéd (even for the late 70's) and some of the jokes didn't work, but you got to know everyone and you got a sense of what the program was going to be week to week.

Most shows would crash and burn if they did something as big as visiting an abandoned daughter in episode one, but given this outrageous group of characters it definitely worked.

You could easily see how this would go on to become a heralded show.

Portugal or Spain??

[pedrobrandao83 · 7/10 · 16 August 2022]

The series are awsome,but in the first episode,first season i hear about Brazil and Portugal..and then the name Consuelos? That name doesn't exist in Portuguese language..it exists in Spain and México..what an error to begin with..overall a great show that lasted 5 years!!

Like father, like daughter.

[TxMike · 21 July 2008]

I have been watching TV for about 55 years and have not been a big watcher of situation comedies. However this series, "Taxi", is one of a small handful that I really enjoyed and still watch occasionally.

This episode starts with a new guy in town needing change to pay his cab fare, so he is down with all the cabbies. He needs to make a phone call, so he is directed to the pay phone on the support column, a few feet away. When he is finished, he says "I really like your phone, see the money compartment doesn't lock." After the couple of seconds it took for all to realize what that meant, everyone lined up to use the phone, because it meant that it would be 'free' since you get your coins back.

So everyone begins to ask Alex, "Who are you going to call?" After much prodding he decided to call S. America to see if he could reach his daughter he hadn't seen in 15 years. By his own admission he had foolishly granted permission to his ex-wife's new husband to let him legally adopt the daughter when she was 2, so he lost track of her.

Judd Hirsch is Alex Reiger, and he finds out that his daughter, now 17, is on her way to Spain to study, but she would be in the Miami airport changing planes the next day. So Alex got the flight number, then borrowed a cab for the weekend, in spite of Louie De Palma's protests, and several of his fellow cabbies went along with him for the road trip.

This episode is rather unusual for the series because most of it takes place outside New York. Alex, who is usually the standoffish character, finds himself dealing with his estranged daughter. In all a fine episode, that doesn't try to resolve everything for a fairy tale ending.

SPOILERS: Talia Balsam is his daughter Cathy Consuelos. They meet but only have a few minutes in the passenger waiting area before her plane takes off. It is a pleasant conversation, but Cathy objects to Alex referring to himself as her "dad". But he explains, he was her dad for the first 2 years, and tells her little things she remembers. They almost part with just a handshake, as Cathy starts toward the boarding ramp, but then they both run to each other, embrace, and kiss. He says "Here take this, it has my address and my picture to remember me. You can write." But she points out "This is your drivers license." He says "That's OK, take it anyway." They part, Alex has a smile on his face, and he has made contact with his daughter.