User Reviews

"Latka" (Andy Kauffman) living in a $3,000-a-month apartment? (It's probably at least $10,000 in today's world). Well, that's what happens here....but only for a month, of course, since that is Latka's life savings.

How this came about, and how Latka shares this amazing place, complete with maid, panoramic view, portable bar and a ton of other amenities all adds up to the normal amount of good laughs.

However, there is no real ending to this except we assume Latka is presumably booted out after a month. There where does he live? None of this is addressed in this episode, just the guys hanging out in Latka's luxury penthouse and then a last-minute idea on how to raise money so he can stay there at least another month. The plan is as dumb as Tony and doesn't work, of course.

It seems the gang enjoys the place even more than Latka, except for a little "Nik-Nik" our host gets from the willing maid!

Notes: an opening-scene gag is there to demonstrate how stupid poor "Tony" is, as the likable cabbie thinks he just had astronaut Neil Armstrong in his case, and has the moon rock to prove it.......Football star Dick Butkus - with blonde hair! - guest-stars near the end of the show......Nancy Steen, who plays the maid, turned out to be a successful writer/producer more than an actress.

As do most episodes this one starts out with an unrelated skit. Tony is proud that Neil Armstrong was in his cab today. He was broke, and headed to the unemployment office, but he paid Tony with a genuine Moon rock. When Bobby questioned whether the man might have been a phony, Tony replied, "Then how could he have gotten all those Moon rocks?"

Then Louie comes down the stairs angry because the boss just complained that someone had slept in the garage the night before. As Louie is questioning the usual gang, Latka walks by in his night clothes and toothbrush, headed for the lavatory. Seems his apartment building is being torn down, but he has already found a new place.

Judd Hirsch as Alex Reiger decides he should check it out because Latka isn't familiar with American business, and so does, finding that Latka has leased a very expensive place with a great NY skyline view, and it even comes with a maid. But it is $3000 a month. Alex asks Latka how he can afford the place and he says "savings." How much? "$3000 in savings." When Alex explains that the payment requires $3000 each month, Latka responds "I guess I'll have to start saving more."

After almost a month Latka and all his friends have gotten used to the apartment, with the maid who serves them food and drinks, and come up with a scheme to keep it. All the cabbies will tell their out of town fares that for $10 each they can come to a party. The problem turns out all the guests are men, and they complain. One of the guests is guest star Dick Butkus. Even when Elaine dances on the table, they still all want their money back. So Latka has to bid goodbye to his place, but not before the maid comes out one last time, saying to Latka "Nik-nik?" They head to the back room, hand in hand.

THIS HALF-HOUR installment of this now classic series moves along as if it were the best episode of TAXI's run. I very well may be just that too. Of course we all have our other favourites and it is indeed difficult to find fault with any.

A VERY WELL paced opening starts the fun. The ensemble cast all pitch in to introduce the basic premise. That the audience already knows the characters' foibles and overall personality types. Hence they perform like the repository company that they are.

OUTRAGEOUS SITUATIOONS ARE rendered plausible and even logical by the use of the proper far-out character; none being more spacey than Andy Kauffman's characterization of foreign born garage mechanic, Latka Gravas.* His combination of broken English malapropism and a truly childlike, wide-eyed innocence guarantees that the story will have more than its share of nyuks.

AS A COUNTERBALANCE to Latka's babe-in-the-woods helplessness, we always seem to rely on the veteran (and only one to actually call himself a "cabbie", we have Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch). Always the Good Samaritan, offering his services to aid his friends, he finds himself right in the middle of the problem.

AND BEST OF all, Alex is just as susceptible to human frailties as the rest of us.

NOTE: ^ We've discovered that a "latka" is a word common in Eastern European languages that means "a potato pancake." Now if someone out there in Cyberspace would tell us what is a "gravas!"