The Taxi Episode That Sent Chris Lloyd Into the Future
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-- Spaced Out Eps --
"Reverend Jim: A Space Odyssey" (Taxi)
Season 2, Episode 3
Aired: Sept. 25, 1979
Written by: Glen Charles and Les Charles
Directed by: James Burrows
The Sunshine Cab Company gang bumps into Reverend Jim (Special Guest Star Christopher Lloyd) and decides to help get him a job as a cabbie. But they first must help him pass his drivers' test. Meanwhile, Jim drugs Louie (Danny DeVito) so he can get the job. Stars: Judd Hirsch, Tony Danza, Marilu Henner, Jeff Conaway, and Andy Kaufman.
This episode brings back Reverend Jim - first introduced in season one's "Paper Marriage" - with Lloyd as a guest star. After his performance, the producers decided to make him part of the regular cast.
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#Taxi #ReverendJim #ChristopherLloyd #BacktotheFuture
My favorite Reverend Jim is the episode where he describes a turning point in his life. He was a straight laced college student who tries pot for the first time.
With Tom Hanks as his roommate!
That magical moment where after eating the brownie he just instantly turns into the Jim we all know. Freaking gold. I really liked the one where he had the wall of televisions too. Everyone thought it was stupid to have all the TVs, but like facebook and Tik Tok, stupid rules and controls with a lightning stealth.
totally agree!!! that show was the best. memories of 802 was another one
“Are those ‘FUNNY BROWNIES?’”
His Harvard girlfriend was played by Mimi Rogers.
I think Reverend Jim is a far better character than Latka. I’ll die on that hill.
We will just see what Simka has to say about that. And remember what she told Bill Murray in Scrooged, "Oh you know I like the rough stuff".
Totally agree. He was the “Kramer” of Taxi
@@johnurban7333 great analogy.
Okie Doky
I suspect Andy Kaufman himself would agree as he never liked his character much!
Not gonna lie, Rev. Jim kept me hooked to finish the series. I loved him so much in the show.
Him and Vic Ferrari!!
Were you planning to lie intially?
Christopher is a world treasure.
hes even funny in nobody! look at all those shotguns! 😂😂😂
Love him !!!!!!
This and WKRP’s turkey drop made me lose it . Hilarious
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly
I do have a video on that episode as well!
@@TheRadioAteMyTV "Oh Les!"
I was 8 when I watched both episodes (my parents were fans) and I lost it; I knew at that point what comedy was in my book. It's probably why I like British comedy more than American; thoughtful absurdity is way funnier than cracking a funny line, or building up a story so much that you're expecting the punchline!
I was laughing so hard at the turkey stunt I was near falling out of my chair. Les nesman was a winner in that show heheh.
“I must have had music lessons. “ Rev Jim.
Also a classic scene👍
Thanks, I must have misremembered the line... But Loved the gag!
I like the episode when Latka and Simka come to the conclusion they have to get a divoce because Latka had sex with another woman to stay warm in freezing temperatures in a taxi that needed to be fixed.
Latka and Simka are distraught about the idea of divorce. Until Jim says, "Why don't you just get married again".
Yes, the way he abruptly stopped playing the piano, said that and then right back at the piano. I LOVED THAT!
I remember the first time I saw Christopher Lloyd on Taxi
I could not believe he was acting
He looked like such a burnout that he had to be real!😂
When they describe that in this expose I was thinking of a friend's son who was an "unknown" actor cast as the lead in a film about a youth who killed another teen in an open public park, by kicking him repeatedly until he was dead. It was something that happened in the same area they produced the film so it was a sensitive topic to a lot of the crew.
Apparently the son turned up at filming and the rest of the cast and crew avoided him just on the look and behaviour he projected. They thought he was maybe a real thug hired as an extra or as a consultant. They really just didn't even want to make eye contact with him in case they set him off. I don't know if that constitutes method acting or just being prepared and arriving in character. His father said he just wanted to do a good job and not disappoint the producers.
Christopher Lloyd's delivery was always brilliant. He played the character with such sincerity that it was believable and real.
This scene is up there with Les Nessman reporting on the Thanksgiving Turkey Drop on “WKRP” for laugh-till-your-sides-ache funny.
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly
More music. Less Nessman.
I remember my jaws were burning from laughing during that episode.
No, it isn't. Nothing on WKRP was even remotely as funny a Taxi.
@@mcmlxii4419 haha, ok
Thank you for giving Chris Lloyd some promotion. One of the best (and funniest) character actors of my generation.
The cocaine cookie episode is the best!
I remember a time when we could hardly watch a popular movie that didn't include Christopher Lloyd. The guy literally made the movie no matter what movie he was in.
Buckaroo Banzai: "One more word out of you, Big Booty..." "BIG BOUTAY! TAY! TAY!" BANG!
COMMANDER KRUGE
I still remember when somebody in the taxi office needed a styptic pencil and Jim pulled one out from behind his ear and everyone was like "no that's a pencil" and Jim was like " no it's a styptic pencil" and they were like "why do you have a styptic pencil?" And he was like "considering the circumstances I would say the better question is: why don't you?"
I remember watching the yellow light part as a kid and laughing so hard i could barely breath.
I remember an episode where somehow it was discovered that Rev Jim had a knack for scheduling TV shows or something like that. He was getting hounded by TV execs to schedule their shows for him, but he had one condition: "Star Trek" had to be included hahaha. And the way he said it, he'd stand still and look outward and say "Staaaaaar Trek..." Of course, he eventually played Klingon Commander Kruge in "Star Trek III" so there ya go 😁
“Jim Joins the Network” with Martin Short. Fun episode. It was actually inspired by a real life story! Find out all about it in my Fantasy Island video!
@@tvsbesteps Ah, thank you! I will check out that video, how cool it is that we can reminisce about shows like this :)
Another one of my favorite 'Taxi' episodes was Louie, Danny DeVito's character had spoken with a psychic who had foresaw Louie's death at midnight. Louie is freaking out with Alex and Alex is trying to calm him. The fortune teller said, "Death will knock at your door at midnight", or something to that effect. Anyway, the moment passed and Louie and Alex were relieved. Then there was a knock at the door! Louie, expecting to see Death face to face opens the door to a Girl Scout selling cookies. Louie screams, Alex screams, the Girl Scout screams, and Louie slams the door in her face and exclaims, "My God! Did you see it?! It was hideous!"
Back when comedy was funny.
“Jim the Psychic!”
@@tvsbesteps
You'll have to forgive me.
It's easily been about 4 decades since I've watched it, but I still think about that joke quite often.
My favorite Jim scene, besides the yellow light scene, was the one where Alex finds his daughter is getting married and Jim answers obscure questions about the Venezuelan mail system. He answers them with such confidence and then at the end when Alex asks him how he knows such things his classic response was. You mean I’m right.
Comedy is still funny. Go tell those kids to get off out lawn.
The "What Does A Yellow Light Mean?" scene was the best.
I watched this in a friend's dorm room on a little B&W portable TV. We _howled_ with laughter, partly at seeing the cast trying not to break up. I mean, it's quite obvious they were all dying.
Slow down.
@@richardvinsen2385 Okay. Whhaaaat duuuuz aaaa yeeelllllowww liiiiight meeeean?
@@richardvinsen2385what. does. a yellow. light. mean.
You have an intuitive grasp of the obvious.
It’s crazy the amount of talent in Danny Devito and Chris Lloyd. It was like those 2 were on another level from the rest of the cast. Danny’s episode where he found God and wouldn’t show anger was absolutely hilarious. And when Reverend Jim appeared for the first time, you could just tell he was going to be back. They just blew everyone else away.
Remember the first episode where Danny Devito stepped out of the cage for the first time? Just seeing was hysterically funny.
It is hard to describe just how much of an upgrade Reverend Jim was to Randall Carver's character.
Randall Carver was supposed to be the ballast. The straight man. Like Jane Curtain on SNL. But Alex Rigger (Judd Hearsh) filled that role.
I still remember that episode when it originally aired like it was yesterday, and how much I cried laughing. I was kind of funny the first round, but when they kept going, I lost it.
Marilu Henner in that dress in the 2nd episode is what got me hooked
RIGHT? 😛😛😛😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥵🥵🥵
Absolutely inspired. That was 46 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday.
Chistopher Lloyd is *so* funny. And yet he could play such a *vicious* villain (Commander Kruge) in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
Don't forget him as Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
@@jonothanthrace1530 this...doom was way scarier than kruge.....the dude melted poor innocent shoes...other than cruella skinning puppies cant get much meaner than that...;)
@@vickiechandler3112 To be fair, Cruella never actually _got_ to skin the puppies, they escaped. The most successful Disney villain (according to some) is the nameless hunter who shot Bambi's mom. Who (and this is a wild fringe theory) some believe to have been Judge Doom, which conflicts with the theory of him being the Peter "Pistol Packin" Possum, R.K. Maroon's lesser star. The Donald/Daffy to Roger's Mickey/Bugs. Of course _that_ theory conflicts with the comics which clearly portrayed him as a human toon, and gave him a backstory. So... eh, 50/50
@@Wendy_O._Koopa those puppies , who knowswhat all she did prior....and she did have the intention to so no pass for her.........never heard that theory before..doom doesnt strike me as a hunter type personality
The moment you realize the ship they used as a time machine in Star Trek IV was stolen from Klingon Doc Brown.
💡
I WATCH ALL OF THEM MANY TIMES AND DID NOT MAKE THAT CONNECTION. THANK YOU
Judd Hirsch is the glue that binds ensembles.
That's an excellent observation, spot on.
Funny how things come together. I can't imagine anyone else play Rev Jim.
"Elegant Iggy" has my favorite scene: "Must've had... music lessons."
I was thinking of that very scene!
I loved it when Jim ran into the mime's wall.
Taxi is one of the few shows of my youth that I still love watching. Like Cheers, it's just such an incredible cast with great writing about regular people. Reverend Jim was comedy gold every time he graced the screen, but as you can see from the yellow light scene, he works so well because of the great reactions from Judd Hersch and the entire cast
I think some of the people involved with Taxi were also writers or producers in "Wings", another good show from the 90s. There were some similarities between the two shows. Taxi was based on a taxi cab company, Wings was based on a small private airport.
Taxi had Louie and Wings had Roy. Similar characters
Taxi had Elaine and Wings had Helen.
Taxi had Antonio and Wings had Lotka. Two foreigners.
Taxi had Jim and Wings had Lowell. Two guys a little off beat.
You could say that Bobby and Tony were to Taxi what Joe and Brian were to Wings.
Best episode of Taxi. Love how Tony Danza can barely keep it together
I wonder if anyone ever expected to have such a star packed cast? Everyone on that show was a character playing a character.
Mary Lou Henner is a woman that got more beautiful over time. I've always had a big crush on her. Im gay!
Honey, everyone is gay for Mary Lou!
Marilu
When I met Christopher at a convention I told him this was my all-time favourite scene. He also signed my Taxi Season 2 DVD.
I met him at a convention a decade ago and asked him which Back to the Future movie was his favorite. He said "Part III, because I finally got a love-interest!"
Absolutely one of the Absolutely funniest bits of comedy, LOVE REVEREND JIM!!
When I first saw this scene, I did not see his response coming.... I laughed so hard my stomach was hurting. Then he repeats himself even more slowly. LMAO.
Then he forgets the question.
It was a blessing in disguise to get "Jim" added. Was a great cast, but boy, did they ever need Jim to fill in the missing link, as he was the star of the show, in my eyes. Loved Jim. I dont know who couldn't. Excellent deliveries 😂🤣😂❤
Back to the Future .. a classic gem! 🙌
bACK WHEN EPISODIC TELEVISION WAS STILL WORTH WAITING FOR.
I was at a comic con and had the opportunity to imitate this bit in front of Lloyd! My daughter was in a long line to see Malfoy dude...well he smiled and I felt complete😊
This episode and WKRP's, "Turkey's Away" episode, are my all time favorite episodes of comedy shows, ever. If you could make my dad laugh hard enough to have tears roll down his face and fall on his knees onto the floor, then you made my year. Those memories of my father laughing that hard will stay with me forever. His laughter will always ring in my mind and my memories of watching these episodes, and actually understanding and laughing at the jokes with my dad, are very special to me. And the driving test and turkey drop, make me laugh way too hard and cry far too much, till this day.
Great story!!
TURKEYS AWAY IS ON MY THANKSGIVING DVD
In 1985 I got the nickname Iggy in high school.
I got it from my shop teacher who was watching taxi.
Then my fellow students started telling new students that my name was Jim ignatowski and everybody called me Iggy for short.
My nickname still follows me to this day.
Would you like a can of pop?
Jim the Psychic. The whole Girl Scout cookie scene. One of the funniest things on TV ever.
That was HILARIOUS (too)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Christopher Lloyd is the only really good impression I can do!
Oakie Dokie.
everyone can do reverend Jim but there is only 1
I'm watching this thinking, a yellow light means speed up. Then I'm thinking OMG did we learn that from Taxi?
Brilliant ending: "This is heavy"
There's that word again. "Heavy." Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?
I spent an afternoon around Chris Lloyd. Super quiet and nice. I was a smoker then. We smoked a bunch of cigarettes at this patio table, drinking coffee. The conversation was sparse and he was very soft spoken in that setting. We just enjoyed the nice weather.
In the mid 80s I would cut up at a small bike shop. I loved imitating Iggy. Then one day a coworker said you need to see this movie called Back to the future. Great stuff.
Not sure how this ended up in my suggestions but I’m so glad it did. Possibly the funniest and most memorable comedic moments I’ve ever seen at 12 years old.
I reference this episode all the time. It is one of the funniest moments in sitcom history to me.
Love that driving test scene from the episode A Space Odyssey. Every now and then, i think of it because it was one of the funniest moments ever on sitcom tv!❤😂
Lloyd was great, but it’s the discomfort of the other three that really makes the scene. There was so much great talent on that show.
I loved Taxi as a kid, especially Jim. I remember watching Star Trek III in the theater and when Christopher Llyod's character first spoke English, I was floored I didn't recognize him until that moment (Klingon is very guttural and gruff) but when he spoke English, there was Rev Jim wearing a funky forehead prosthetic.
The two things I find him terribly miscast in are Star Trek III, he was still Jim just a cranky one, and in 1975 he was in the Adams' Chronicles with an ensemble cast telling the story of John Adams and his descendants. Shatner and Lloyd in the recent (2021) Senior Moment are perfectly matched. The funniest part is Shatner playing a 70 year old when he was really 90! Shatner is now 94 and still in top form. Too bad he is Canadian and he can't be president.
i never knew it was him until tears later, i thought the voice was familiar but didn’t put two and two together
Am reminded of the way Robin Williams helped out on Happy Days with his chatacter "Mork" who was a space alien.
Yes I have a video on that episode as well!
One the funniest bits in television history!
I remember seeing this on Nick at Nite as a kid and trying to get my friends with it at school the next day.
So I ask "Hey, what does a yellow light mean?" to like three different friends, and they all responded "Use caution."
🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
Excellently edited! Very smooth and professional
Thanks very much!
growing up in the LATE 70's and 80's watching Taxi. I LOVE all the characters. but Iggy, as Louie used to call him, WAS THE SHOW. he stole it.
This was the best episode of the entire series IMO. It was down right hilarious!!
Danny De Vito tells a slightly different story of how Lloyd got cast. Both had worked together several times and were from the NY stage. Lloyd hung out with Danny when he first got to LA
Danny isn’t afraid to tout himself regarding the success of others…but he himself might have gotten a job the same way as Lloyd: via that New York connection
I remember that scene so well! I saw it when it first aired.
Me too! I’m sending this to my son. I’ve tried to explain how funny this was but you really have to experience it.
I had to catch Taxi in re-runs due to my job situation and no VCR. I just watched and waited for Jim's entrance and or one-liners of wisdom. Great story. Narragansett Bay
I read once that one thing that makes the "what does a yellow mean" scene work so well is the professionalism of the background actors. Not a single one of them cracked up and that must have taken some doing.
Jim's "a space odyssey" should have been named a spaced odyssey, as in what we used to say in the 60s - like really spaced out man.
Jim as a vacuum salesman was a favorite of mine growing up.
As a kid growing up watching this series. Rev. Jim was the reason I kept watching. Was a huge fan of Loyd from then on.
Lloyd in the commercial seems like the prototype of Ben Bailey in Cash Cab.
i remember dying laughing at this episode. also, couldn't share it back then because there was no social media, but anybody else bugged by Jeff Conaway always shaking his hair?
13:12 That list is WILD.
I forgot how much *HAIR* we had back then.
As a teener during the Taxi hey days (graduated HS in 81) Taxi did not resonate with me. NY C setting , Latka and others just was didn't hit it for me then. LATER as an adult in my Early thirties. I found the ReRuns and LOVED the genius and Humor of TAXI. STILL do. Thanks for this background of how Christopher Reverend Jim got started!
Loved TAXI. Jim/Chris was always my favourite character. I've seen this episode many times, and show it to my friends ;-0) Thanks for the background detail to his casting ;-0)
Glad you enjoyed it
Whenever I discuss the funniest moments on TV, this episode always comes up as the number one all-time funniest scene. A close second is from “Martin” with Martin Lawrence. The scene where he fights Tommy Hitman Hearns and comes out of the back room with a swollen face is hilarious.😂
What about the one where it shows Rev Jim as a serious college student who eats a couple of "special brownies" and changes him forever ?
This Episode is My Favorite ever... I even tell people about this one!
there was one in which it turned out he could play the piano
Oh man the 10-10-220 ad. That's what I used to call my grandma! It was the wild west for phones in the late 90's.
I'm a later '70's kid. You just brought back so many repressed memories of tv's from the corners of my eyes. There's a little Mork and Mindy and 3's co.. And those chicks from the bottling place.. What have you done to me!? Something in Cincinnati?? Numbers before that? Radio? Animal House, b'c the 1st tits I ever saw. I was in a daycare, it was a baby sitters home, that day? Loved 'em ever since. I barely saw Cheers, ever.. But, I've always remembered that weird fella. P'sure it was Andy. But then, I had two younger brothers and we all attached to Back to the Future when we were little. HUH!??!?!?!!?? Thanks for the ride man!
I remember that first season, and thinking that the John Burns character (Randall Carver) was too bland, sucked the life out of the scene, and too similar to Tony Danza's Tony Banta character. TV sitcoms should only have ONE "dumb guy" character. Replacing him with Christopher Lloyd was a major upgrade to the show.
I still laugh whenever I think of the time where Jim walks into the scene and someone says, "Jim why are you here?" and Jim replies with an inquisitive tone, "Am I here again?" It's true comedy!
Martin Short was also a Rev Jim costar
That list of Emmett Brown possibles is really interesting John Lithgow , Jeff Goldblum , GeneHackman , Gene Wilder + many others all would have made great choices, but really only one could do the "Great Scott" properly (actually maybe John Lithgow could have) .... 🤓
Remember that famous football game in Florida that made you think electrolyte was invented to improve your sports performance? That is the kind of sucker that does not realize that television show nostalgia is bougjt and paid for to legitimize watching TV. Just kidding, love the 70's. For real tho.
Dude, find the clip where he gets a door to door sales job.. or even better, when he "quits drugs" to help Alex by giving him the the money he saved.. funniest line ever.
Spoiler ahead.
In a later episode Latka is making and selling cookies from his grandmothers' secret recipe. Everybody loves them, and can't stop eating them.
Reverend Jim takes one bite and announces the secret ingredient is cocaine. He powders the cookie, and eats then snorts it, and determines the region the cocaine came from, and the year of the crop. It was a good year, before the floods.
Christopher Lloyd has definitely done The Things. I really hope his last words are "Boat Drinks. ✋"
I think if the gang on three's company had only comunicated better , they would not have had so many misunderstandings.
I remember watching the episode live. I was dying laughing. Taxi was my favorite show at the time. I never missed any episodes. Still funny today if you watch it. Randall Carver gone okay. Latka okay. Latka's wife to much of the same, really annoying. Jeff Conaway acceptable. Elaine, Tony, Jim, great. Judd and Danny the backbone of the show.
I just realized how much young Christopher Lloyd looks like John Mayer 😮
There were tons of hilarious scenes but the only episode that broke the mold and really tugged at my heart was "Elaine's Secret Admirer"
Episode aired Dec 4, 1979. Elaine is very sad and dejected. Jim cuts apart his van to the point there is nothing left of it at the curb but essentially the floor and wheels and secretly brings the parts into Elaine's apartment so he can build her a castle to cheer her up.
He's a genius! The extent of his abilities is best seen when he dates Elaine and accidentally recalls traits and knowledge he had before he started using drugs and later when he destroys his van for love.
Never thought i would hear the words bland characters used in reference to TAXI.
i was only 13 when taxi came out but i so remember rev jim first episode and then when they tried getting him a job as a taxi driver. but to see that clip of dmv test. omg i remember that. i was laughing again more than 45 seconds. gd job
Reverend Jim is one of my favorite characters in sitcom history. Right up there with Archie Bunker, Hawkeye Pierce, Ralph Kramden, and The Fonz.
Camping episode:
Alex:” just because they’re blue berries doesn’t mean they’re blueberries.”
Jim:” okie dokie”
🚦
Looking at that Tuesday lineup you can see the other two networks had total throwaway garbage up against all those other hit shows on ABC. I would rather watch paint dry than watch an hour of _The Paper Chase._
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.
One of the best
Jim with Latka's cocaine cookies .. Hilarious 😂
This video got you a new subscriber and I shared it with several people. This may have been the funniest TV episode of all time. I was 17 when it first aired. I’ve never forgotten it! Thanks for highlighting this!
Thanks!
The driver test scene is truly the funniest scene in television history. I remember watching it when it originally aired. You could tell that the entire cast is in agony doing anything & everything they could to stop themselves from totally losing it. From the very 1st time it aired until watching again today, tears of laughter soak my face. 😆😅😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😭😭
great storytelling video--arent we all kind of intrigued what the world was like the year we were born ('79 4me)
Thanks!
That "Taxi" episode was a certifiable classic!