jvs@iwu1d.UUCP (John V. Smith) (09/29/83)
I thought TAXI was basicaly a good show. Unfortunatly, in my opinion, it one (later two) major flaws which managed to ruin the whole show for me. The flaw I'm speaking of is, of course, Andy (Latka) Kaufman. This character annoyed me so much that I could never stand to watch TAXI more than a few weeks in a row. The guy really grated my nerves. The minute he opend his mouth, the whole show was always ruined for me. I put Latka in the same catagory as another famous grating character "Georgette", who has also ruined a few series. These characters always make me want to crawl through the TV screen and ring their necks. As far as Andy Kaufman goes, I don't think anything he has ever done is funny and Latka is the worst of the lot. So, as far as TAXI's ratings go, they were short at least one viewer, me, because of one idiotic character. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one. TAXI would probably still be on at ABC if not for Kaufman. John V. Smith P.S. All flames from Andy Kaufman fans will be redirected to /dev/null.
twt@uicsl.UUCP (10/01/83)
#R:iwu1d:-13900:uicsl:12200013:000:274 uicsl!twt Oct 1 01:49:00 1983 Actually I kinda liked the Latka character when he was first on. I think the problem came when Kaufman decided to show he was talented and could play many different characters - when Latka got into the split personality things - it was all downhill from there. Mary
leimkuhl@uiuccsb.UUCP (10/04/83)
#R:iwu1d:-13900:uiuccsb:12300008:000:1275
uiuccsb!leimkuhl Oct 3 16:35:00 1983
Well, I have to flame a bit at this.
Andy Kaufman is, in my opinion, a comic artist. His best routines are
masterpieces of cynical (sometimes cruel) humor. No one else in American
comedy is capable of single-mindedly attacking the absurdities of life the
way AK does. What was Andy Kaufman's wrestling phase if not a monument
to scathing sarcasm?
The wrestling phase was an outgrowth of his wrestling women on Saturday
Night Live. I know many people who were disgusted by that. But isn't the
challenge ("I'll wrestle any woman") and the subsequent defence (he did
win every match against some tough and serious women) just an expression
of the plain fact that men are better wrestling machines than women. (As
has long been known, anyway.) Why should this disgust and even anger people?
The fact that Andy Kaufman can shock people with such a simple device is
startling, especially when one considers the SNL audience.
Most people are willing to hear the latest dirty joke, or see a violent
movie, but these same people can't sit still in their seats and watch a
man wrestle a woman on tv.
So maybe if Andy Kaufman really bothers you, you should consider the reason
for it and not shrug him off as a no-talent.
Ben Leimkuhler
(uiucdcs!uiuccsb!leimkuhl)rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (10/04/83)
Andy Kaufman is an adventurous comedic artist, who has taken comedy beyond the limits of that which is funny. :-?
preece@uicsl.UUCP (10/05/83)
#R:iwu1d:-13900:uicsl:12200016:000:806 uicsl!preece Oct 4 08:31:00 1983 The problem with Andy Kaufman is that, while he can be very funny, he does a lot of things that just don't work. The woman wrestling wasn't shocking, it just wasn't funny. The Mighty Mouse themesong doesn't make me laugh, either. Everybody says that daring to try things that haven't been done before leads to advances, but in humor it also leads to lots of deadends that don't work. Kaufman is still worth watching for the material that does work, which can be very funny indeed. Taxi, I'm sorry to say, never hooked me. I guess it got into certain kinds of humor that I don't find all that humorous. I never felt any great attraction for any of the characters. I never felt any bridge to reality. I only watched it a few times, so I may be underestimating it. scott preece pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece