S1 E1 • Like Father, Like Daughter

In the first episode, Elaine Nardo, a part time art gallery receptionist, begins a second part time job at the Sunshine Cab Company. Elaine is somewhat put off as she first meets the tyrannical taxi dispatcher, Louie DePalma, then the rest of the gang: Alex Reger, the 40-ish ringleader who describes himself as the only full time cab driver of the bunch, as all the others are pursuing other professions; Bobby Wheeler, an actor; Tony Banta, a professional boxer; John Burns, a college student from the midwest who is new to New York and unwise to the ways of the big city; and Latka Gravas, the mechanic from an unnamed tiny Eastern European nation with a hilariously troubled grasp of English. After the introductions to the characters are made, the main plot of the episode begins: the cabbies discover the pay phone is broken, allowing them to make long distance calls to anywhere in the world for free. Alex decides to call his estranged daughter, Cathy, who lives in Brazil with his ex-wife a

Première diffusion : 12 septembre 1978

S1 E2 • One-Punch Banta

Tony is asked to spar with the world middleweight champion Carlos Navarone (played by real life welterweight champion Carlos Palomino). When sparring in the gym with him, Tony does the unimaginable: he knocks down the champ. Since the gym was full of members of the press when this occurred, this ends up being Tony's big break and he manages to get a major fight with a contender. In the locker room before the fight, the champ comes in to wish Tony luck and thank him for the ""stunt"" in the gym. The champ confesses that he took a dive during their sparring session to combat the general consensus that he was invincible and thus, have an easier time lining up opponents. Tony gets angry and refuses to believe it and ends up getting punched out by the champ. Another boxer who heard the commotion, comes in to see if Tony's okay and helps him to his feet. This boxer turns out to be Tony's opponent. Although the fight is not shown, presumably, Tony is beaten quite badly, as Louie is seen collect

Première diffusion : 19 septembre 1978

S1 E3 • Blind Date

Alex has a great telephone conversation with Angela, the voice on Bobby's answering service, and asks her out on a date. The charming woman he was picturing, however, turns out to be fat and dumpy, not to mention hostile. After the awkward date ends poorly, Alex somehow feels bad and wishes to break through Angela's gruff exterior in the hopes that the woman he had the great talk with over the phone is underneath. When he goes back to her apartment, she accuses him of pitying her and wanting to feel good about himself by trying to do a favor for the fat girl. When he convinces her that his intentions are sincere, she breaks down and they share a moment. They hug and seem to have made friends after all.

Première diffusion : 26 septembre 1978

S1 E5 • Come as You Aren't

Elaine is throwing a party to impress her art gallery crowd. Fearful that the rest of the gang from the cab company won't fit in, she only invites Alex, but relents when she sees that the other guys are hurt by this. The people from the art gallery don't know that she's a part time cabbie and she wishes to keep that a secret, so she asks that everyone not blow her cover by admitting how they know her or that they're cabbies either. The gang gets bored quickly at the party full of pretentious art snobs, with the exception of Alex who has made a sensation by telling people that he fights oil fires for a living and Latka, who is seen leaving with a female partygoer. All is going well for Elaine until a man who has insulted Elaine in her cab at the beginning of the episode shows up. Although he doesn't recognize her, she decides to blow her cover (and Alex's, much to his dismay) by telling him off. The party ends and Elaine is relieved not to have to put on a charade anymore, but Alex is s

Première diffusion : 10 octobre 1978

S1 E6 • The Great Line

At Mario's, the cabbies' favorite hangout, John is admiring a young woman at the bar but lacks the confidence to approach her. Bobby and Tony give him a sure-fire line to pick her up with, ""Let's skip the preliminaries - let's get married."" Well, John gathers the courage to approach her and indeed picks her up with the line. When John next shows up at the garage, it comes out that he actually eloped with the woman (Suzanne) to Maryland. They were having a great time and in the spirit of the pick up line, they were both seeing how far they could play out the marriage joke, until they actually did it. They didn't speak on the ride home, realizing they had made a mistake. When Suzanne sends John a ""dear John"" letter, though, he decides he wants to stay married to her. John, with help from Alex, then go to Suzanne's family's house for dinner to talk everything out. John and Suzanne decide to stay married after all.

Première diffusion : 17 octobre 1978

S1 E7 • High School Reunion

Louie is depressed because his 20th High School reunion is around the corner and he's afraid to go, since he feels he hasn't made enough of his life to upstage his former classmates. He hasn't seen any of them since a cruel prank was pulled on him the night of the prom by his dream girl, Sheila (as well as the rest of the in crowd). Louie has vowed revenge but twenty years later, he still can't face them. Bobby has a bright idea-- he will attend the reunion in Louie's place under the pretense that Louie grew after high school. Bobby sees this as an actor's dream, as Louie is a very ""complex character."" At the reunion, Bobby/Louie makes a big hit, but Louie, drinking at Mario's, can't bear not being there to witness it. So, Louie, Alex, and Beverly, a barmaid at Mario's who Alex has been trying to get a date with, crash the reunion in time to see Bobby/Louie exacting revenge on his longtime enemy Stanley Tarses and making time with Sheila. Louie is feeling good about this but gets overz

Première diffusion : 24 octobre 1978

S1 E8 • Paper Marriage

Latka is being pursued by the INS and needs to get married in order to avoid being deported. In a hurry, the gang finds him a call girl who agrees to marry him, and a hippie minister to agrees to marry him (Reverend Jim Ignatowski, who becomes a regular on the show the following season). The wedding takes place in the garage and when the INS agents come to investigate, Louie makes up a story that convinces them the marriage is on the level. Unfortunately, even Latka is convinced, who is saddened that there will be no honeymoon as after the wedding, his bride leaves to visit her next client.

Première diffusion : 31 octobre 1978

S1 E9 • Money Troubles

Newlyweds John and Suzanne are having financial troubles and are concerned that one of them is going to have to leave college in order to support themselves. Fatherly Alex comes to the rescue by hesitantly offering them a loan, which pride initially prevents them from accepting, but ultimately they are willing to take "as much money as he's got."

Première diffusion : 14 novembre 1978

S1 E10 • Men are Such Beasts

Tony's new girlfriend is a fellow cabbie named Denise. Denise is attractive and likable, not to mention an overachieving cab driver which makes her popular with Louie, but she's getting very clingy toward Tony and is popping pills constantly. Tony attempts to break up with her, but she simply refuses to let him dump her, creating sort of a fatal attraction situation. Tony begs Louie to fire her, citing her drug addiction, but Louie refuses, until most of the other cabbies, showing their support of Tony, threaten to quit if he doesn't let her go. Louie fires her, but Denise tells Tony that he's still not rid of her that easily. As a last ditch effort, Tony tells her that he's already seeing someone else-- Louie. Louie, to his dismay, is urged on by the other cabbies to play along and Denise finally leaves when she sees to what lengths Tony will go to get rid of her.

Première diffusion : 21 novembre 1978

S1 E11 • Memories of Cab 804 (1)

John is involved in an accident while driving beloved cab 804. As Latka surveys the damage, the cabbies reminisce about their experiences in the cab. Bobby recalls when an armed robber attempted to rob him in cab 804. Bobby ends up pulling a gun on the robber and jams the gun barrel with his own gun. They sit in the cab deadlocked for hours and ironically, they get a parking ticket while stopped in the cab. The windows are fogged and the meter maid evidently doesn't notice there are people in the cab. The thief eventually gives up and wants to leave, but Bobby demands that the robber pay him the fare on the meter plus the parking ticket. The robber complies and Bobby turns him in to the police. Next, Tony tells the story of how he saw a man about to jump from a bridge and talked him out of it, simply by saying ""Don't do that""! Finally, Louie tells a story of how, when he was a cab driver, a twelve year old con man cons him out of $200 on his way back to boarding school, but eventually

Première diffusion : 28 novembre 1978

S1 E12 • Memories of Cab 804 (2)

In part two of a two part episode, the gang continues to reminisce about their experiences in cab 804. Alex tells the story of how he picked up a pregnant woman and her husband and when the woman goes into labor, Alex is forced to deliver the baby when the husband begins panicking. The couple names the baby after Alex. Elaine adds her story about how she picked up a rich, handsome, charming man and drove him out to the country, basically falling in love with him along the way. He asks her to spend the night when they reach his destination, but she can't bring herself to do it. He understands and gives her a memorable kiss goodnight and a $100 tip. At the end of the episode, it appears that Latka has fixed beloved cab 804, but it turns out to be undrivable when Alex tries to begin his shift.

Première diffusion : 5 décembre 1978

S1 E13 • A Full House for Christmas

Louie's brother, Nick, a professional gambler in Las Vegas who he hasn't seen for six years, finally has come home to visit his mother. However, once he arrives in New York, he sits in on the cabbies' poker games and can't be persuaded to leave the garage to spend time with his mother. Louie is fed up with Nick's neglect of their mother, and is sick of being burdened with having to take care of their mother in her old age without any assistance from Nick. Louie then bets the company's money on one hand of poker, pitting Alex versus Nick one-on-one, the caveat being that if Nick loses, he has to take his mother on a Vegas vacation. In a grueling hand, Alex wins.

Première diffusion : 12 décembre 1978

S1 E14 • Sugar Mama

During Alex's shift, he picks up Dee, a kindly old widow who has recently inherited a lot of money from her husband. She doesn't need to go anywhere, she just wants to talk and be driven around to the sights of the city. They spend the evening driving and chatting and have a very nice time, made even better by the fact that Dee gives Alex his biggest ever tip. This soon becomes a regular event, he picks her up on every shift and they have great chats and she pays him well. Eventually Dee insists on bringing Alex to a seniors' dance (buying him a new cashmere jacket in the process, so he feels he can't refuse), Alex is getting the feeling that Dee is becoming sort of a Sugar Mama to him, and he starts to feel uncomfortable with the arrangement. He broaches this topic with Dee, suggesting that they just be friends, but she convinces him that it makes her feel good to give out her money to those who could use it and it appears that he will continue to drive her around on occasion.

Première diffusion : 16 janvier 1979

S1 E15 • Friends

Tony asks his best friend, Bobby, to babysit his pet goldfish while he's out of town for a boxing match against the state middleweight champion of New Hampshire. Bobby forgets to feed the fish and they end up dying (although he doesn't realize the fact that they're floating upside down means they're dead until the gang point it out to him). Before Tony's return, Bobby replaces them with identical goldfish, but Tony notices the difference and stops speaking to Bobby. Bobby begs Tony and Alex to come over to his apartment so he can fully explain and try to make it up to Tony. However, Tony and Alex wait in the apartment for Bobby to arrive, and in walks Bobby who has clearly forgotten his plans, as he has a date with him. Bobby is angry with himself, and says he's going to explain to his date that he is spending the evening with his friends instead. Bobby goes into the bedroom to let her down, but after a little while, he doesn't come out and Tony and Alex realize they are being stood up

Première diffusion : 30 janvier 1979

S1 E16 • Louie Sees the Light

Louie goes to the hospital when he experiences stomach pains. He becomes worried when he learns he needs surgery and makes a promise to God (in front of Alex) that if he makes it through the surgery, he'll be the best person he can be. Sure enough, the surgery is a complete success and when he next comes into the garage, he is a changed man. Bobby is not convinced that Louie has sincerly changed so he makes a bet with Alex that he can get Louie angry. Bobby tells Louie that he has been in an accident-- he has wrecked a cab and it was his fault. Louie is visibly bothered but doesn't get angry. Bobby, impressed at this point, admits to Louie that he was just joking. Only then does Louie lose it and he hangs Bobby up by an engine block hook and threatens to fire anyone who lets him down. Ironically, Bobby has won his bet. Louie later is worried that he's going to hell for going back on his word to God, but Alex reminds him that his promise was to be the best man he could be and perhaps be

Première diffusion : 6 février 1979

S1 E17 • Elaine and the Lame Duck

Alex picks up congressman Walter Griswold in his cab, and after his date leaves him, he confides to Alex that he is a loser with the ladies. Alex then befriends Walter and decides to fix him up with Elaine. Walter and Elaine go out to Mario’s and although the date doesn’t go terribly well, between Walter’s self-pity and his accidentally setting the table on fire, Elaine takes him back to her place and sleeps with him. Walter is riding high the next morning and although she gently rejects his idea of a serious relationship, the evening has bolstered his self-confidence considerably.

Première diffusion : 13 février 1979

S1 E18 • Bobby's Big Break

Bobby is cast in a popular soap opera and, thinking it will be a long lasting full time gig, he quits the garage, tearing up his hacker's license in Louie's face. Louie becomes enraged and tells Bobby that he will be back. Things are going well for Bobby initially, but his character is soon killed off. A depressed Bobby becomes somewhat reclusive, but the gang comes to visit him and persuade him to swallow his pride and return to the garage. Before Bobby comes in to the garage, Alex with great difficulty persuades Louie not to humiliate Bobby, who is already feeling very low. Bobby, touched by the fact that Louie has gone easy on him, thanks Louie for being so kind—which acts as an opening for Louie to show him what he COULD have done to publicly humiliate him, and Louie then turns on the PA system to demonstrate in front of the whole garage.

Première diffusion : 15 février 1979

S1 E19 • Mama Gravas

Latka is excited about his mother's visit, but when Louie refuses to let him take the day off, he asks Alex to entertain her. Alex takes Latka's mother to Mario's and later to Radio City Music Hall, and it becomes evident that they are very attracted to one another. The next day, Alex tells Elaine that after the show, Latka's mother asked to go back to Alex's place for a drink and they ended up sleeping together, after she became an ""animal"" and tore his clothes off. Latka then approaches Alex, having learned of this event, and happily calls him ""Daddy."" Latka's mother then arrives and explains to Latka that she was just lonely and had no intention of marrying Alex. Latka is upset, but forgives his mother, just not Alex. Alex later apologizes to Latka and begs his forgiveness, eventually gaining it when Latka suggests they practice his country's age old tradition of pretending the event never happened.

Première diffusion : 27 février 1979

S1 E20 • Alex Tastes Death and Finds a Nice Restaurant

After Alex is robbed and shot in his cab (the bullet nicked his ear and rendered him temporarily deaf in that ear), he is understandably hesitant to go back to cab driving. He tries to confront his fears by driving the very next night, but ends up not making any money, because he is too cautious to pick up any fares. When he returns to the garage, he quits in order to pursue a safer career. Alex ends up being a waiter in a fancy French restaurant and is doing very well for himself. When the cabbies come to visit him at the restaurant, he realizes that deep down he's a cab driver and decides to return to the garage, after all.

Première diffusion : 6 mars 1979

S1 E21 • Hollywood Calling

A Hollywood motion picture production company has invaded the garage, with the intention of studying the drivers and environment for their next film about New York cab drivers. The gang is star struck, particularly Louie, who has conned the director into hiring him as Location Coordinator for $15,000, and Bobby, who is offered a part in the movie. Only Alex is unimpressed, and he refuses to take part in the excitement. Ironically, the director wants Alex's input the most, sensing that Alex has the best stories to tell. After much persistence from the director, Alex finally relents and begins telling his stories—ending up being captivated by the Hollywood types as well. The director throws a party at the Plaza Hotel for the cabbies and the actors, to celebrate the alliance, and at the party, the head of the studio calls to inform everyone that production on the cabbie film has been halted, and no one is able to convince the studio chief otherwise. The cabbies all watch in disbelief as t

Première diffusion : 8 mai 1979

S1 E22 • Substitute Father

While Elaine is away visiting her sick aunt, the gang takes turn taking care of her son, Jason, who can not go with Elaine, because he is participating in an important spelling bee. The gang, Louie included, is completely taken by Jason, and they manage to monopolize his time, leaving him insufficient time to study for the spelling bee. The whole gang comes to cheer Jason on at the event (Louie attempting to place bets on Jason with the parents in the crowd), but Jason ends up only taking second place. Elaine meets the gang back at the garage after the spelling bee, where everyone is blaming themselves for monopolizing Jason's time, but Jason tells everyone that it was his own fault and he should have been responsible enough to better manage his study time. Elaine is proud of her son for being so mature, and the gang now all wants kids of their own.

Première diffusion : 15 mai 1979