From the Taxi episode “On the Job-Part One”. One of the better “Jim” segments.
20 COMMENTS
I love how apprehensive the woman is initially and how Jim’s behavior only confirms her fears.
this is actualy a variation on an old vaudville routine, only in that after dumping the dirt on the ground the comedian would take out his vacuum cleaner and ask where to plug it in and the housewife would respond, “we don’t have electricity” of course that doesn’t work anymore because pretty much everybody has electricity nowadays.
@SUPERMEDIABROTHERS6 It also doesn’t make much sense as to why the woman would even invite the salesman to go through a sales pitch for a vacuum in the first place if she doesn’t have any electricity.
@SteveJ2008 well in the original skit the salesman wasvery loud and pushy, not letting the woman talk until that point during the entire thing she would interject with things like “but I” “you don’t” “but you see” until the punch line.
If Jim Ignatowski wasn’t selling vacuum cleaners, how could they have found an easy way to clean up that mess he made?
Any number of actors could have done a great job with this bit. But Christopher Lloyd takes it to a completely higher level. Notice his look of befuddlement at 3:#6, as Jim is still clueless to what he’s selling. Brillance!
Any number of actors could have done a great job with this bit. But Christopher Lloyd takes it to a completely higher level. Notice his look of befuddlement at 3:26, as Jim is still clueless to what he’s selling. Brillance!
Watching this again made it 10x funnier, because now I know there’s nothing but an encyclopedia in that suitcase while he’s talking about a carpet cleaner and deliberately ruining the lady’s carpet! LOL
Was that a joint that landed on the floor when Jim spilled the dirt??
One of the funniest scenes in T.V. history!
@cburga Jeff Conaway’s character? That’s your opinion but you’re missing the point of the character. If her were such a great ‘actor’ then why the hell is he working as a cabbie? IOW, he’s supposed to be a ‘bad’ actor, or even someone who says, “I’m an actor” despite the fact that they’ve got no talent, no acting jobs, and work full-time as a cabbie (for ex.). In reality there are thousands of REAL people like this…. and most will remind you that they are actors just like Conaway’s char.
@AEWHistory Yeah, maybe, but it would have been funnier if he could have convincingly plaid a guy who was a bad actor, like Matt LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani. This was a funny guy playing a bad actor, not a bad actor playing a bad actor.
Just my opinion. I could also be the staginess of the show, like so many shows of this time period, makes it hard to emote convincingly while shouting loud enough for the back row to hear you.
@cburga I definitely agree that the character wasn’t terribly funny, I’m with you there. I’m just not sure that Conaway’s at fault. I don’t mean to imply that he’s Olivier, but he’s a decent actor and it always seemed as though the writers/directors wanted that character played that way. It might be why his character was gone after something like two seasons–I don’t know…
@cburga Oh, and you made a really good point about the staging issues as well. Actually, are any shows shot with live audiences any longer? I’m totally ignorant on the subject.
@AEWHistory Apparently, some still are. I was surprised to discover that “Two and a Half Men” is done live, and I assume “The Big Bang Theory” must be as well. I’m sure improvements in sound and cameras have made the look of sit-coms less stagey. Some of the better ones, like “The Office” or “Malcolm in the Middle” do not use an audience, or a laugh track. I appreciate the producers letting me decide when to laugh for myself.
I watched Taxi weekly, but somehow missed this episode. This is hilarious! I miss this much fun in a show! No one can beat Jim for laughs. Thank you!
is that doc brown
@joshgearey It sure is. It’s also the Klingon that killed Kirk’s son.
one day people will not know what an encyclopedia is or that it was sold door to door. but it will still be funny.
this takes me back they don’t make great t.v. like this anymore
I love how apprehensive the woman is initially and how Jim’s behavior only confirms her fears.
this is actualy a variation on an old vaudville routine, only in that after dumping the dirt on the ground the comedian would take out his vacuum cleaner and ask where to plug it in and the housewife would respond, “we don’t have electricity” of course that doesn’t work anymore because pretty much everybody has electricity nowadays.
@SUPERMEDIABROTHERS6 It also doesn’t make much sense as to why the woman would even invite the salesman to go through a sales pitch for a vacuum in the first place if she doesn’t have any electricity.
@SteveJ2008 well in the original skit the salesman wasvery loud and pushy, not letting the woman talk until that point during the entire thing she would interject with things like “but I” “you don’t” “but you see” until the punch line.
If Jim Ignatowski wasn’t selling vacuum cleaners, how could they have found an easy way to clean up that mess he made?
Any number of actors could have done a great job with this bit. But Christopher Lloyd takes it to a completely higher level. Notice his look of befuddlement at 3:#6, as Jim is still clueless to what he’s selling. Brillance!
Any number of actors could have done a great job with this bit. But Christopher Lloyd takes it to a completely higher level. Notice his look of befuddlement at 3:26, as Jim is still clueless to what he’s selling. Brillance!
Watching this again made it 10x funnier, because now I know there’s nothing but an encyclopedia in that suitcase while he’s talking about a carpet cleaner and deliberately ruining the lady’s carpet! LOL
Was that a joint that landed on the floor when Jim spilled the dirt??
One of the funniest scenes in T.V. history!
@cburga Jeff Conaway’s character? That’s your opinion but you’re missing the point of the character. If her were such a great ‘actor’ then why the hell is he working as a cabbie? IOW, he’s supposed to be a ‘bad’ actor, or even someone who says, “I’m an actor” despite the fact that they’ve got no talent, no acting jobs, and work full-time as a cabbie (for ex.). In reality there are thousands of REAL people like this…. and most will remind you that they are actors just like Conaway’s char.
@AEWHistory Yeah, maybe, but it would have been funnier if he could have convincingly plaid a guy who was a bad actor, like Matt LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani. This was a funny guy playing a bad actor, not a bad actor playing a bad actor.
Just my opinion. I could also be the staginess of the show, like so many shows of this time period, makes it hard to emote convincingly while shouting loud enough for the back row to hear you.
@cburga I definitely agree that the character wasn’t terribly funny, I’m with you there. I’m just not sure that Conaway’s at fault. I don’t mean to imply that he’s Olivier, but he’s a decent actor and it always seemed as though the writers/directors wanted that character played that way. It might be why his character was gone after something like two seasons–I don’t know…
@cburga Oh, and you made a really good point about the staging issues as well. Actually, are any shows shot with live audiences any longer? I’m totally ignorant on the subject.
@AEWHistory Apparently, some still are. I was surprised to discover that “Two and a Half Men” is done live, and I assume “The Big Bang Theory” must be as well. I’m sure improvements in sound and cameras have made the look of sit-coms less stagey. Some of the better ones, like “The Office” or “Malcolm in the Middle” do not use an audience, or a laugh track. I appreciate the producers letting me decide when to laugh for myself.
I watched Taxi weekly, but somehow missed this episode. This is hilarious! I miss this much fun in a show! No one can beat Jim for laughs. Thank you!
is that doc brown
@joshgearey It sure is. It’s also the Klingon that killed Kirk’s son.
one day people will not know what an encyclopedia is or that it was sold door to door. but it will still be funny.
this takes me back they don’t make great t.v. like this anymore