Taxi

The cabbies volunteer to drive Alex to Miami to meet the daughter he hasn't seen in 15 years.

Tony is ecstatic when a lucky punch of his brings a boxing champion to his knees.

Alex finds himself inexplicably attracted to an overweight and abrasive blind date.

Bobby looks for an acting job before his self-imposed deadline arrives.

Elaine invites Alex to her party for art dealers for moral support, but asks him to lie about his occupation.

John conquers his meekness long enough to pick up a girl in a bar--and marry her.

Louie takes out a female vending-machine mechanic--and then brags about their sexual adventures.

The cabbies are disturbed by Alex's nonchalance when confronted with the news of his father's heart attack.

The drivers try to make a cabbie out of a refugee from the '60s who hasn't quite put his life together.

Working two jobs and raising her kids takes its toll on Elaine, who seems to be losing her marbles.

Bobby questions his luck when a friend passing through town lands an off-Broadway role.

Alex renews his acquaintance with a once-overweight woman who has lost weight and yearns for romance.

Louie and Zena are running into trouble in their relationship, and Zena dumps him after confessing that she's been dating Dwight, a bartender at Mario's. A depressed Louie tells Alex about it over drinks at Mario's, and when they suspect that Dwight is working the bar, Alex goes up to talk to him. Dwight then tells him that he's breaking up with Zena for getting serious too quickly. Alex shares the news with Louie, who sees an opportunity to get Zena back on the rebound. Zena initially rejects him, but after Louie gives a heartfelt speech about what Zena means to him, she takes him back, despite her better intentions.

Tony's sister, Monica, has returned to New York after her divorce, and Tony has set her up on a date with Alex, with hopes that they will fall in love. However, while Monica waits for Alex in the garage, she gets to talking to Jim and they hit it off famously. They begin dating, but Tony is not supportive of the relationship and asks Jim not to see her anymore. However, Tony catches Jim at Monica's apartment when he stops by for a visit. Tony is angered that they are seeing each other despite his objections and is ready to toss Jim out (literally), when Monica tells him off about his immaturity and trying to control her life. Tony then sees the light, apologizes, and seems resigned to the new relationship.

Alex learns through a wedding notice in the newspaper that his daughter is getting married in New York. Alex is very upset that he hasn't been invited and calls his ex-wife, whose secretary explains that he was specifically not invited. Alex crashes the reception anyway, bringing Elaine with him. Cathy, his daughter, is thrilled to see him and asks why he didn't respond to her invitation. Alex gets angry again and tells off his ex-wife, insulting her weight in the process. Alex eventually feels guilty that he insulted his ex-wife and he pulls her aside and apologizes. They then start to reminisce and soon find that they are still somewhat attracted to each other. When they are about to kiss, Cathy finds them and lets them know how happy she is to see them together and asks them to hug. They do, and everyone is on good terms at the end.

At Mario's, while Elaine is complaining about problems with her love life, a handsome man named Kirk approaches. Tony then plays matchmaker for Elaine and soon she and Kirk are dating happily. Kirk later tells Tony in private that he has a problem: he is interested romantically in someone else-- Tony! Tony, who is not gay but does not want to see Elaine hurt over this, tells Alex and although he doesn't really want to get involved, Alex agrees to meet Tony and Kirk at a gay bar to help smooth over the situation. Alex arrives at the bar before Tony and is nervous, but relaxes after Kirk tells him he knows Tony isn't interested and he's already gently broken things off with Elaine. Alex begins to feel more at ease, but soon he is asked to dance by a large man. Alex is then pulled on to the dance floor and is eventually chased on to the bar itself by a chorus of gay dancers and unable to escape, begins dancing on the bar, when Tony arrives..

Jim is sought out by a detective, hired by his wealthy father to locate him and give him plane tickets to come visit him in Boston. Jim explains to the gang that he has been estranged from his family after dropping out of Harvard in the 1960's and changed his name from Caldwell to Ignatowski. Jim agrees to go to visit his father and brings Alex with him, who is curious about what Jim's family must be like. At his father's mansion, Jim's oddness upsets his father and they get into an argument during dinner. Jim is asked to leave, but Alex speaks to Jim's father privately to try to smooth things over. It turns out Jim's father still thinks of Jim as his favorite child, but it hurts him to see him wasting his life when he had so much potential. Jim comes in and convinces his father that he's got a happy life and doesn't need his father's money and they share a moment before Jim leaves.

Bobby is fed up after losing an acting gig to an inferior actor with the right look, which he explains to be like Tony. Tony decides he wants to capitalize on this and give acting a try, and asks Bobby to be his manager. Reluctantly, Bobby agrees and soon, despite a terrible audition, Tony gets a major role in a movie. Bobby is soon regretting his decision to take Tony under his wing, though, since he's resentful that Tony (whose acting is not improving, despite Bobby's coaching) could get a part so easily. Bobby feels vinidicated, however, when Tony is eventually cut from the film because of his lack of skills.

Jim announces he has psychic dreams and unfortunately, he has had one about Alex, culminating in his death. The gang becomes increasingly worried about Alex, when one by one, all of the events Jim dreamed about start coming true. However, Alex continues to reject Jim's superstitions. Louie becomes so worried about Alex, he comes to Alex's apartment to take him somewhere (so the final part of Jim's dream doesn't come true, since he is to meet his doom that evening at home), but possibly to spite Louie, Alex decides to stay and tempt fate. In the end, it turns out that the doom Jim dreamed about was a girl scout knocking at Alex's door, instead of his death, but when Louie leaves, Alex actually appears very relieved that Jim's premonition was wrong.

Alex and Elaine decide to take a vacation together through Europe. However, Alex feels it necessary to tell Elaine in no uncertain terms that they are going together as platonic friends, so there's no resentment if he meets and wants to spend time with any other ladies on vacation. Elaine agrees to this and they decide to do things mostly separately during the days, but to meet up once a day to write post cards together. During the trip, it turns out that Elaine is getting all the action, while Alex is lonely and unhappy. The last night, however, Elaine takes pity on Alex (more or less) and propositions him, suggesting that their friendship is strong enough to endure one night of ""love."" They then go off together...

Latka begins exhibiting multiple personalities again: not only Vic Ferrari, but also a cowboy, and best of all, he becomes Alex! Elaine refers Latka to her psychiatrist, but meanwhile Latka is becoming even more ""Alex""-like than Alex himself: he is a better cab driver and gives better advice to the gang. Alex decides he'd better sit in on a psychiatric session with Latka and Latka/Alex is about to reveal the answer to all of Alex's problems (somehow he has figured out the secret to Alex in the midst of subconsciously becoming him), when he becomes Latka again. This leaves Alex extremely frustrated and after Latka leaves, Alex sticks around to talk to the psychiatrist further.

While driving a television executive in his cab, Jim exhibits more psychic behavior by predicting TV ratings. Mitch, the executive, seeks Jim out the next day in hopes of getting more advice about TV programming that might save his job. Jim starts helping Mitch regularly and Mitch becomes a star at the network, but the gang soon convinces Jim (who isn't being compensated for this help) that he's being taken advantage of. Jim angrily confronts Mitch, who agrees to tell the network head honchos all about Jim and to get him a job, but Jim has a change of heart, saying he doesn't want to profit from his God-given gift as a psychic.

Zena asks Louie to drive her friend Emily, who has just been dumped and is drugged, drunk, and upset, back to her apartment. While there, Emily comes on to Louie and he ends up cheating on Zena. Louie soon brags of his conquest, but Elaine gets so angry that she is about to tell Zena everything. Louie decides to tell Zena himself though, who understandably dumps him. Louie then shows up at Emily's apartment, but Emily is clearly regretting her indiscretion with Louie and is getting back with her boyfriend anyway, so she kicks him out quickly. Louie, back at the garage, is in tears because he is so upset at the turn of events. Alex, feeling sorry for Louie, gives him some sage advice on how to get Zena back. All of a sudden, Louie turns off the tears and Alex sees that he's been had and gets furious with himself. As Louie goes to talk to Zena (and presumably gets back together with her), he assures Alex that the tears were real.

Alex's estranged father contacts Alex and reluctantly, Alex agrees to have lunch with him. At first, Alex lays into his father about having deserted his family, but eventually they start having a nice conversation. Alex's father, a real ladies' man, even sets him up with an attractive woman sitting at the table next to them at Mario's. When Alex leaves Mario's, Alex's father makes a date with the woman as well. Evidently, both men continue dating the woman, but when Alex learns that his father has double crossed him, he becomes furious and confronts his father. Ultimately, Alex's father lays on the charm enough with Alex that Alex forgives him and they are seen having dinner together.

Newlyweds Latka & Samka throw a Shloogel, one of their religion's traditions. The shloogel is, in effect, a party at Mario's where they set all the gang up on blind dates. Tony is set up with Vicki, an abrasive brunette and immediately starts arguing with her. Elaine is set up with mousy Arnie, who has low self esteem. Jim is set up with actress, Marcia Wallace, who played Carol on his favorite show, Bob Newhart. Louie is set up with Judy, a pretty blind woman. Alex is set up with Susan, who seems to be his dream woman and he seems to be falling for her immediately. Despite the fact that none of the other matches seem perfect, all of them show promise by the end of the evening.

When Jim's father passes away and leaves him a substantial inheritance, Jim's siblings sue to have Jim declared incompetent and his inheritance placed in an account that the brother will have control of. In court, Louie and Alex speak in Jim's behalf, but to no avail. Jim later feels better when he plays a tape of ""You Are the Sunshine of My Life"" that his father left for him.

In this episode, we learn that Alex can be a compulsive gambler. Alex even scares Louie off with his compulsion, but Jim talks some sense into Alex at the end (after having bankrolled him initially).

Latka is sent to rescue a female cabbie who is stranded in a snowstorm, but he breaks down as he reaches her. The two are freezing in her cab and decide to make love in order to avoid freezing to death. They survive and are rescued but Latka feels tremendous guilt and Simka realizes he's been unfaithful (despite the circumstances) before he can even tell her. Latka and Simka seek the guidance of their minister, who says to set things right, Simka must sleep with someone Latka works with. (Continued in part two)

Latka and Simka throw a party and decide the last to arrive will be the one that Simka must sleep with. Alex barely edges out Louie, in hilarious fashion. Simka goes to Alex's apartment to seduce him, but he refuses her advances. It seems Simka and Latka will have to divorce, but Jim points out that they can just marry again after divorcing.

Louie lets Jeff, his assistant dispatcher, take the rap for skimming money from the company (that Louie is actually responsible for), assuring Jeff that he'll smooth everything over. Louie overdoes it when he reprimands Jeff in front of the garage owner, though, and the owner not only fires Jeff but has him arrested. Louie eventually tells the owner the truth before Alex has a chance to turn him in, but the owner thinks that Louie is only doing it to protect Jeff. The owner decides as a favor to Louie to drop the charges against Jeff and hire him back, so Louie's crime ends up going unpunished despite his good intentions.