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The John Charles Walters Company was a production company formed in 1978 by four former employees of MTM Enterprises: James L. Brooks, David Davis, Stan Daniels and Ed. Weinberger. The company existed from 1978 until 1983 and produced the TV show Taxi.
Mar 24, 1978 · Closing Logo Group. in: Television production companies of the United States. John Charles Walters Productions. (March 24, 1978-June 15, 1983) Nickname: "Good Night, Mr. Walters!" Logo: We see a rear view of John Charles Walters himself, as he leaves his office while fixing his hair.
- The Series Was Inspired by A Magazine article.
- Tony Danza Was "Discovered" in The Boxing Ring.
- "Tony Banta" Started Out as "Phil Ryan."
- The Producers Wanted Judd Hirsch, But Hirsch Didn't Want A Series.
- Danny Devito Trash-Talked His Way Into The Role of Louie de Palma.
- Mandy Patinkin Auditioned For The Role of Alex.
- Bobby Wheeler Was Supposed to Be Black.
- Andy Kaufman's Contract only Required Him to Work Two Days Per week.
- Reverend Jim's Loopy Character Was Originally Assigned to Tony.
- Reverend Jim's Clothes Came from Christopher Lloyd's Own Wardrobe.
When The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended its successful seven-season run, co-creator James L. Brooks formed a new production company, the John Charles Walters Company, with David Davis, Ed. Weinberger, and Stan Daniels, all writer/producers whom he had worked with on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Brooks got the idea to create an ensemble show set at a New...
In the mid-1970s “Tough” Tony Danza was a professional boxer who trained at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn. Gleason’s was home to many famous fighters, and the go-to place for filmmakers and authors who were researching the sport. That was how producers Larry Gordon and Joel Silver happened to be ringside one night when Danza knocked out Billy Perez and...
The original boxer character Brooks had in mind was an Irish heavyweight named Phil Ryan, but he liked Danza’s audition enough to tailor the part to the actor. So Phil Ryan became Phil Banta, an Italian middleweight. Danza was impressed when three days into rehearsal he got the news that his character’s name had been changed to “Tony” Banta. “They ...
Judd Hirsch was primarily a stage actor who had done a few films. In 1977 he guest starred on two episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Rhoda, and decided that he didn’t enjoy working on television. His agent contacted him shortly after his appearance, however, and informed him that the Taxiproducers really wanted him for the role of Alex ...
When casting director Joel Thurm asked Danny DeVito to audition for Taxi, both Michael Douglas and Jack Nicholson warned DeVito against doing television because “it uses you up.” “Sure, they could say that, they were big rich movie stars,” DeVito later recalled during an interview for the Archive of American Television. But DeVito loved the Taxipil...
While Judd Hirsch was still undecided, Broadway and film star Mandy Patinkin was a contender for the role of Alex Rieger; in fact, when Tony Danza auditioned, he read with Patinkin, not Hirsch. Patinkin later showed up in a memorable guest spot in the episode “Memories of Cab 804."
The character of aspiring actor Bobby Wheeler was originally written with a black actor in mind. Blazing Saddles’s Cleavon Little was in serious contention for the part, and it eventually came down to him and Jeff Conaway. Conaway had a foot in the door with the production team by way of a guest appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. (He’d also r...
Taxi’s producers were fans of Andy Kaufman’s stand-up comedy and were anxious to have his “Foreign Man” character (renamed Latka Gravas for the series) on the show. Kaufman wasn’t anxious to work the long hours required for a series, so concessions were made. He only came to the studio on Tuesdays for the run-through and Fridays for the actual tapi...
The evolution of the show's characters got a little confusing: In the beginning, Phil Ryan (the boxer) was supposed to be somewhat punch drunk and dim-witted. When Tony Danza was hired, the producers decided that he was more convincing playing a young, somewhat naive and innocent type, rather than a confused bumbler. Problem was, Randall Carver had...
Well, sort of. The old unwashed jeans were his, and the shoes belonged to his ex-father-in-law. The jacket was something his next door neighbor found discarded in his shrubbery while he was gardening one day. When Lloyd arrived in that outfit for his audition, unshaven and unshampooed, the receptionist thought he was a homeless person who had manag...
This is the production company of former MTM Enterprises employees James L. Brooks (who would later go on to found his own company, Gracie Films ), David Davis, Stan Daniels and Ed. Weinberger (who would later go on to found his own company, The Weinberger Co. ).
John-Charles-Walters Productions (US) 1-50 of 130. Sort by Popularity. View full company info for John-Charles-Walters Productions (US) 1. Taxi. 1978–1983 TV-PG. 7.7 (16K) Rate. TV Series. The staff of a New York City taxicab company go about their job while they dream of greater things. 2. The Associates. 1979–1980. 7.8 (94) Rate. TV Series.
James L. Brooks, who had previously founded John Charles Walters Company, founded Gracie Films at 20th Century Fox in 1986, with Polly Platt as executive vice president. Named for comedian Gracie Allen, the company was established to "provide real writers with a vehicle to get their movies made".
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Feb 1, 2016 · The first John Charles Walters Productions logo ever, followed by Paramount Television (1977). This is from Cindy (1978), a black retelling of Cinderella."Co...
