After Latka is rejected by a snobbish, but beautiful woman at Mario's, he decides to change his image by taking some time off and studying Playboy magazines and English language tapes. When Latka reemerges from his sabbatical, he has lost his accent and now is a lounge lizard who goes by the name, Vic Ferrarri. He soon easily picks up on the woman who had rebuffed him earlier. Although amused, the cabbies become concerned about the changes Latka has gone through, since he has now lost all of his nice qualities and is constantly hitting on Elaine. Alex tells Latka/Vic off, and later Latka appears at Alex's apartment, saying that he's sorry and doesn't want to be Vic anymore. Alex works with Latka and manages to get the old Latka back, although there is a twinge in Latka's eye that suggests Vic isn't gone forever..
Latka's dating chaos delivers absurdist laughs despite Season 3's creative dip.
Directed by James Burrows · Written by Glen Charles
WAR
15.7
Wins Above Replacement
“Latka The Playboy” ranks #111 of 114 Taxi episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 67.2 — Mixed. The episode packs 45 scored jokes at 2.4 per minute, averaging 6.4 on craft and 6.3 on impact, with Latka landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Latka: You don't want to go out with me? Okay, fine. But you just made a big mistake. Because I was going to take you to see a beautiful brownstone in Brooklyn. Three bedrooms, two baths, doorman, very nice. But now? Forget it. I'm going to buy it myself and I'm not going to invite you to the housewarming party.
Latka Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Real Latka: Let me out! Let me out! This is not a real transformation, it is just a disguise! I am the real Latka Gravas and I am trapped inside!
Real Latka Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Latka: Can I get you a drink?
Woman: No, thank you.
Latka: How about some wine?
Woman: No.
Latka: A beer?
Woman: No.
Latka: A glass of water?
Woman: No.
Latka: How about just sitting here and talking to me for a few minutes?
Latka Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Latka: American women don't like men from my country because we don't succeed here. But the real problem is we don't even succeed in our own country.
Latka Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Latka: Hey, how's it going? Name's Vic. I'm from Jersey.
Tony: Latka? What happened to you?
Latka: Latka? That's ancient history, buddy. I'm a new man. Got myself a tan, some threads, the whole package.
Louie: You look like a greased-up pinball.
Latka: That's the look, pal. That's the American dream.
All Jokes — 45 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Louie: Yeah, I got a cockroach problem. A big one.
Exterminator: How big we talking?
Louie: Big enough that I'm ashamed to admit it to a guy who kills bugs for a living.
Louie: This cockroach is so big, it follows me around like a dog. I go to the bathroom, it waits outside the door. I come home at night, it's happy to see me. I swear, I'm thinking about getting it a leash.
Louie Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Exterminator: Yeah, well, the poison works by attacking the nervous system of the insect, paralyzing it within seconds, and then...
Exterminator: Actually, I'm just reading this off the can.
Latka: You know, in my country, we have saying: 'A woman like you is like a beautiful flower that makes a man want to... to...' *gestures awkwardly* '...water the flower.' Yes, water it very much.
Latka Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Latka: She doesn't know I'm alive.
Bobby: Well, that's impossible. If you weren't alive, you couldn't be talking to us right now.
Bobby Deadpan/Understatement Observational Latka: American women don't like men from my country because we don't succeed here. But the real problem is we don't even succeed in our own country.
Latka Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Latka: If I were you, I would approach her. But I am not you. I am me. And me does not approach.
Latka Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Latka: You're right, I should go talk to her.
Latka: Maybe I'll go talk to her tomorrow.
Latka Escalation Character Comedy Latka: My name is Latka Gravas.
Karen: I'm sorry, what?
Latka: Latka. Latka Gravas.
Karen: Could you spell that for me?
Latka: L-A-T-K-A. G-R-A-V-A-S.
Karen: That's a very unusual name.
Latka: Yes, is from my country.
Latka: Can I get you a drink?
Woman: No, thank you.
Latka: How about some wine?
Woman: No.
Latka: A beer?
Woman: No.
Latka: A glass of water?
Woman: No.
Latka: How about just sitting here and talking to me for a few minutes?
Latka Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Latka: You don't want to go out with me? Okay, fine. But you just made a big mistake. Because I was going to take you to see a beautiful brownstone in Brooklyn. Three bedrooms, two baths, doorman, very nice. But now? Forget it. I'm going to buy it myself and I'm not going to invite you to the housewarming party.
Latka Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Latka: Is funny thing. Ten feet never seem so far.
Latka Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Latka: She go home in Bobby's cab. This is good. Bobby, he have the cleanest cab in all of New York. The woman, she be safe. But me? Me, I worry. I worry because Bobby, he drive like man who have no feet!
Latka Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Bobby: What? What'd I say?
Bobby Irony/Sarcasm Reaction Beat Latka: I read Playboy for the articles.
Latka: Is very intellectual. Very stimulating to the mind.
Latka: You know what they say — a man who reads Playboy is a man who appreciates fine literature and... how you say... the female form in its natural beauty.
Latka Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun Latka: People think I'm cute, but they don't understand me. Like when I tell them I'm broke, they think I'm physically broken!
Latka Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy Latka: "Dear Penthouse, I mean Dear Abby..."
Latka: "For the good relationship, you must have the honest communication and the mutual respect."
Latka: "Also, the woman, she like when you compliment her appearance and show interest in her thoughts and feelings."
Latka Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Exterminator: Yeah, you know, most people, they run out screaming, coughing, eyes watering. But me? I actually kind of like it. There's something about those toxic fumes that just... relaxes me.
Louie: ♪ I got him, I got him, I got the little bugger... ♪
Louie Character Comedy Absurdist Latka: Hey, how's it going? Name's Vic. I'm from Jersey.
Tony: Latka? What happened to you?
Latka: Latka? That's ancient history, buddy. I'm a new man. Got myself a tan, some threads, the whole package.
Louie: You look like a greased-up pinball.
Latka: That's the look, pal. That's the American dream.
Latka: I would like an imported beer, please.
Tommy: We got Schlitz.
Latka: One beer, please.
Bartender: That'll be three dollars.
Latka: Three dollars? You are a thief and a crook!
Latka: But you do it with such style!
Vic: Hi, I'm Vic Tasnick. Did it hurt?
Karen: Did what hurt?
Vic: When you fell from heaven?
Karen: Vic? That's not even a real name.
Latka/Vic: You know, Karen, when you're going down the highway of life, sometimes you gotta shift gears.
Alex: Latka, you've completely changed. You're like Jekyll and Hyde.
Latka: No, no. Jee-kul and High-d.
Alex Wordplay/Pun Observational Latka/Vic: Leave me alone! I'm just a regular guy!
Latka/Vic: Nothing special about me. Now get out of my face!
Vic: You know, Elaine, you have very nice eyes.
Vic: No, wait—that's not true. Your eyes are too close together. Never mind.
Jim: His mangled expression and calling the new Latka a jerk
Jim Character Comedy Observational Louie: Turn that music off! This is a taxi garage, not a discotheque!
Latka: But boss, music makes the work go faster.
Vic: Hey Louie, don't be such a square. Let the cat have his groovy tunes. You're really harshing everyone's mellow, man.
Louie DePalma: Your radio's broken.
Vic Tayback: My radio?! That was playing Sinatra!
Louie: You look like you were put together by a committee that had never seen a human being before.
Louie Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Karen: Latka?
Vic: No, no, no. I'm not talking to her. She's the woman I wanted before I wanted Simone.
Latka: Karen, she is like a beautiful bird in a cage. You see, she has these... how you say... defense mechanisms. Very thick. Like a wall.
Latka: But me, I am the key that unlocks the cage. I understand women. I read this book, see? 'The Game.' Now I know all their tricks.
Latka: So I play hard to get. I ignore her. I make her chase me. This is what the book says - you must be mysterious, unpredictable.
Latka: That is why I do not talk to her. It is all part of my strategy. Very psychological. Very effective.
Elaine: Shut up!
Vic: Ooh, baby, talk dirty to me like that!
Latka: You see, when the moon is full, the chicken must cross the road backwards to find its mother's shadow.
Vic: You know, Alex, you got a good head on your shoulders.
Alex: Thank you.
Vic: Yeah, it really covers up your nose.
Transformed Latka/Vic: Ooh, hard to get happy after that one.
Alex: I don't like the new you, Latka. I liked the old you better.
Latka: Well, maybe you get used to it.
Vic: Alex, I gotta tell you something. You know what criticism is like? It's like a guy comes up to you on the street, right? He's got a gun, he shoots you in the leg. Now you're bleeding, you're in pain. So what do you do? You don't stand there feeling sorry for yourself. No! You take that bullet, you take it home, you put it on your mantle, and every time someone comes over you say, 'See this? This is the bullet that didn't kill me.'
Vic: Alex, I'm sorry. You know, trying to get you back is like shoveling bird droppings.
Alex: What?
Vic: No matter how hard you work at it, you're still shoveling bird droppings.
Real Latka: Let me out! Let me out! This is not a real transformation, it is just a disguise! I am the real Latka Gravas and I am trapped inside!
Real Latka Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Latka: I read in magazine that to be happy American, I must have three things: a car, a house, and a beautiful woman.
Latka: I get the car, I get the house, I get the beautiful woman.
Latka: Now I say forget the beautiful woman. I keep the car and the house.
Latka Callback Character Comedy Callback Latka: I try to remember who I was before, you know? Back in my country, I was different man.
Latka: Now I look in mirror and I don't recognize this person staring back at me.
Latka: I have lost touch with my original identity. I am becoming stranger to myself.
Latka: I am stuck being Vic forever. My life is ruined. I will never be happy again.
Latka: I wake up in the morning, I look in the mirror, and there is Vic staring back at me. Vic! Always Vic!
Latka: My mama, she don't recognize me no more. My papa, he turn away. Even my dog, he bark at me like I am stranger.
Latka: I lost my love, I lost my home, I lost everything that make me who I am. And all I got left is this broken heart and this broken accent.
Latka: You think I really slip into Vic? No, no, no - I was just joking around with you!
Latka Misdirection Character Comedy