'Taxi' stars recall on-set secrets, spill on 'crazy' cast reunions

UNITED STATES - APRIL 17: TAXI - "Like Father, Like Son" - airdate: 11/12/81- Danny DeVito, Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza, Andy Kaufman, Christopher Lloyd. (ABC via Getty)

It's been 35 years since "Taxi" went off the air but the cast of the hit sitcom still has a "blast" whenever they get together.

"Everyone is vibrant and vital and has the same sense of humor," Marilu Henner tells Closer Weekly. "When we get together, it's crazy — it's a blast."

Henner, who landed her breakthrough role as Elaine O'Connor Nardo on "Taxi" in 1978, also described what it was like to be cast as the only female co-star.

"Within three weeks, Tony Danza and I were dating," she admitted. "I mean, c'mon! Oh, and I dated Judd Hirsch, too, the same year. Why not? There were 77 guys on set and me! You think I wasn't going to date at least two of them in five years? Please!"

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But it wasn't easy for all of the co-stars to get along; Andy Kaufman, who played foreign mechanic Latka Gravas, would only come to work on Fridays and he also refused to rehearse, Closer reported.

"Before we shot scenes, I would always say to him, 'I got mad because you didn't want to rehearse,'" Carol Kane has previously said. She played Kaufman's character's love interest, Simka. "And he would say, 'I'm sorry, but I can't rehearse.' By the time we went out to play a couple, we were [in sync], and it was kind of fantastic."

Despite the occasional bumps between the castmates, fans fell in love with the series and Henner, a then-unknown actress, found herself being recognized wherever she went.

"Pretty soon, people were honking their horns at us and yelling our names," Henner shared. "That's when I thought, 'Gosh, our lives are about to change.'"

However, the series was given the boot after four years by ABC only to be picked up by NBC for one more season.

"We were devastated when the final ax fell," Henner has said. "We had a 24-hour wake."