Taxicab Confessions
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| Taxicab Confessions | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality |
| Directed by | Harry Gantz Joe Gantz |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 11 |
| No. of episodes | 19 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Sheila Nevins |
| Producer(s) | Harry Gantz Joe Gantz John Hoffman |
| Location(s) | Las Vegas New York City |
| Cinematography | Mitchell Wagenberg Joe Gantz |
| Distributor | Home Box Office Warner Home Video |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | HBO |
| Original airing | January 1995 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Taxicab Confessions is a television series of hidden camera documentaries that have aired on HBO since January 1995. In segments taped in New York City and Las Vegas, the taxi drivers are also producers who steer both the vehicle and the conversations with passengers.
When passengers enter the cab, they are recorded with several small cameras hidden in the taxi. The producer prompts passengers into discussing their past and/or present circumstances. This has led some participants to reflect on their life, recalling extreme tragedies or triumphs.
Much is verbally or visually graphic, including explicit sex talk and sex acts performed in the back seat. At the end of the taxi ride, passengers are asked to sign waivers allowing the hidden camera footage to be used on the program, and footage of this revelation is sometimes seen during the closing credits.
Separating the segments are short video montages showing life in the city, incorporating quick cuts of club interiors, flashing neon signage, strippers and the homeless, along with the series theme music, "Over the Rainbow" by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
The series originated in New York, moved to Las Vegas and in recent years returned to New York.
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[edit] Awards
The first episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Special. The show was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2001 and 2002.
[edit] Appearances in the media
The show has been parodied numerous times:
- Comedian Chris Rock on his series The Chris Rock Show in a segment titled "Taxi Driver Confessions" where Rock played a cab driver who said outrageous things to unsuspecting customers.
- The Goo Goo Dolls, who had a member of their band, Dave Schulz, appear in episode #6,[1] spoofed the show in their video for the single, "Sympathy." '
- The Simpsons makes a reference to the show in an episode in which Homer complains about his family on a program called "Taxicab Conversations."
- In Spin City Michael Flaherty asks after being interrogated by a taxi driver whether this is Taxicab Conversations. At that point, there is a cut and the rest of the scene is portrayed to be from the view of an on-board hidden camera.
- In a Season One episode of Two and a Half Men, "Drive East on Sunset Until You Reach the Gates of Hell," the two brothers hail a cab after leaving a bar. The two are drunk, and Alan decides to "impose his dominion" over the wife who kicked him out. Both brothers then decide to confront their mother about the emotional scarring she inflicted on them as children. As the episode ends, the two brothers wake up on the deck of Charlie's house; nearby is a form saying they've signed the waiver for a TV show called Taxicab Confessions. Two clips of the recordings made in the cab follow, after which the screen dissolves in snow, then cuts to black.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Taxicab Confessions site at HBO.com
- Episode synopses
- Taxicab Confessions at the Internet Movie Database
