the guy looked like a creepy molesty uncle. huge honker, ugly face, not remotely good looking, yet several plot lines had him dating gorgeous women and there was always that underlying theme of Elaine Nardo and Alex having sexual tension. He was so ugly! Why did Taxi keep trying to make Alex Reiger a stud?
shareBack then it didn't matter. A lot of ugly/non leading man looking actors would get paired with the hot chick. In some cases the ugly guy has power and/or money or a charming personality etc
shareTaxi was trying to portray a world where people aren't so shallow.
shareIt's like George Costanza dating attractive women every week on "Seinfeld". It's a sitcom, not a documentary about the romantic lives of homely guys. Besides, Hirsch had a sort of rugged, intelligent attractiveness. Compared to most male models, he was quite masculine looking and had something going on behind his eyes. Plus the character he played was smart, confident, and charismatic. The only thing that might have held him back with women, in real life, was being a taxi driver instead of having a large income. I'm not very good looking, myself, or rich, yet I had girlfriends far more attractive than me, and am still married to one of them. It happens.
shareWell, for one thing, I have learned through the years that most women do not judge appearances. Most women like a man for his sense of humor and his compassion.
shareBack in those days there was a push for the "everyman" character. Don't tell me Tom Hanks was good-looking. He looked like the dork next door. So did Judd Hirsh. The everyman is thrown in so that the average guy in the audience could identify with him. There were the Tom Sellecks and James Garners, too, but Garner played Rockford as an everyman. He just happened to be stuck with movie star looks. When he'd have Tom Selleck on the show, his character got extra funny.
Ah -- TV was so much better back then!