Louie De Palma is a cantankerous, acerbic taxi dispatcher in New York City. He tries to maintain order over a collection of varied and strange characters who drive for him. As he bullies and insults them from the safety of his “cage,” they form a special bond among themselves, becoming friends and supporting each other through the inevitable trials and tribulations of life.

A bankrupt studio schemes the government to finance a sexploitation mermaids film. Casting couches thus join the already exploitive studio. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State arranges an affair with the studio head's buxom wife Henrietta.