555 (telephone number)

About 6 pages (1,875 words)

In North America, telephone numbers with the prefix 555 are widely used for fictitious phone numbers in television shows, films, computer games, and other media. Not all numbers that begin with 555 are fictional—for example, 555-1212 is one of the standard numbers for directory assistance throughout the United States and Canada. In fact, only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are now specifically reserved for fictional use, with the other numbers having been released for actual assignment. How exactly this will intersect with the many uses of 555-2368 (long the "standard" fake number) by AT&T and other telephone companies, is no clearer than the reason for the choice of "2368".

1 Fictitious phone numbers in movies and television
2 Fictitious phone numbers in computer/video games
3 Real uses of 555 numbers
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Fictitious phone numbers in movies and television

The phone companies started encouraging the producers of television shows and movies to use the 555 prefix for fictional telephone numbers, roughly during the 1970s. One of the earliest uses of a 555 number can be seen in A Patch of Blue (1965), with 555-2368. In older television shows from the 1950s or 1960s, "KLondike 5" or "KLamath 5" was used, as at the time the telephone exchanges used letters. In the original Twilight Zone series, the episode "Person or Persons Unknown" (broadcast in March 1962) featured David Gurney making a phone call to KLondike 5-3472 (555-3472). The Simpsons repeatedly makes reference to this in its early seasons by showing phone numbers that start with KL5. On American telephone dial pads, K and L are found on the number-5 button. In one episode Homer mentions that the church congregation can reach him at home on the phone number 'Klondike 5 3226' while Homer ran a snow plowing service. On another episode, a call made by Homer is traced by the police. When Police Chief Wiggum reads the number, he says "555 ... Oh that's gotta be fake." (Burns, Baby Burns) On Desperate Housewives, in the episode "Listen To The Rain On The Roof", Edie Britt puts up a "FOR SALE" sign with a 555 prefix. On Mad About You, Paul Buchman's mother, Sylvia, leaves her number on her son's answering machine, starting with "KLondike 5", showing that she was seriously behind the times. On Friends, Ross once had a beeper associated with the number 55-JIMBO. J can be found on the number 5 button on a standard US dial pad. The use of 555 in cinema stems from an earlier derivation than supposed phone company promotions in the 1970s - having been used in many films from 1930s, or earlier, onwards. One of the main reasons the prefix exists is to avoid accidentally using real phone numbers in movies and television programs because viewers frequently call the numbers used. An example of this situation is with the 2003 film, Bruce Almighty. The makers of the movie opted not to use the prefix, and several people whose phone numbers matched one mentioned in the film were inundated with callers asking for "God", and the number was edited out for television airings of the movie and on most copies of the DVD. Another widespread example is Tommy Tutone's hit 1982 song "867-5309/Jenny", which is a valid number in many area codes. Some of these numbers reportedly still receive prank calls asking for "Jenny". [1] Some movie or television producers, such as those of HBO's Sex and the City and The Wire, have acquired actual telephone numbers solely for the purpose of using them in the movie or on TV. For example, in the film Sneakers, a character is given anything he asks for; he asks for a lady's phone number. The director wanted to have a real phone number so that the two characters would seem actually interested in each other. Alternatively, a show's producer might choose to use an actual phone number from the place they are portraying. During The West Wing Season 2 episode "In This White House", a character receives a call from phone number 202-456-1414. This is the actual switchboard number for The White House.[2] The phone number was also used in the 1976 film All the President's Men and in 1994's The American President. The producers of the television series 24 began using the real telephone number belonging to a member of the show's production staff. The cell phone the number belongs to is answered by the show's staff whenever anyone actually calls it. This approach was also taken by the producers of the show Scrubs, who used the phone number (916) CALL-TUR(k) as the notional number of the cell phone of Dr. Chris Turk. The number goes to a voicemail box on which the outgoing message is recorded in rotation by various members of the cast. In the CW series Supernatural, near the end of the fourth episode of the first season ("Phantom Traveler"), the brothers call their father's cell phone and hear a greeting that directs all callers to call Dean at 866-907-3235. When viewers called the number, the voice mail greeting, recorded by Jensen Ackles was: "This is Dean Winchester. If this is an emergency, leave a message. If you are calling about 11-2-83, page me with your coordinates." In the movie Speed, when Jack commandeers a car to chase after the bus, he instructs the car's owner to dial the number 470-8000 on his cellular phone to call the Los Angeles Police Department. In an episode of NewsRadio, a woman gives lead character Jimmy James, who is interested in dating her, a 555 number. After a moment, he realizes "that's one of those made-up TV numbers!" In other countries, where different numbering schemes are used, different conventions for fictional numbers are used. In the United Kingdom, the telephone regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) has recommended[3] that the area code 01632 be used (for detail see UK telephone numbering plan); for specific area codes a special range of numbers (usually, but not always beginning 4960) has been reserved. The toll-free range 0808 1570xxx is set aside for fictitious uses in TV and radio.

Fictitious phone numbers in computer/video games

In Sierra Entertainment's "Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards" the number 555-6969 is used to call to participate in a sex survey and 555-8039 is the number for ordering wine at "Ajax Liquor". In Sierra Entertainment's "Police Quest" many numbers with the prefix 555 are used. In Activision's and Neversoft's Tony Hawk's series, various numbers with the prefix 555 are used, one of them being 1-800-555-TAGR in Tony Hawk's Underground 2, which one would call to report graffiti in the Philadelphia level/area. In Telltale Games' "Sam & Max: Abe Lincoln Must Die!" the number 555-1984 is used to call a pay-phone (which oddly enough only takes Susan B. Anthony dollars) located outside the White House. In the Humongous Entertainment game "Spy Fox in Dry Cereal", the phone number Fox must call starts with "555". In The Darkness (video game) all the phone numbers begin with 555. In Atari game, DRIV3R (Driver 3) there is a supermarket in Miami displying the number 555-2324 In all sixteen Nancy Drew computer games, every phone number Nancy calls in every game begins with 555. In one case, Nancy even made a note in her journal questioning the fact.

Real uses of 555 numbers

Throughout North America, 1-XXX-555-1212 will connect to directory assistance for the specified area code. In 1994, the North American Numbering Plan Administration began accepting applications for nationwide 555 numbers (outside the fictitious 555-01XX range). This would mean that a consumer from any area code could dial a seven-digit number such as 555-TACO, and the owners of that number could connect the call to the taco vendor nearest to the customer. However, according to a 2003 New York Times article, the desired functionality requires the cooperation of local phone authorities, and most phone companies have been reluctant to cooperate, perhaps wary of undermining the lucrative business of selling toll-free telephone numbers. Despite the fact that the service is virtually unavailable so far, most of the available 555 numbers have already been reserved. [4] The service Tellme uses the number 1-800-555-TELL (8355) to provide news, weather, and other free information. TellMe is also the company that handles calls to 800-555-1212 and provides directory assistance for toll-free telephone numbers. Also, financing corporation Lending Tree uses 800-555-TREE. In some areas, Geico insurance uses the number 1-800-555-2753. 1-800-555-7448 is a number for Progressive Insurance. 1-800-555-1111 is the number used across North America to reach a Bell Canada operator. In Australia, phone numbers starting with 555 belong to telephones around the Gold Coast in Queensland, particularly within Griffith University's Gold Coast campuses, and some in country Victoria, or Geelong. All Australian telephone numbers are, however, eight digits long. Before the introduction of the eighth digit at the beginning of the number in the early 1990s, seven-digit numbers beginning 555 were for the areas of Balmain in Sydney and Moorabbin in Melbourne. In the Moscow region, Russia, 555 is the beginning of telephone numbers for Lytkarino. Hungary's most popular independent news site, Index.hu, uses phone numbers beginning with 555. In 1985, in Santiago, Chile, the phone company—which was in a multiyear process of upgrading the entire phone network, which involved changing numbers with five or six digits to the now standard seven—switched the 5xxxx numbers (used in the central-south section of the city) to 555xxxx. Owners of those numbers complained about prank calls for months afterwards, and there are still complaints to this day. The phone company never issued an apology or considered switching the 555 numbers to another prefix. An old electromechanical telephone exchange "555" has been shut down in Kiev, Ukraine in the summer of 2007 after about 20 years of service (report). Numbers 555-xxxx have been replaced with 295-xxxx at a new digital telephone exchange.