# Alternatives to "My phone number is 555-5555" in films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053 "2011-03-01T12:47:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/21 "2011-03-01T16:05:29Z")
Gotta agree. The “555” convention, even though I’m used to it, still feels jarring to me and takes me a little bit out of the movieverse. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/22 "2011-03-01T16:05:53Z")
I seem to remember that the Michael Mann movie _Heat_ did a non-conventional trick on the phone number game. But I can’t remember exactly what it was. Posting this in the hopes that someone with a better memory (or access to the movie) can back me up. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/23 "2011-03-01T16:13:27Z")
Why don’t the people who are bothered by it graciously volunteer their own phone numbers to fight this noble cause? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/24 "2011-03-01T16:17:34Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Why don’t the people who are bothered by it graciously volunteer their own phone numbers to fight this noble cause? 😉 My thought, exactly. Using a “real” (non-555) phone number sounds great, until it’s **your** number which is being called by morons, cranks, and bored teenagers all the time. Theoretically, a different prefix could be assigned for “fictional use”…but, AFAIK, other prefixes are either (a) currently in use, or (b) also obviously “fake” (i.e., starting with a triple digit, like 555). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/25 "2011-03-01T16:20:31Z")
The idea of using a studio-owned number with a “sneak previews” recording has some appeal, though people would start recognizing those numbers after a while. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/26 "2011-03-01T16:23:42Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > The idea of using a studio-owned number with a “sneak previews” recording has some appeal, though people would start recognizing those numbers after a while. They could hire an intern to sit in the office and pretend to be various characters from movies. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/27 "2011-03-01T16:56:51Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > They could hire an intern to sit in the office and pretend to be various characters from movies. I hear Cosmo Kramer is always looking for a job 🙂 I agree that the studios should just buy a bunch of numbers for that very use. It really wouldnt take that many before you’d have to work hard to recognize it as a “movie” number. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/28 "2011-03-01T17:11:52Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Even if every movie set in Eureka, CA, used the same single phone number of 717-297-1447 most people would never notice regardless of how many times they heard it. Sure they would. Within a matter of months, you’d have people complaining that every TV show and movie was using 297-1447 which everyone knows was a fake number. It takes you right out of the story every time you hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/29 "2011-03-01T17:18:08Z")
If I were directing/producing a film, I’d just plug in the number of the last telemarketer/mistaken collections agency that recently harassed me. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/30 "2011-03-01T17:57:22Z")
Years ago I was out 4-wheeling in the Mojave with a couple friends. We saw a phone booth seriously in the middle of nowhere. We pulled up to the booth and the phone was ringing. It turned out that a national news show (I think Dan Rather) was doing a piece on [The Loneliest Phone Booth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_phone_booth) right at that time. We stayed there for an hour or so, chatting with people from the east coast. The phone rang immediately after we hung up from each caller. It was still ringing as we drove away. So yes, people do dial phone numbers they see in the media. All of the people we talked to had been repeatedly dialing because the number was busy. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/31 "2011-03-01T18:01:05Z")
I’ve always wondered why they don’t just use six-digit or eight-digit numbers. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/32 "2011-03-01T18:04:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sure they would. Within a matter of months, you’d have people complaining that every TV show and movie was using 297-1447 which everyone knows was a fake number. It takes you right out of the story every time you hear it. Sure, some people would, but most people wouldn’t. And like I said, you get a different number for each area code. And maybe even a few since sometimes, shockingly, movies have a need for more than one number. And while you only have two number in ND, you have 15 in NYC. Yes, there’s still be people who notice that Rambo XIV used the same phone number as Terms of Endearment II: The Resurrection. But eventually you’re down to just the people so determined to be taken out of the movie that you just ignore them when they whine. Personally, I’m not bothered by the 555 convention. Yes, it says “hey, you’re watching a movie” but then so does shooting day for night, rapid editing, camera movements that with the aid of CGI go through solid objects, non-linear storytelling, film grain, and black and white. And yet I still manage to love movies. I’m just surprised that some broader pool of reserved numbers is not a service anybody provides or uses. Perhaps there are good reasons against it (among them maybe that only four people care enough to bitch about it on message boards). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/33 "2011-03-01T18:04:23Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > I believe it was actually carved by a glacier. And speeds haven’t improved much since then. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/34 "2011-03-01T18:06:08Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I’ve always wondered why they don’t just use six-digit or eight-digit numbers. I have seen movies and TV shows that did the six digit thing, I think it works well when the number is spoken but visually it is just as jarring as 555. Eight wouldn’t work since your phone will just ring through to the first seven ignoring the extra digits (as an example, a local place used to advertise with the phone number 1-800-GET-MONEY). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/35 "2011-03-01T19:16:00Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Personally, I’m not bothered by the 555 convention. Yes, it says “hey, you’re watching a movie” but then so does shooting day for night, rapid editing, camera movements that with the aid of CGI go through solid objects, non-linear storytelling, film grain, and black and white. And yet I still manage to love movies. The fact that I’m in a theatre looking at a screen usually tips me off that I’m watching a movie. Seriously, people watch Bruce Willis fight off a zombie horde, survive a nuclear explosion, have sex with Megan Fox on the space shuttle, and what strikes them as unrealistic is the phone number he gave her afterwards? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/36 "2011-03-01T19:33:30Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I’ve always wondered why they don’t just use six-digit or eight-digit numbers. From _After Hours_, 1985, Martin Scorcese (D): Paul (Griffin Dunne): What’s your number? Julie (Teri Garr): My number is 5-4433. Very easy to remember. 5-4433. Paul: That’s not enough numbers, but okay. 5-4433. Okay. Julie: No. KL 5-4433. Paul: I’m sorry. Okay. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/37 "2011-03-01T19:40:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The fact that I’m in a theatre looking at a screen usually tips me off that I’m watching a movie. :rolleyes: Why do people think answers like these are witty? It’s the same as if every address given in a film was “123 Fake Street.” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/38 "2011-03-01T19:41:10Z")
> [@Heyoka13](#): > > I don’t remember the title of the book, but I read a ‘tell all’ about some Chicago mafia types. The book had an address for a rather infamous home, and it turned out to be near a friends house. For a second, I thought the address was going to be 1060 West Addison. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/39 "2011-03-01T20:06:26Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > :rolleyes: Why do people think answers like these are witty? > > It’s the same as if every address given in a film was “123 Fake Street.” People on this very board were complaining when during an episode of Chicago Code they got thrown out of the episode a bit when an address was given as being on “West Harlem.” Harlem is a major north-south street. Frankly, it would have thrown me, too, if I watched that series. I don’t understand how some posters don’t see that these sorts of things can disturb your immersion in a movie. Yes, we know it’s not reality, but sometimes you get so engaged in the story world and the simulacrum of reality that is being portrayed that when minor details are off, it can create an unnecessary psychological distance. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/40 "2011-03-01T20:17:51Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > :rolleyes: Why do people think answers like these are witty? Because they are. My point, if you missed it, was that everything you see in a movie is fake and it all requires you to suspend your disbelief. Why nitpick over one trivial detail? It’s like complaining about where is that music coming from or how come all those foreigners are speaking English or why can’t I feel the heat from that burning building I’m seeing. Watching a movie is not the same as watching reality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053.md?page=3)