# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/41 "2011-03-01T20:29:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. They’re not “nitpicking” for the sake of it. It’s something that \*\* actively\*\* breaks many people’s suspension of disbelief. Do you really not understand that? If people could simply ignore it, we would not be having this discussion. ---
**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, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/42 "2011-03-01T20:30:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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? Wait… what movie was this? ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/43 "2011-03-01T20:38:09Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. Then why bother with period costumes, period sets, shooting on location, actors made up to resemble their characters, and the thousand other things directors do to try to achieve verisimilitude? ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/44 "2011-03-01T20:41:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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? > [@JohnT](#): > > Wait… what movie was this? Perhaps the best damn movie ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/45 "2011-03-01T20:44:27Z")
People also visit famous address. Both the owners of the actual Brady Bunch house and the first building Mary Richard (_Mary Tyler Moore Show_) lived at got actual visitors. The owners said they were bothered with people ringing their door bells and asking to see Mary and Phyllis. The actual _Brady Bunch_ house is a bit harder to spot as the window yo you see is fake. The address of Lucy Ricardo from _I Love Lucy_ would actually place her in the East River. People get bored, drunk and of course little kids love to make phone calls. People like to think they’re the only one or at least the first, to ever do that. I worked in a store, where we marked (with pen) the $50s and $100s and half the time, I got, “They should be good, I just printed them up today” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/46 "2011-03-01T20:47:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. No it isn’t clever. It’s an observation made all the time. And, yet, it doesn’t accord with reality. Suspension of Disbelief doesn’t work on some hierarchy with the things closes to reality being less likely to break the suspension. The biggest discrepancies can be overlooked, while the smaller ones are not. Furthermore, when I hear of people being thrown out of a work, I assume they are so thoroughly engrossed in the work that they are temporarily escaping current reality. It doesn’t surprise me at all that the big things you’ve been ignoring the whole time don’t bother you, but little tiny things still remind you that you are viewing a movie. In fact, I would consider it rather sad if you were constantly aware the entire time that you were watching a movie (or whatever). There’s a lot of enjoyment lost. It’s actually worse than being thrown out–you were never really in. That said, people who are thrown by small things can help themselves. It’s just a matter of getting used to what throws you, If you get to the point where you expect it, your disbelief can remain suspended. But it’s hard work, and I doubt anyone who has done it would be condescending about it. ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/47 "2011-03-01T20:56:47Z")
> [@vertizontal](#): > > I recall some Woody Allen movie, maybe from the 70’s, in which throughout the movie one of the characters was leaving messages… 1972’s “Play It Again, Sam” ([imdb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069097/)). ---
**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, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/48 "2011-03-01T21:35:55Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > They’re not “nitpicking” for the sake of it. It’s something that \*\* actively\*\* breaks many people’s suspension of disbelief. Do you really not understand that? If people could simply ignore it, we would not be having this discussion. Sure I understand it. Do you not understand what I’m saying? There are thousands of things in any movie that are unrealistic. Why single out this small one as being unacceptable? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/49 "2011-03-01T21:47:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sure I understand it. Do you not understand what I’m saying? > > There are thousands of things in any movie that are unrealistic. Why single out this small one as being unacceptable? Because it’s a very specific detail that screams “FAKE!!!” If you check out the goofs section of any film on IMDB, it’s probably going to be dozens of things (continuity errors, looping problems and the like) that you didn’t notice on first viewing but if you watch carefully will appear at least arguable. But this is one detail that everyone KNOWS to be wrong the second they hear it. It was designed to sound naturalistic, and I’m sure it worked fine at first, until we all caught on (“Hmmm, wasn’t that the same phone exchange in every other movie? Wonder why that is? Coincidence? Oh, I get it…”) and after that point, about two decades ago, it no longer serves its original purpose. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/50 "2011-03-01T22:11:11Z")
Does no one in the movies have caller id? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/51 "2011-03-01T22:54:22Z")
I’m surprised movie producers actually care about people being bothered with strangers calling them. Seems to me that the easy way to get past it would be to just make up a phone number. And if some poor sap actually has that number, oh well ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/52 "2011-03-01T23:02:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sure I understand it. Do you not understand what I’m saying? > > There are thousands of things in any movie that are unrealistic. Why single out this small one as being unacceptable? Because it’s the one that’s most readily noticed? Hence the amount of posts pertaining to it. I really can’t believe I have to explain this… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/53 "2011-03-02T00:47:26Z")
[Sneakers](http://movieclips.com/bNzAE-sneakers-movie-the-teams-demands/): > [@](#): > > You can have anything you want and you’re asking for my phone number. > > 273-9164, area code 415. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/54 "2011-03-02T00:53:53Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I’m surprised movie producers actually care about people being bothered with strangers calling them. Seems to me that the easy way to get past it would be to just make up a phone number. And if some poor sap actually has that number, oh well Money. Lawyers. Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/55 "2011-03-02T01:35:46Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > 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. There was a time when dialing the last five digits of a number within your area would connect you. It was that way in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1959, I recall. ---
**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 2, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/56 "2011-03-02T01:49:36Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I’m surprised movie producers actually care about people being bothered with strangers calling them. Seems to me that the easy way to get past it would be to just make up a phone number. And if some poor sap actually has that number, oh well Think about the poor people who have to do the research on names for movies and TV shows. In _Enterprise_, for example, > [@http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244365/trivia](#): > > The first name of Captain Archer was initially to have been Jeffrey. While the (American) producers of the show didn’t see any problems with this name, UK fans pointed out the link to disgraced author, actor and politician Jeffrey Archer after learning of the name over the Internet. The name was changed to Jackson, but there was exactly one person in the country named Jackson Archer. To avoid lawsuits, Jonathan was chosen for a name because there were 20 Jonathan Archers. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b77776/32.png) [@The\_Jay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Jay)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/57 "2011-03-02T02:32:25Z")
The thing is, 555 is so ingrained in film TV that whenever I see a work around (say, a real number, or a real number with one or two digits concealed) it also takes me out of the movie. Because I start thinking “Ohh I wonder if that is a real number?” or “oh I see what you did there!” Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/58 "2011-03-02T05:46:39Z")
Why don’t you use a real-ish looking number, with a fake area code? Area code 109, or something? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/59 "2011-03-02T06:28:28Z")
It seems appropriate to post [this link](http://home.earthlink.net/~mthyen/555frame.html). ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053/60 "2011-03-02T07:01:19Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Because it’s a very specific detail that screams “FAKE!!!” If you check out the goofs section of any film on IMDB, it’s probably going to be dozens of things (continuity errors, looping problems and the like) that you didn’t notice on first viewing but if you watch carefully will appear at least arguable. But this is one detail that everyone KNOWS to be wrong the second they hear it. I think that’s **Little Nemo** ’s point. A lot of pedants are just itching to pounce on movie phone numbers simply because it’s such an easy gotcha that 555 is fake. “Aha, you can’t fool me, Mr. Director! Observant, aren’t I!” Meanwhile, the vast majority of these same people probably aren’t looking for less picked upon but equally as obvious fakes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-my-phone-number-is-555-5555-in-films/573053.md?page=4)