# Answering machines in US TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556 "2024-01-03T18:10:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/1 "2024-01-03T18:10:47Z")
A staple of US TV shows is a scene where person B is calling person A’s home phone. Either person A is blowing B off so deliberatley leaves the phone unanswered, (until B says something interesting, at which A pretends they “just got in” and answers the phone mid message.) Alternavely A is out but C is in the room and gets to overhear the message for A that should have been private, or some other hijinx. I’ve seen this from '80s shows all the way up to '20s. I was born in the '80s in the UK and as far as I recall I’ve never seen an answering machine that acts like that. For as long as I can remember some people had voicemail which went to a different line that they then pick up afterwards. Do answerphones really work like that in the US or is it just poetic licence to make the stories flow better? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/2 "2024-01-03T18:12:07Z")
The phone attached to my landline acts like that. I can hear the caller leaving a message. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/3 "2024-01-03T18:12:45Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > Do answerphones really work like that in the US or is it just poetic licence to make the stories flow better? Mine worked like that. You could certainly pick up once you heard who was talking. People screen their calls like that. But once voicemail became standard, the machines went away. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/4 "2024-01-03T18:19:12Z")
They’re kind of outdated at this point but they did work as you described. My 83 year-old mother still uses hers and she can hear me leaving a message and if she chooses pick up the line mid sentence. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/5 "2024-01-03T18:19:44Z")
My “landline” phone (it’s through my cable provider, so it’s essentially IP based) has that feature. When a call comes in the caller flashes on my TV screen and if I don’t answer the “machine” gives a generic message and then a tone. 90% of the calls end there, but occasionally a message will be left (mostly spam), which I can hear and pickup on if the caller is someone I know. My mom is the only person I know that calls my landline, so I’ll be keeping it. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/6 "2024-01-03T18:23:53Z")
This was absolutely how old standalone answering machines from pre-voicemail days worked. They played the audio of the caller out a speaker while recording it (to a cassette tape!), so you could pick up if you wanted to speak to that person. Some people went so far as to set their outgoing message to “We’re either not home or just screening our calls, so if you’re a relative or youa friend please identify yourself and we’ll pick up the phone. If you’re a salesman, you can just hang up now.” ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/7 "2024-01-03T18:24:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The phone attached to my landline acts like that. I can hear the caller leaving a message. Yep. You use it to screen your calls. The trick was some did not turn off when you lifted the receiver so you could record phone calls. Was that a bug or a feature? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/8 "2024-01-03T18:33:37Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > Alternavely A is out but C is in the room and gets to overhear the message for A that should have been private, or some other hijinx. I’ve seen this from '80s shows all the way up to '20s. Oh yeah, that could totally happen way back when. I left a message about getting ahold of some LSD for my friend once. Why didn’t he pick up? Because he was in the room with his parents! So, they heard me leave the message. Luckily I coded my message well enough they didn’t catch on what was actually happening, but he did have to come up with an explanation for my weird coded message on the spot. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/9 "2024-01-03T18:40:59Z")
As far as i can remember, it’s always been that way in the UK too ! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/10 "2024-01-03T18:45:18Z")
There are three of these answering machines scattered across my family members, and they all act exactly like that. I’m not actually sure I remember one that was different. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/11 "2024-01-03T18:47:21Z")
BTW, my iPhone now has a feature in which it transcribes voicemail messages as they are being left, so I can read them while the person is on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/12 "2024-01-03T18:50:02Z")
Updated version of the overheard private message trope: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hc2loEVqg5E/maxresdefault.jpg "Tostitos Hearty Dippers | First Date") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc2loEVqg5E) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/13 "2024-01-03T18:52:08Z")
My pixel has an option for a prompt text to the caller saying “this call from an unrecognized caller is being screened, who are you and what do you want?” that I quite enjoy. You can see their response transcribed in real time and decide if you want to pick up. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/14 "2024-01-03T18:56:29Z")
Can also confirm this is how it worked in the 1980’s in my house, anyway. We had the kind with the tape you had to swap out or flip. This scene is 1999, which is a bit late for this type of thing. Accurate to how it was, though: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wSwAhnS3Nk4/maxresdefault.jpg "voicemail scene (Office Space)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSwAhnS3Nk4&t=21) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/15 "2024-01-03T19:05:45Z")
I still have a landline and the phone has a built in answering machine that works that way- I can hear someone leaving a message and decide whether I want to pick up. > [@colinfred](#): > > I was born in the '80s in the UK and as far as I recall I’ve never seen an answering machine that acts like that. That might be because answering machines were far from ubiquitous. Until cell phones and voice mail became common, it was probably more likely for a residential phone to ring unanswered than for an answering machine to pick up. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/16 "2024-01-03T19:11:16Z")
I don’t know, I think answering machines were pretty ubiquitous in the 80s in the USA. They got pretty cheap, especially compared to the price of having a phone line. I’d hazard a guess 75% or more of households had one. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/17 "2024-01-03T19:30:41Z")
Of course, they worked like that. What would The Rockford Files have been without hearing the message that opened the show? _This is Jim Rockford. At the tone, leave your name and message. I’ll get back to you._ “It’s Norma at the market. It bounced. You want me to tear it up, send it back, or put it with the others?" “This is the blood bank. If you don’t have malaria, hepatitis, or TB, we’d like to have a pint of your blood.” “This is Shirley at the bank. The answers are: no, no, and yes. No, we won’t loan you money. No, we won’t accept any co-signers; and yes, your account’s overdrawn. I get off at 4:30.” “Hi, um, I’m confused. Is this Dial-A-Prayer? Well, should I call back when the reverend’s in the office, or what?” ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/18 "2024-01-03T19:43:43Z")
I’m reminded of [this 2014 thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2-a-couple-of-questions/682508), about “goofs” in “The Terminator” - things like the T-800 using a phone book to track down Sarah Connor, Sarah and her roommate owning an answering machine, a 37 year old woman being too old to have another baby - that were perfectly normal to those of who actually watched the movie when it came out in 1984. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/19 "2024-01-03T20:11:58Z")
Exactly. And voicemail didn’t become standard until sometime around 2000, if I remember right. I distinctly remember getting an apartment in 1997 and having the option to pay more for a voicemail box as part of my landline (no cell phones just yet). I remember thinking it was a cool option, but that I didn’t need it as I had an answering machine already, that had all the same functionality. But yeah, they all worked in the following fashion- the machine would pick up, play the “I’m out message”, then record what the person said. Most also played it over the speaker so you could actively screen your calls. Keep in mind- not everyone paid for caller ID back then, and screening calls was easier than getting up to peer at the little LCD display of the caller ID box if you had one. I don’t know about ubiquity; it sure seemed to me like they weren’t common at all until about 1987 or thereabouts, and then _everyone_ did indeed have them. A whole bunch of stuff showed up about then- caller ID, call waiting, and answering machines were all introduced at more or less the same time (within a few years of each other) in my recollection. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556/20 "2024-01-03T20:22:21Z")
My answering machine still does that. I had friends who used to use the audible message to screen their calls, until they got a system that told them who was calling. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556.md?page=2)