# Phone ringing in background on West Wing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-ringing-in-background-on-west-wing/671405 "2013-10-16T16:47:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-ringing-in-background-on-west-wing/671405/1 "2013-10-16T16:47:00Z")
This is about as mundane and pointless as it gets… I’ve been watching West Wing on Amazon and the phone ringing in the background is making it unwatchable. In every scene that doesn’t take place in the Oval office there is a phone ringing in the background as the characters talk. I watch an episode in bed, last thing before going to sleep. And the volume level of the phone on the show sounds exactly like the landline ringing on the other side of the house. Every other scene, I briefly think my phone is ringing. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-ringing-in-background-on-west-wing/671405/2 "2013-10-16T17:37:55Z")
Yep, this is pretty M&P. But it’s also Cafe Society, so I’m going to go ahead and ruin your first sentence. \ ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-ringing-in-background-on-west-wing/671405/3 "2013-10-16T17:40:27Z")
And I’m going to…wait, is that my phone ringing? BRB! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-ringing-in-background-on-west-wing/671405/4 "2013-10-16T17:40:43Z")
At a time when I was working remote dispatch, there was a frequent radio commercial that used a pager alert sound that sounded EXACTLY like our car’s pager. It was loud and went on for several seconds and was the first audio of the ad, so when we heard it we had to frantically switch off the radio and put a hand on the pager to see if it was vibrating every… friggin… time. I don’t recall the phones in WW being annoying, but then, they didn’t sound like ours. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-ringing-in-background-on-west-wing/671405/5 "2013-10-16T20:29:21Z")
I watched _TWW_ in its entirety during its original run, and seasons 1-3 recently on Netflix, and can’t say that I ever noticed a ringing phone. Well, when it wasn’t part of the scene, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-ringing-in-background-on-west-wing/671405/6 "2013-10-16T22:22:09Z")
I’m currently watching my way through the series on Netflix. I haven’t noticed the phone ringing thing. No doubt I will now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-ringing-in-background-on-west-wing/671405/7 "2013-10-17T07:18:35Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > In every scene that doesn’t take place in the Oval office there is a phone ringing in the background as the characters talk. > > I watch an episode in bed, last thing before going to sleep. And the volume level of the phone on the show sounds exactly like the landline ringing on the other side of the house. Every other scene, I briefly think my phone is ringing. :dubious: You might think you’re safe in the Oval Office, but you are not. Scenes in the Oval Office almost invariably contain the background sound of a ticking clock. Once it is heard, it cannot be unheard. Sorry if you now confuse President Bartlet’s clock with your own clock.