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Why do phone numbers in TV shows and movies all start with 555?
StraightDope ^ | 7/21/78 | Cecil Adams

Posted on 05/26/2004 9:09:23 PM PDT by freedom44

Why do all phone numbers in TV shows, movies, etc., have the prefix 555? Is it an FCC regulation? --Mary Jane, formerly of Lawrence, Kansas

Dear Mary Jane:

Believe it or not, there are a few pinheads out there with nothing better to do than sit down and call every number they see on a television show or in a movie. "Hello, is Kojak there?" they say, chuckling at the sublimity of their wit. Generally, Kojak is not there, which causes a great deal of inconvenience for the poor sap who is. In one case several years ago a Peanuts strip carried a number that turned out to belong to a family in Moline, Illinois. Over 50 calls, ranging from plaintive requests to speak to Snoopy to less plaintive requests of a considerably darker nature, were logged in one evening.

Up until a few years ago, the phone company maintained a service that provided fictional (i.e., unused) numbers to producers and writers. But it soon developed, in this wide, wonderful country of ours, that there wasn't a single number that wasn't in use somewhere. The "555" gambit was created in 1973--no matter where you are, dialing the 555 number plugs you into directory assistance, where a legion of professionally trained operators awaits to answer the particular crankiness of your call. 555 isn't an FCC regulation, but simply a convenient creation of Ma Bell.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: faq

1 posted on 05/26/2004 9:09:25 PM PDT by freedom44
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To: freedom44

Back when Bruce Almighty came out, people called "God's" number from the pager. It was all over the news.


2 posted on 05/26/2004 9:23:17 PM PDT by WinOne4TheGipper (I make no guarantee that the above post was written by a sane person.)
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To: WinOne4TheGipper

If you dialed 666-6666 in GA back in the 80's it gave you this really strange and demented tune.


3 posted on 05/26/2004 9:27:50 PM PDT by freedom44
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To: freedom44

Was it the theme from the Omen or the Exorcist? ;-)


4 posted on 05/26/2004 9:29:37 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Communism failed because people like to own stuff.)
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To: freedom44

867-5309


5 posted on 05/26/2004 9:41:46 PM PDT by Auntie Mame (Perfection is the enemy of good enough.)
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To: Auntie Mame

Jenny Jenny who can I turn to
you give me something I can hold on to
now you think I'm like the others before
who saw you name and number on the wall

Jenny I got your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny don't change your number
867-5309, 867-5309, 867-5309, 867-5309

Jenny Jenny your the girl for me
you don't know me, but you make me so happy
I tried to call you before but I lost the nerve
I tried my imagination but I was disturbed

Jenny I got your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny don't change your number
867-5309, 867-5309, 867-5309, 867-5309

I got it, I got it, I got your number on the wall
I got it, I got it, for a good time, for a good time call

Jenny don't change your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny I got your number
867-5309, 867-5309, 867-5309, 867-5309

Jenny Jenny who can I turn to (867-5309)
for the price of a dime I can always turn to you


6 posted on 05/26/2004 9:53:43 PM PDT by freedom44
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To: anyone
Life ; being the totally unpredictable thing that it is, holds at least ONE MAJOR SURPRISE for each individual person born into it.

MY life will probably end , when, after feeling that pain in my chest getting deeper and harder, I will probably be on the phone with a SBC operator who will tell me--they had to change my phone number, and the new one will be, FOREVER unchangeable, 555-6666.

And I will remember , with the shock that will push me over the edge, this article and post, and the 3 minutes of my precious time I wasted here entering this post.

See, all things have meaning somewhere at sometime.

There is just never any guarantee that that "Meaning" will be actually worth anything. Opps! Gotta go! Gotta finish taking my Meds, and then finish helping making " Kerry for President " posters for the nice men who come here.
7 posted on 05/27/2004 6:49:45 AM PDT by AirBorn
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To: freedom44

I was in school when "Jenny" was a hit. The next town over had the 867 exchange. Of course the poor sap with 5309 was called all the time. The local radio station would tell people not to call the number before they played "Jenny". Doubt it had any effect.


8 posted on 05/27/2004 8:44:59 PM PDT by Lawgvr1955 (How did Ted Kennedy, who enlisted in the Army, achieve the rank of Admiral of the SS Oldsmobile???)
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To: freedom44

867-5309....


9 posted on 05/27/2004 8:58:21 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan ("Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America being passive. They were wrong.” - Reagan)
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To: freedom44

Thanks for posting those lyrics. I loved that song, still do.


10 posted on 05/30/2004 11:11:23 PM PDT by Auntie Mame (Perfection is the enemy of good enough.)
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To: freedom44

I keep getting a call from someone with the phone # 888-888-8888...have no idea who it is. There's never anybody there when I answer the phone...creepy!


11 posted on 05/30/2004 11:24:13 PM PDT by jellybean (I have learned that the most important thing in America is freedom. Freedom is worth any sacrifice.)
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