Fight Club 555 number / Photo Credit: Bellatrix - Fight Club Film
WHAT IS THE TV AND FILM PHONE
NUMBER 555? (In the Entertainment industry.)
What is the TV and film phone number 555?
As soon as an actor in a movie or TV show starts
rattling off a phone number, every viewer knows what the first three digits
will be: 5-5-5. How did “555” become the convention for fake phone numbers, and
are there any real 555 numbers?
"555" is an exchange number commonly
thought to be reserved by the phone companies for use by TV and movies in order
to prevent prank phone calls to real people. In fact, only 555-0100 through
555-0199 are now specifically reserved for fictional use, and the other numbers
have been released for actual assignment.
The number "555-2368" (or 311-555-2368) is
a carryover from the "EXchange 2368" ("Exchange CENTral")
number common in telephone advertisements as early as the 1940s.
The telephone number prefix 555 is a central office
code in the North American Numbering Plan, used as the leading part of a group
of 10,000 telephone numbers, 555-XXXX, in each numbering plan area (NPA). It
has traditionally been used only for the provision of directory assistance, when
dialing NPA-555-1212.
The central office code is also used for fictitious
telephone numbers in North American television shows, films, video games, and
other media in order to prevent practical jokers and curious callers from
bothering telephone subscribers and organizations by calling telephone numbers
they see in works of fiction.
Telephone companies began encouraging the producers
of television shows and movies to use the 555 prefix for fictional telephone
numbers by the 1960s. Two early examples include The Second Time Around (1961),
which used 555-3485, and Panic in Year Zero! (1962), which used 555-2106. In
television shows made or set in the mid-1970s or earlier, "KLondike
5" or "KLamath 5" reflects the old convention for telephone
exchange names. Before "555" or "KLondike-5" gained broad
usage, scriptwriters would sometimes invent fake exchanges starting with words
like "QUincy" or "ZEbra", as the letters "Q" and
"Z" were not used on the old dial phones. Numbers in format "Zenith"
X-XXXX, while not directly dialable, were not fictional. These were an early
form of regional toll-free number which required operator assistance.
Only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are now specifically
reserved for fictional use; the other numbers have been reserved for actual
assignment. The entire 555 exchange is reserved in all overlay North American
toll-free area codes (800, 844, 855, 866, 877, 888) and in Canada's rarely used
non-geographic area code 600.
555 use is restricted only in North America. In 1994,
cartoonist Gary Larson's The Far Side included a panel with graffiti of a 555
number by which prank calls could be made to Satan. In Australia, 555 was at
the time a standard exchange, and the Australian owner of the number became the
subject of harassment, launching an unsuccessful lawsuit against Larson and his
syndicate for defamation.
The number "555-2368" (or 311-555-2368) is
a carryover from the "EXchange 2368" ("Exchange CENTral")
number common in telephone advertisements as early as the 1940s.
"555-2368" is the phone number used by Jim Rockford in the TV series
The Rockford Files (as seen during the opening credits),[5] in the TV series
The Mod Squad (episode: "And a Little Child Shall Bleed Them") and
the Ghostbusters (as seen during their TV commercial within the film).
555 numbers are mentioned directly in the 1993 action
film Last Action Hero, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Danny
Madigan" (played by Austin O'Brien) tries to convince Schwarzenegger's
character that he is inside a movie by pointing out the 555 exchange provides
at most 9,999 available telephone numbers, insufficient for all the phone users
in Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger's character replies that area codes would solve
that problem and O'Brien's character drops the subject.
The use of 555 numbers helps to avoid use of valid
numbers in works of fiction or entertainment, which is problematic. Tommy Tutone's
song "867-5309/Jenny" and the cinematic release of Bruce Almighty
displaying 776-2323 as a number to call God both led to misdialed calls in multiple
area codes. God's number was changed to a 555 exchange prefix in the video
release of the movie. "777-9311" by The Time used Dez Dickerson's
actual telephone number at the time the song was written, causing his phone to
ring off the hook until he had his number changed. The Alicia Keys song
"Diary" contains a real number in New York's area code 347, an
overlay, but does not indicate an area code; the same number in some other area
code is a common misdial.
In the 1970s, dialing 555, at least in the Washington,
D.C., metropolitan area, would bring one to a sort of party line known as
"The Pipeline" whereby one could talk with others during the
several-second intervals between a repeating recorded announcement to the
effect that "The number you have dialed is not a working number. Please
hang up and dial again."
In 1994, the North American Numbering Plan
Administration began accepting applications for nationwide 555 numbers (outside
the fictitious 555-01XX range). A number could be reserved in a single area code,
a region or nationwide. In theory, a consumer from any area code could be
invited to dial a seven-digit number such as 555-TAXI and the owners of that
number could connect the call to a local car service. However, according to a
2003 New York Times article, the desired functionality requires the cooperation
of local phone authorities, and most phone companies have been reluctant to
cooperate. In May 2016, the Industry Numbering Committee (INC) determined that
the purpose for which this resource was intended had been accommodated by other
information/communication technologies. As of September 2016, all 555 numbers
have been returned to the NANPA inventory except 555-1212 (national use
directory assistance) and 555-4334 (national use assigned.)
In 1996, Canadian telephone companies began promoting
555-1313 as "name that number", a pay-per-use reverse lookup which
would give a subscriber name if the user entered an area code and a listed
telephone number. The fifty-cent information number was initially heavily
advertised in area codes +1-604 (BCTel), +1-416 (Bell Canada), +1-506 (NBTel),
+1-902 (Maritime T&T) and +1-709 (Newfoundland Tel), but was soon forgotten
once Internet sites began providing free reverse lookup tools.
Use of 555- for anything other than 555-1212 style
information numbers raises the problem that call cost is unclear to consumers;
in theory, the numbers could be anything from toll-free to premium. This
complicates the provision of toll restriction to local subscribers.
Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks,
Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New
York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide
Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia,
Variety, No Film School, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample
Resume, How Stuff Works, Studio Binder, Career Trend, Producer's Code of
Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Variety,
Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite,
Realty 101, Careers Hub, Screen Play Scripts, Elements of Cinema, Script
Doctor, ASCAP, Film Independent, Any Possibility, CTLsites, NYFA, Future Learn,
VOM Productions, Mad Studios, DP School, DGA, IATSE, ASC, MPAA, HFPA, MPSE,
CDG, AFI, Box Office Mojo,
Rotten Tomatoes, The Numbers
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Fight Club 555 number / Photo Credit: Bellatrix - Fight Club Film
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