555 (telephone number)

In North America, telephone numbers with the prefix 555 are widely used for fictitious phone numbers in television shows, films and other types of fictional media.

Not all numbers that begin with 555 are fictional—for example, +1-areacode-555-1212 is one of the standard numbers for directory assistance throughout the United States and Canada. In fact, only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are now specifically reserved for fictional use, with the other numbers having been released for actual assignment. How, exactly, this will interact with the many uses of 555-2368(long the "standard" fake number) by AT&T and other telephone companies, is no clearer than the reason for the choice of "2368".

Fictitious phone numbers

The phone companies started encouraging the producers of television shows and movies to use the 555 prefix for fictional telephone numbers, roughly during the 1970s. In older television shows from the 1950s or 1960s, "KLondike 5" or "KLamath 5" was used, as at the time the telephone exchanges used letters. The Simpsons used a variation of this in some of their earlier seasons by having the phone number start out with KL5 (for example, Homer Simpson's Mr. Plow business used both KL5-3223 as the home number and KL5-3226 as the business number. Barney Gumble's Plow King phone number was KL5-4796 in the commercial sung by Linda Ronstadt). On American telephone dial pads, K and L are found on the number-5 button. In The Simpsons episode, Burns, Baby Burns, Chief Wiggum traces a phone number from the police station and reads it saying, "5-5-5... Aw, geez, that's gotta be phony."

In 1990, rap artists De la Soul released their hit single Ring Ring Ring. One line of the lyrics is "...take my number down, it's 222-2222, I got an answering machine that will talk to you". In the U.S., radio and TV stations usually blank out the part where they actually say this number, both from the song and the video clip. 222-2222 is actually not a fictious number (For example, a Des Moines-based ambulance company uses it).

One of the main reasons the prefix exists is to avoid accidentally using real phone numbers in movies and television programmes - as there are many cases of people trying to call the numbers used. Unfortunately, in cases where the prefix isn't used, people with the same numbers receive many calls from people who have seen the movies or television programmes. A perfect example of this situation is with the 2003 film Bruce Almighty. The makers of the movie opted not to use the prefix, and several people whose phone numbers matched one mentioned in the film were inundated with callers asking for "God". Another widespread example was the fiasco caused by Tommy Tutone's hit 1982 song "867-5309/Jenny," which actually is a valid number in many area codes and commonly receives calls asking for "Jenny".

The use of fictional 555 numbers is spoofed in the film Last Action Hero. Danny Madigan, knowing that he is in a movie, tries to convince Jack Slater of this; among other things he asks how the ten thousand numbers of the form 555-xxxx could serve the city of Los Angeles. Jack replies, "That's why we have area codes."

Some movie or television producers, such as those of HBO's Sex and the City, have acquired actual telephone numbers solely for the purpose of using them in the movie or on TV.

The producers of the television series 24 began using the real telephone number belonging to a member of the show's production staff. The cell phone the number belongs to is answered by the show's staff whenever anyone actually calls it. This approach was also taken by the producers of the show Scrubs, who used the phone number (916) CALL-TUR(k) as the notional number of the cell phone of Dr. Chris Turk. The number goes to a voicemail box on which the outgoing message is recorded in rotation by various members of the cast. In the CW series, Supernatural, near the end of the 4th episode of the first season, (Phantom Traveler), the brothers call their father's cell phone and hear a greeting that directs all callers to call Dean at 866-907-3235. When viewers called the number, the voice mail greeting, recorded by Jensen Ackles was: "This is Dean Winchester. If this is an emergency, leave a message. If you are calling about 11-2-83, page me with your coordinates."

In other countries, where different numbering schemes are used, different conventions for fictional numbers are used. In the United Kingdom, the telephone regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) has recommended here that the area code 01632 be used (for detail see UK telephone numbering plan); for specific area codes a special range of numbers (usually, but not always beginning 4960) has been reserved.

Real uses of 555 numbers

In 1994, the North American Numbering Plan Administration began accepting applications for nationwide 555 numbers (outside the fictitious 555-01XX range). This would mean that a consumer from any area code could dial a seven-digit number such as 555-TACO, and the owners of that number could connect the call to the taco vendor nearest to the consumer. However, according to a 2003 New York Times article, the desired functionality requires the cooperation of local phone authorities, and most phone vendors have been reluctant to cooperate, perhaps wary of undermining the lucrative business of selling toll-free telephone numbers. Despite the fact that the service is virtually unavailable so far, most of the available 555 numbers have already been reserved. [1]

The service Tellme uses the number 1-800-555-TELL (8355) to provide news, weather, and other free information. TellMe is also the company that handles calls to 800-555-1212 and provides directory assistance for toll-free telephone numbers. Also, financing corporation Lending Tree uses 800-555-TREE. In some areas, Geico insurance uses the number 1-800-555-2753. 1-800-555-7448 is a number for Progressive Insurance.

1-800-555-1111 is the number used across North America to access a Bell Canada operator.

In Australia, phone numbers starting with 555 belong to those situated around the Gold Coast in Queensland, particularly within Griffith University's Gold Coast campuses, and some in country Victoria, or Geelong. All Australian telephone numbers are, however, eight digits long.

In the Moscow region, Russia, 555 is the beginning of telephone numbers for Lytkarino.

See also

• The Strowger switch
• North American Numbering Plan
• 2GAT123
• Fictitious domain name
• Oceanic Airlines - fictitious airline used in TV & films

References

• Personal 555 Number Is Still Mostly Fiction (New York Times - registration required)

External links

• An extensive list of 555 numbers given in movies and TV shows
• North American Number Plan - page on 555 Numbers
• CNAC list of Canadian 555-xxxx information providers