Have you ever noticed that phone numbers featured on screen in American movies and television shows often have the area code 555?
In the wild west of the early 20th century, filmmakers and TV show creators used to just use random numbers, not anticipating that audiences couldn’t resist their curious urges to go home and see what happened when calling these numbers. As you might imagine, however, the random people to whom these numbers belonged were not terribly pleased to receive so many calls from strangers.
That’s why, starting in the early 1960s, the North American Numbering Plan reserved a large block of phone numbers under the unassigned area code “555” for fictional usage. This meant that filmmakers were free to show phone numbers without the risk of collateral irritation to strangers.
In the decades since, there have been countless 555 numbers used in media.
One of the most iconic is from the original Ghostbusters, since of course, they’re who you’re gonna call when there’s something weird in your neighborhood.
However, with the overuse of 555 in the entertainment industry, lots of filmmakers have recognized the opportunity for real phone numbers in movies and TV to serve as a fun Easter egg.
Did you know that production companies will sometimes budget money to purchase a phone number they can own and manage, so they can use a more real-looking number without an array of unintended consequences?
Universal Pictures, for instance, acquired the number “(212) 664-7665” for use across various films, including Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Munich, The Adjustment Bureau, and Definitely, Maybe. Calling the number yields a standard “the number you’ve dialed is not in service” message, however, so its only Easter egg quality is for eagle-eyed audience members to notice it recurring across different films.
And sometimes, production companies will go above and beyond and actually have a related piece of content (typically a recorded message) waiting at the other end of the line when you call the number shown on screen.
This fits right into our current streaming era of television in particular, with multimedia tie-ins and cross-promotional activations, as well as the current penchant for scouring all franchise media frame-by-frame for Wikiable Easter eggs.
Here are some of our favorite examples of numbers from movies and television that you can (or at some point could) actually call.
Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul
Everyone’s favorite scummy Albuquerque lawyer, Saul Goodman (played masterfully by Bob Odenkirk in both Breaking Bad and its spinoff Better Call Saul) is always hustling for new business. Both shows feature print and broadcast advertisements for his legal services, using actual, working Albuquerque, NM numbers.
(505) 503-4455 showed up first in Breaking Bad in advertisements for his law firm, and still leads to a recorded, in-character message by Odenkirk, selling his services. The number also surfaced on viral billboard and bus ads around Albuquerque. This was actually one of several real numbers with Easter egg recorded messages used throughout the series.
Another number, (505) 842-5662, was introduced in the spin-off about his character, Better Call Saul. It featured different messages over the course of the series’ run that reflected the arc of his character, from trying to play it straight as James McGill, to embracing his dark side with his alias Saul Goodman. Likewise, as of writing this, you can also still call this number and hear a voice message.
Fallout
Amazon Prime’s recent television adaption of the long-running post-apocalyptic video game series, Fallout, featured Walton Goggins in a pre-war advertisement for the Vault-Tec corporation. Vault-Tec manufactures massive underground bunkers for the event of a nuclear war, which are a prominent feature of the setting.
The 213 area code corresponds to Los Angeles, where the TV show is set, and calling “213-25-VAULT” currently still plays a recorded message of a man screaming horrifically, as atomic weapons presumably incinerated him. Supposedly, texting the number would (at least one point) return the message “Thank you for texting Vault-Tec. The next available appointment is 33 weeks from now, please stand by!”
Stranger Things
Like Breaking Bad, Netflix’s hugely popular 80s teen horror remix, Stranger Things has also featured a variety of phone numbers in the show that you can actually call to hear a relevant recorded message. The most fun is for Surfer Boy Pizza, “805-749-9233“, spotted on the side of a delivery van, which leads to a rambling message about their pizzas from the goofy, long-haired stoner friend, Argyle (played by Eduardo Franco), who joined the cast in season four.
Scrubs
In an episode of the early 2000s hospital sitcom Scrubs, one of the main characters, Dr. Turk (played by Donald Faison) was extremely proud of his new phone number, which spelled out “(916) CALL-TURK” (the K is technically excessive, making the real number CALL-TUR, but it doesn’t hurt to add). He reiterated it several times throughout the episode, and fans were quick to call their bluff.
Fans could however still “CALL-TUR”, and heard a recorded message from Faison in character. But apparently they set this up with a regular phone and voicemail, rather than sending it straight to a recorded message, as is usually the case now.
Infamously, during production of the show, cast and crew members would pass the phone around and occasionally answer to talk with fans, sometimes in character! The show is long off the air and the phone number no longer associated, but this was a really fun and charming commitment to the bit by the show’s creators.
Magnolia
Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 ensemble drama Magnolia actually featured two working phone numbers. One was a number dialed by (the late, great) Philip Seymour Hoffman during the film, leading to a voice message from a woman asking to leave a number.
The second, more fun one, was featured in the infomercial for Frank T.J. Mackey’s (played by Tom Cruise) motivational pickup artist seminar, which spelled out “877-TAME-HER“. Calling it would lead to a recorded message by Cruise, in character and selling the seminar, from the movie. Yet sadly, neither have been linked to the film for years.
Don’t Look Up
The 2021 Adam McKay comedy Don’t Look Up is about two astronomers trying to warn the world about the impending threat of a civilization-destroying comet coming to hit Earth, and the satirically underwhelmed reaction from the government and media establishment.
The film featured a PSA by Leonardo DiCaprio’s character with a FEMA number for people seeking peace of mind. The number “(254)-63-COMET” used to lead to a recorded message saying: “Thank you for calling the Bash hotline. Due to violent global destruction caused by the comet, we are experiencing a higher than normal call volume. Please stay on the line and a live representative will be with you shortly … live representative as in still living … so, you know, it may be a minute…”
(We received a “disconnected” message when calling the number.)
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty is a 2003 comedy starring Jim Carrey as a man who complains to God (played, of course, by Morgan Freeman), and then receives a chance to take his job for a week and see how difficult being God really is. Early in the film, Carrey’s character gets repeated pages to call a number (back when pagers were still a thing), which turns out to be God’s number. In the original release of the film, the number was listed as “776-2323“.
With the film set in Buffalo, the producers verified the number as inactive at the time and also didn’t show an area code with the number. But just like what happened across the U.S. to people with the number 867-5309 receiving calls for “Jenny,” audience members everywhere called the number locally. They reached a variety of individuals and businesses, including, fittingly, a church in North Carolina. Understandably, many of those inundated with calls were not amused. Ironically, the producers ultimately replaced the number with a 555 for subsequent DVD and streaming releases.
