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Every time we watch a movie or TV show and hear a character recite a 555 phone number, we wonder the same thing. We figured it was kids like the crank-calling Bart Simpson that inspired the phone company to reserve the 555 for entertainment purposes, but we let our fingers do the walking and set off to confirm our theory. We typed "555 phone numbers" into the Yahoo! search box and found an explanation in no time flat. TV Acres provides a page explaining the origin of the 555 prefix. It turns
out that the prefix was reserved for TV and movies use so the viewing public wouldn't harass real phone customers when they were looking to speak with their favorite stars. A link on the TV Acres site led us to a more detailed explanation of how 555 became the number of choice in entertainment. In the old exchange-name telephone number system (think Pennsylvania 6-5000), no English place names contained the combination of the letters J, K, and L -- all assigned to the digit "5" on the phone. So the prefix 555 went largely unused, and Hollywood was encouraged to use it to discourage those darn crank-calling kids. These days, 555 phone numbers are actually being assigned to legitimate businesses, and Hollywood has been restricted
to numbers in the 555-0100 to 555-0199 range. Finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention 555-LIST, an ongoing project to compile all the 555 numbers used in TV and movies. So whether you're trying to dial Agent Scully at Quantico (555-2804) or Ned Flanders in Springfield (555-8904), you'll find the numbers of all your favorite fictional characters. Reach out and touch someone, but don't blame us if you get a busy signal.
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