If you’ve ever wondered why it is that all phone numbers in TV shows and movies begin with 555 then a news story like this one out of Tampa will clear it up for you.
God is a businesswoman in Pinellas Park. Or a radio station operator in Denver. Or maybe an elderly woman in South Carolina.
Or so they’ve been told. Over the weekend, their phones rang at all hours.
“Is God there?” callers would ask. Or, simply, “God?”
Then they would chuckle and hang up.
In between sleeping off my cold or whatever the hell I’ve got I did manage to catch Bruce Almighty at the local cineplex (I’ll post a small review later) and was surprised to see what appeared to be a real phone number in a scene where God pages Bruce prior to their first meeting. No area code was listed, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying out the number all over the country and annoying the hell out of a lot of people who actually have that number assigned to them.
Dawn Jenkins of Pinellas Park went to see Bruce on Friday. Her number flashed on the movie screen.
Soon Jenkins’ cell phone was getting 15 to 20 calls an hour from people asking for God, according to a message she posted on a Web forum for visual artists.
In the interest of mercy, the Times is not publishing the phone number.
There’s a joke that’ll get old soon if you’re one of the poor saps that have that particular phone number. Personally, I’ve never understood the fascination calling phone numbers seen in movies holds for some people. Is it just a conditioned response from too many late-night ads for crappy products hounding you to call immediately to get an additional free gift that has resulted in a nation of morons that have to call any phone number they ever see on TV or in a movie as soon as possible?
Folks, it’s a movie. Resist the urge to harass some poor slob who’s number that is up on the screen. If you’re that lonely get a penpal or a cat or something.
Posted on 05/27/2003 at 11:51 AM 
Ya know, when Hairboy and I caught that flick yesterday, and I saw that phone number that didn’t start with 555 up on the screen, I thought “I wonder if people are over that whole call the number in the movie thing.”
Apparently not.