In North American television shows and movies, 5-5-5 is the prefix used for fictional telephone numbers. In older television shows from the 1950s or 1960s, "KLondike 5" was used, as at the time the telephone exchanges used letters. "KLamath 5" is sometimes also used.

One of the main reasons the prefix exists is to avoid accidentally using real phone numbers in movies. There are many cases of people, for various reasons, actually trying to ring these numbers. Unfortunately, in cases where the prefix isn't used, people with the same numbers receive many calls from people who have seen the movies. 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".

Not all numbers that begin with 5-5-5 are fictional—for example, 555-1212 is the number for directory assistance in many places. 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. Some movies have gone to creating fictional telephone numbers starting with 1, giving someone a "telephone number" of 167-1402 in the film, for example. Others have acquired actual telephone numbers solely for the purpose of using them in the movie.

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[1] that the area code 01632 is used; for specific area codes a special range of numbers (usually, but not always beginning 4960) has been reserved.

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.

See also

• The Strowger switch
• 867-5309/Jenny

External link

• An exhaustive list of the 555 numbers used