Better lose God's phone number

Posted Wednesday, May 28, 2003 at 12:27 PM Central

by John Couture

Audiences flocked to the cinema this weekend to see Jim Carrey's latest laugh fest Bruce Almighty, but it might be Sprint that has the last laugh. Apparently, during the movie, Jim's Buffalo based character calls God on his cell phone by punching in seven digits to a phone number that does not exist in Buffalo.

Unfortunately, the film's producers forgot to check the other area codes across the country. The result has been a rash of people calling unsuspecting phone owners that happen to have the same phone number in a different area code.

Of course, this isn't the first time that a cultural phenomenon spurred prank calls. Fans of one-hit-wonder, '80s band Tommy Tutone are still trying to reach Jenny at 867-5309 for a good time. In fact, the movie industry has become so concerned about potential lawsuits arising from such a thing happening from a movie that they've created the ubiquitous "555" numbers.

In fact, there's even a website named 555-LIST that keeps a thorough record of each 555 number used in movies and on TV. For the sequel, perhaps Universal should give God an unlisted number for safe measure.