History Main / NewhartPhonecall

* Happens in ''Film/EdWood'' when Wood calls up the studio executive he's trying to impress (and who has just screened ''Glen or Glenda'':

* The last short play in ''Theatre/HiddenDecades'' by Robert Patrick, "Pouf Positive," is in the form of a one-sided phone dialogue between a snarky CampGay dying of AIDS in the 1980s and his friend Bob (implied to be the playwright), who is not heard on the other end of the line. Creator/HarveyFierstein performed it for his live comedy album "This Is Not Going to Be Pretty."

* ''LetsPlay/PiratesSMP'': How chatting with [=NPCs=] works on the SMP. When a player wishes to converse with an NPC, they approach the NPC and type their part of the conversation in the public in-game chat; the NPC will then reply, both in an invisible speech bubble above their head and in the in-game chat, but only the conversing player will be able to see the chat response. If another player is not close enough to see or hear the conversation in person via the invisible speech bubble (which happens in most cases), they will be only able to see the conversing player's side of the conversation in the in-game chat, hence this trope.

* ''LetsPlay/PiratesSMP'': How chatting with NPCs works on the SMP. When a player wishes to converse with an NPC, they approach the NPC and type their part of the conversation in the public in-game chat; the NPC will then reply, both in an invisible speech bubble above their head and in the in-game chat, but only the conversing player will be able to see the chat response. If another player is not close enough to see or hear the conversation in person via the invisible speech bubble (which happens in most cases), they will be only able to see the conversing player's side of the conversation in the in-game chat, hence this trope.

* ''LetsPlay/PiratesSMP'': How chatting with NPCs works on the SMP. When a player wishes to converse with an NPC, they approach the NPC and type their part of the conversation in the public in-game chat; the NPC will then reply, both in an invisible speech bubble above their head and in the in-game chat, but only the conversing player will be able to see the chat response. If another player is not close enough to see or hear the conversation in person (which happens in most cases), they will be only able to see the conversing player's side of the conversation, hence this trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': Dexter's Dad gets a couple of these at the end of "Average Joe".
* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' uses this in one episode:
-->'''Farnsworth:''' Oh, how awful. Did he at least die peacefully? ''[pause]'' To shreds, you say. Tsk tsk tsk. Well, how's his wife holding up? ''[pause]'' To shreds, you say.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'':
** Whenever [[TheGhost Ursula]] is talking on the phone with Stumpy, this happens so that the audience doesn't see her.
** In "Let's Play Time Travel", when Mr. Cat calls the time machine company so that he can order a time machine, only he can be heard speaking coherently while the person on the other end of the line can only be heard as sped-up gibberish.
* In "Arthur's First Sleepover" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', Arthur asks his mother, Mrs. Read, to call Buster's mother, Bitzi Baxter, after finding out she told Buster he couldn't come to Arthur's sleepover because she's worried he'll be scared due to the recent talk of alien spaceships. We don't hear what Bitzi says other than her answering "Hello?" and a sped-up babble and Mrs. Read barely gets a word in edgewise, but the upshot is that Buster can come.
* Similarly, in "Franklin Has a Sleepover" from ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'', Franklin places a call to Bear after his parents agree to allow him to invite Bear over for a sleepover. After Mrs. Bear picks up, Franklin asks to speak to Bear. We hear Bear's side of the conversation, which consists of "You did? ... They did? ... We can? I'll ask. (''stops to asks his parents if it's okay'') Franklin, I can! Okay, see you later."
* A rather [[NightmareFuel not funny]] version happens in ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' when Fagin goes to a meeting with [[BigBad Sykes]] and walks in as he's having a conversation with one of his thugs on the phone… and while we don't hear what the other person is saying, it's clear Sykes is giving them instructions for how to murder somebody and properly dispose of the body.

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-->'''Spike:''' (''answers ringing phone'') Hello? ... You don't say... you don't say... you don't say! (''hangs up'')
-->'''One of the Slickers:''' Who was that?
-->'''Spike:''' He didn't say.

--->'''UsefulNotes/BillClinton:''' (places a "Vote UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton" yard sign then calls her) Alright honey that's the last one! What's next?
--->[...]
--->'''Bill:''' Twenty-five more?! What the hell did I do to you?!
--->[...]
--->'''Bill:''' Ugh, you're never gonna let ''[[LoveForgivesAllButLust that]]'' go, are you?

* A classic early '60s hit, "Chantilly Lace" by The Big Bopper, is mostly a guy talking on the phone with his girlfriend.

* ''VideoGame/CurseOfMonkeyIsland'': Guybrush can do this if you [[BreakingTheFourthWall call the Walkthrough number]]. The player cannot hear the person on the other side due to intense interference - you ''might'' find yourself catching what sounds like "Plunder Island" or "Thank you", but that's it. After a few attempts at a conversation, Guybrush is forced to hang up, because he can't hear them either.

* Bob Newhart had a lot of routines using this, perhaps the most memorable of which is his ''[[Film/KingKong1933 King Kong]]'' routine, in which a security guard at the Empire State Building's first night on the job is interrupted by the ape's ascent. [[http://youtu.be/h7Oh1SI9lbs Listen to it here.]] Interestingly, when he was first starting out, Newhart was actually part of a more standard double act with a coworker at the advertising agency where he worked who would play the person on the other side of call, with the routine being a more traditional back-and-forth. When this person eventually decided to not to pursue comedy, instead of finding a replacement Newhart simply decided to keep his side of the conversations and let the audience imagine the other side.

* Referred to on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' when Mike refers to an uneventful scene of a man talking on the phone as "the unfunny half of a Bob Newhart routine''. One experiment had Crow parodying it in one riff: "You don't say... you don't say... you don't say!" "What?" "They didn't say."

* In ''Animation/PleasantGoatFunClass: The Earth Carnival'' episode 16, Miss Earth gets a phone call informing her that Miss Rainforest, who is suppose to watch over the carnival's rainforest attraction, hasn't returned. Miss Earth is clearly heard reacting in surprise, but the person on the other end of the phone isn't audible.

* In the ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' fic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/3928030/chapters/8798104 Loaded Bones]]'', Bakura rings Marik to find out whether his SuperPoweredEvilSide is having him on about having used their shared body to have sex with Marik. Marik's side of the conversation isn't given, but is implied by Bakura's (mainly flustered) responses.

* Creator/ShaunMicallef is fond of the gag. Commonly the call will come after/in the middle of the joke to "correct" Shaun on something. For example, Shaun starting a segment talking about Jimeoin[[note]]a popular comedian[[/note]] being accused of being a war criminal, only to have the caller apparently correct him and explain that it's Jim Molan[[note]]an unpopular Australian politician[[/note]]. Perhaps the most noteworthy use was on "Micallef Tonight" when he called up the Channel 9 switchboard live on air to complain about the quality of his own programme (shortly before it was cancelled).

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "Blink", there's a mystery EasterEgg on 17 [=DVDs=] all owned by Sally Sparrow, in which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opy5DleJfOY the Doctor makes random remarks that are clearly one-half of a conversation]]. [[spoiler:Them of course being cryptic instructions to Sally on how to return the phone box to the Doctor, who's trapped in 1969]].

* In "[[Recap/ResidentAlienS2E8AlienDinnerParty Alien Dinner Party]]" from ''Series/ResidentAlien'', Ellen has one with an unknown friend or associate in which she implies that she uses her status as a nurse to commit acts of petty shoplifting and also reveals that Mayor Ben is hosting a SurpriseParty for Harry to try to get him to return to being the town doctor. This latter is overheard by Sahar, causing her to realizes that Ethan Stone, the town doctor who replaced Harry, was kidnapped by the MenInBlack.

* Bob Newhart had a lot of routines using this, perhaps the most memorable of which is his ''[[Film/KingKong1933 King Kong]]'' routine, in which a security guard at the Empire State Building's first night on the job is interrupted by the ape's ascent. Listen to it [[http://youtu.be/h7Oh1SI9lbs here]]. Interestingly, when he was first starting out, Newhart was actually part of a more standard double act with a coworker at the advertising agency where he worked who would play the person on the other side of call, with the routine being a more traditional back-and-forth. When this person eventually decided to not to pursue comedy, instead of finding a replacement Newhart simply decided to keep his side of the conversations and let the audience imagine the other side.

* Shelly Berman was good at this sort of thing. His most famous bit was ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nagzOGCc8N4 The Morning After The Night Before]]'', where he calls his friend after a wild party, and hears about his unremembered drunken behavior.

--> I have no idea where he could've gotten a hold of [[EuropeansAreKinky German pornography]].

[[folder:Films]]