History Main / ReachingBetweenTheLines

* ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven2'' starts with Carface calling [[SatanicArchetype Red]] on a payphone [[FluffyCloudHeaven (from heaven)]], but as he gets mad, the phone on Carface's end [[BurningWithAnger starts heating up.]]

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'', Norbert and Bing are emotional messes due to losing their respective girlfriends. When Daggett calls them in a phone booth and they realize it's Daggett calling and not their girlfriends, the two [[OcularGushers cry and their tears very quickly]] go through the receiver and flood the phone booth.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'', Norbert and Bing are emotional messes due to losing their respective girlfriends. When Daggett calls them in a phone booth and they realize it's Daggett calling and not their girlfriends, the two [[OcularGushers cry and their tears very quickly]] go through the receiver and flood up Daggett's phone booth.

* Many times on Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses have people thrown objects (or punches) at one another through their computer screens. Notable examples include [[WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown Film Brain]] being punched by [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]], or WebVideo/ObscurusLupa throwing a DVD at WebVideo/IronLiz.

* ''Manga/SakigakeOtokojuku'': In one episode Inoyama, the leader of the Rakkyou University cheer squad, tries to get even with Principal Edajima by holding some hostages from Otokojuku for ransom. When he calls Edajima, the principal reminds him who he's dealing with by shouting his CatchPhrase (''I AM THE PRINCIPAL OF OTOKOJUKU, EDAJIMA HEIHACHI!'') so loudly that Inoyama's phone ''[[AwesomenessIsVolatile explodes]]''.

* In Franchise/TheDCU, this is a famous way of traveling for ComicBook/TheAtom. He would call someone, and when the receiver is picked up, the superhero would shrink sufficient to enter the phone lines and emerge at the other end. However, one modern story had him forgetting that the call would involve satellite relay and he had a really rough trip.
* ComicBook/PlasticMan did this in his own short-lived series, sticking his tongue out of the receiver to lick the person holding it, before stepping out himself.

* In the Creator/AbbottAndCostello movie ''Who Done It?'', Mervin (Costello) keeps trying to make an important call but is repeatedly obstructed by the operator who keeps telling him, "The line is busy" (even when other people are able to place calls from the same phone). Eventually he gets so frustrated that he squirts a soda siphon down the mouthpiece and the operator gets squirted in the face.

* ''Film/JMenForever''. An informer tries to report the activities of the BigBad, [[DisconnectedByDeath only for the villain to burst in and zap the man with his raygun]]. On the other end of the line, smoke pours from the receiver. Then when a J-Man falls victim to a drowning trap, water squirts into the face of the man at the other end.

* In the short ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop's Big Boss", the boss calls an operator and asks for some service, then an arm comes out of it holding a match and lights his cigar.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' episode "Doug's Fat Cat", Doug agrees to take care of Roger's RightHandCat Stinky. When she gets sick (actually [[YourTomcatIsPregnant pregnant]]) and Doug is worried about what will happen if he tells Roger the truth, he imagines Roger grabbing him by the neck and pulling him through the phone, then strapping him to a car and preparing to flatten him with a monster truck while yelling that he trusted Doug (so this is a justifiable case that's not even ''real'' in-universe).

* Providing the page image, in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' episode "Doug's Fat Cat", Doug agrees to take care of Roger's cat Stinky. When she gets sick and Doug is worried what will happen if he tells Roger the truth, he imagines Roger grabbing him by the neck and pulling him through the phone, then strapping him to a car and preparing to flatten him with a monster truck while yelling that he trusted Doug (so this is a justifiable case that's not even ''real'' in-universe).

** In "Squidward's Sick Daze", when Squidward calls Mr. Krabs [[PlayingSick to report he is sick so he could avoid going to work]], Krabs pokes his eye through the phone to see what Squidward is really doing, determining he's not really sick at all. Krabs does it again when Squidward begs him to let him come back to work, but Krabs refuses, telling [=SpongeBob=] to "step up the cure".

Compare TelephoneTeleport (in which the character physically travels to the other end of the phone line rather than merely reaching out through it) and TelevisionPortal (in which a video link is used in a similar manner). A SmellPhone works on the same principle.

* In one ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' cartoon, Peppermint Patty wants to send flowers to Charlie Brown and asks Marcy how she should do it and Marcy says to send them by phone. Cut to [[LiteralMinded Peppermint Patty]] trying to shove flowers into the receiver of a phone and saying "she's got to be kidding".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlaminThongs'': In "Jurassic Dork", not only is Kevin's allergy triggered by wombat hair at Narelle's end of the phone, his resulting sneeze drenches Narelle through the mobile phone.

* Chris Miller wrote a short story for ''Magazine/NationalLampoon'' (titled ''[[https://archive.org/stream/NationalLampoon1974_05/1974_05#page/n41/mode/2up Cock ]][[https://archive.org/stream/NationalLampoon1974_05/1974_05#page/n57/mode/2up Tales]]'') where a female telephone collector calls a broke young man to discuss the outstanding phone bill. He tries to weasel his way out of the bill by claiming he's the bassist in her favorite band. Dirty talk ensues, and then ''a tongue comes through the earpiece and licks his ear.'' When he unscrews the earpiece, he finds a mouth -- and lets himself get fellated. The woman's voice on the other end demands sex; he removes the plate from the bottom of the phone and finds female genitalia ready for him. He plunges in -- and then [[GroinAttack a metal clamp locks onto his junk]] while the voice on the other end, now an all-business ''man'', resumes talking about the bill...

** In "Squidward's Sick Daze", when Squidward calls Mr. Krabs [[PlayingSick to report he is sick so he could avoid going to work]], Krabs pokes his eye through the phone to see what Squidward is really doing, determining he's not really sick at all.

* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'': In the ShowWithinAShow ''JustForFun/WackyDelly'', Betty Baloney answers the phone and suddenly Sal Ami pops out of the receiver to assault her, screaming "I hate baloney!"

* ''Series/Danger5''. Our heroes take control of a Nazi airplane, but the pilot has locked herself in the cabin. Ilsa picks up the intercom phone, presses her gun against it and pulls the trigger, blowing the pilot's brains out. The same gag (of sorts) is reused again in the early episodes of season 2 where Khrushchev sends spy gadgets to Ilsa over the phone system.

* In the Franchise/HomestarRunner [[HalloweenSpecial Halloween]] toon, "Jibblies 2", the Horrible Painting casts a jibblie spell on Marzipan by leaving a message on her answering machine, causing [[HypnoRay green rays]] to emanate from the speaker.