History Main / TheOperatorsMustBeCrazy

* In ''Film/AirForceOne'', President Marshall finds a satellite phone in the luggage of the plane and tries to get through to the Vice President, but the White House switchboard operator refuses to believe the caller is the President, until Marshall is found by one of the terrorists.

* Lily Tomlin's [[LaughIn Ernestine]].

* Gertrude Gearshift and Mabel Flapsaddle of ''TheJackBennyProgram'', who were too busy making wisecracks and infuriating Jack to put the call through.

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* The soldiers in Grenada who called in their situation from a civilian telephone, and had to give a credit card number before the call was relayed (after which a gunship came in to save them). This is certainly the inspiration for the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' example, and was depicted in the Creator/ClintEastwood movie ''HeartbreakRidge''.

* As seen in the page quote, ''Film/DieHard'' has a police dispatcher give John [=McClane=] a hard time when he tries to radio in a terrorist attack.
* In ''Film/SmallSoldiers,'' Alan tries to call Globotech to complain about the Commando Elites coming to life and wrecking his dad's toy store, but the operator is actively unhelpful to the point that he ultimately ''asks'' to be transferred to a machine - right before the operator ''gets his gender wrong.''

-->'''John [=McClane:=]''' Mayday, mayday! Anyone copy in channel 9? Terrorists have seized the Nakatomi building and are holding at least 30 people hostage! I repeat, unknown number of terrorists, six or more armed with automatic weapons, at Nakatomi Plaza, Century City. Somebody answer me, god damn it!\\

'''John [=McClane:=]''' ''No fuckin' shit, lady! Do I sound like I'm ordering a pizza?!?''

* In ''Series/FatherTed'', Ted calls a convent to request the services of a nun to help him and his fellow priests keep his Lenten vows. They put him on hold, with "Ave Maria" as the background music. Cut to the convent, where we see that the song's actually being sung live by the nun he'd been talking to.

-->'''Dogbert:''' There's Kavorkian disconnect. We keep you on hold with bad music until you lose patience and hang up yourself.

* One pre-gecko Geico ad featured a young man telling an Operator that his name was Bob Wehadababyitsaboy in order to save long distance rates.

* This happened to broadcaster Herbert Morrison immediately following the {{Hindenburg}} tragedy at Lakehurst, New Jersey. As he and assistant Charlie Nehlsen were about to leave, he got to a pay phone to call NBC in New York, and the NBC switchboard operator refused to put him through to the newsroom "because a terrible disaster has just happened". When he told her who he was and what he was doing, she said "What would a WLS reporter be doing in Lakehurst?" ''and hung up on him.''

'''John [=McClane:=]''' ''[[CassandraTruth No fuckin' shit, lady! Do I sound like I'm ordering a pizza?!?]]''

'''John [=McClane:=]''' ''No fuckin' shit, lady! Do I sound like I'm ordering a pizza?!?''

->'''John [=McClane=]:''' Mayday, Mayday! Anyone! Terrorists have seized the Nakatomi building and are holding 30 or more hostages!
->'''Dispatcher:''' Sir, this frequency is for emergencies only.
->'''John [=McClane=]:''' ''No fuckin' shit, lady! Do I sound like I'm ordering a pizza?''

* ''Film/DieHard'' had a police dispatcher give John [=McClane=] a hard time when he radioed in the terrorist attack.
-->'''Dispatcher:''' Sir, this frequency is for emergencies only.
-->'''John:''' ''No fuckin' shit, lady! Do I sound like I'm ordering a pizza???''

* A sketch in ''Pleasure at Her Majesty's'' has Alan Bennett attempting to dictate a telegram to an operator through the phone, only to have his conversation continually drift into 'a kind of redundant intimacy' (to use his words) as a result of her interjections and questions.

* A series of Discover credit card commercials: "[[{{Peggy}} Thank you for calling USA Prime Credit. My name is Peggy...]]"

* ''Series/Carrascolendas,'' a bilingual EdutainmentShow, had a RunningGag where an operator greeted each caller with a corny joke.

* ''AbbottAndCostello'' has a skit about a particularly bizarre and abusive operator in the episode "Who Done It."

* Shows up a few times in ''MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
** ''TheScreamingSkull'': The movie opens with a bizarre message from the studio, warning that the film could kill viewers from sheer terror, and promising to provide a free coffin for anyone who dies. Halfway through watching the film, Crow calls the studio to scam a free coffin off them by claiming that Tom Servo died of fright. The operator is so completely professional about the proceedings that Crow begins to have second thoughts, and when she starts demanding personal information so the coffin can be delivered, Crow decides to abort. But before Crow can hang up, the operator announces that the coffin has already shipped, and if they want to return it they'll have to pay shipping both ways.
** ''OverdrawnAtTheMemoryBank'': As the film's credits roll, Mike and the 'bots decide to call the movie's toll-free help line to complain about it. The operator reads a list of painfully obvious troubleshooting tips ("Are you certain you're watching ''Overdrawn at the Memory Bank''? We get a lot of calls from people who thought they were watching ''Overdrawn at the Memory Bank'' but were actually watching a different film."), then tries to tell Mike that he can't judge the film without watching it all the way to the end (even though all that's left is a minute or so of ending credits). Finally, when Mike is unable to give her the registration number from their copy of the film, the operator says that this is violation of the terms of service and she has no choice but to report them. Mike hangs up in terror at this point.

* ''Carrascolendas,'' a bilingual EdutainmentShow, had a RunningGag where an operator greeted each caller with a corny joke.

* In RealLife, if you've ever called a company of which you're not a direct customer (for instance, a doctor's office calling a patient's insurance company), don't expect a sweet, "customer is always right" attitude. The operators ''know'' they don't have to worry about losing anyone's business.

* ''DigimonAdventure''