History Main / RegularCaller

* ''QuantumLeap'' had Sam simply Leap into a new time period when he was done fixing the last one. Oh boy.

* ''BurnNotice'': Every single week early on in the series, Michael is either tricked, guilted, or goaded into undertaking a mission that has nothing to do with himself. More recently his sociopathic "handler" just hands him missions.
* {{Chuck}}: The General gives the team their missions, usually.

* The whole premise of ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' is to {{Lampshade}} this. Bob is always minding his own business when some new "call" comes completely out of nowhere and for no apparent reason. Most frequently, The Call crashes into his roof.

* in ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'', Deputy Mayor Callie Briggs has a communicator to summon the titular heroes.

The MagneticPlotDevice can overlap with the RegularCaller, however the Magnetic Plot Device is usually just an in [[TheVerse universe]] justification for the RegularCaller. The BatSignal is one specific kind of RegularCaller.

** In ''Literature/ColdDays'', we find out why that's been happening.

* In Series 5, ''Series/DoctorWho'' has started having literal calls to adventure, when the Doctor gets a phone call in the TARDIS from some other part of space and time. WinstonChurchill has done it twice (the second time getting re-routed to River Song because the Doctor didn't pick up), and so has an unnamed monarch calling about "an Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express. InSpace."
** This isn't the first time; Martha gives the Doctor her phone at the end of the Series 3 finale [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]] for precisely this reason.

* Every couple generations, ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda's'' Ganondorf tries to take over Hyrule. Coincidentally, every time he tries, there's a green-shirted elf around who is the only one able to stop him. Specifically, he's sometimes the Hero of Time, but more recently he's going as The Wind Waker, or, "The Hero Formerly Known as the Hero of Time."
** Actually, there was that one time...he managed to TakeOverTheWorld, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker but the gods flooded Hyrule]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' has Professor Farnsworth say "Good news, everyone!" to his employees.

* ''CharliesAngels''. "Good morning, Angels!"
* ''MissionImpossible''. "Good morning, Mr. Phelps."
* ''{{UFO}}''. SHADO sprang into action whenever SID (Space Intruder Detector) detected a FlyingSaucer approaching from space.

* In ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', the Call usually comes in the form of a bounty that needs hunting. Sometimes the Caller is ''[[ShowWithinAShow Big Shots]]'', but just as often they've already found out about it through other channels and ''Big Shots'' just handles the exposition (and ComicRelief).

** [[FridgeLogic Couldn't they just]] discontinue Defense Against the Dark Arts classes in to make room for a new class in... oh I don't know, say "[[NoManOfWomanBorn Black Magic Resistance]]" or something? After all, there's no curse on ''that'' position, even if the material covered is "similar".

* ''CaptainScarlet'' has the Mysterons announce their latest plot to Spectrum, prompting the episode's adventure. Sometimes [[BatmanGambit Spectrum's reaction to the warning was a key part of the Mysterons scheme.]]

In action, adventure or drama shows, the protagonists need a CallToAdventure. Every. Single. Episode. In a series with low [[SeasonFluidity seasonal fluidity]], a single call may last for an entire series, or at least a few episodes. But if FailureIsTheOnlyOption, then don't be surprised to see a Call happen once a week. Originality is hard, so expect to see writers fall back on the same Call frequently. When the same Call comes on a semi-regular basis or even every episode, this is a RegularCaller.

* ''{{Thunderbirds}}'' has Thunderbird 5 monitoring worldwide communications, to allow them to react to emergencies even though they were a secret organization with no method of direct contact.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' (1973). The title heroes were called into action by either (a) an emergency signal from the [=TroubAlert=] computer, (b) a message from Colonel Wilcox or (c) both.

* In ''StargateSG1'', the main RegularCaller is referred to as an "Unscheduled Offworld Activation". The Unscheduled Offworld Activation happens in almost every episode (except clip shows). The other main one is the Asgard beaming one of the main cast members aboard their spacecraft and requesting their assistance, usually while they are in the middle of something important.

** [[FridgeLogic Couldn't they just]] discontinue Defense Against the Dark Arts classes in to make room for a new class in... oh, say "[[NoManOfWomanBorn Black Magic Resistance]] or something? After all, there's no curse on ''that'' position.

* BatmanArkhamAsylum and BatmanArkhamCity features Oracle, Batman's Mission Control who he contacts on a frequent basis, but the real caller is Joker in Arkham City. Brutally deconstructed when it turns out that calling Batman so frequently is part of his (somewhat successful) plan, [[spoiler: because by intentionally giving away hints and playing on Batman's detective mind, he actually succeeds at "[hiding] something from the World's Greatest Detective" by making the truth look like it was too easy to guess to be the logical answer, "dangling it in front of him, right under his big pointy nose", and so Batman failed to realize in time that Joker had a REALLY hammy decoy. The result is that Talia was grievously, maybe even Lazarus-can't-save-them fatally, wounded - and so was Joker.]]

* HarryPotter gets a new call every year, and it almost always has something to do with the current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. (The reason the subject gets a new teacher every year is finally explained toward the end of the series: [[spoiler:Tom Riddle put a curse on the position after he was turned down for it himself, so that whoever got the job would have something unpleasant happen to him]].)

* In ''SamAndMax'' and its various adaptions, every case is preceded by a call from the mysterious Commissioner.