Line #49 Main/HotLine


1	[[quoteright:250:[[Pinball/SpyHunter https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/43b0fed6be2fad73ea879aeaabf59318.jpg]]]]
2
3	->'''Jim Hacker:''' Tell me general, where's the hotline?\
4	'''General:''' Which one?\
5	'''Jim Hacker:''' The one to Russia.\
6	'''Bernard Wooley:''' The Red Hotline, sir.
7	-->-- ''Series/YesMinister''
8
9	If there's a crisis between the USSR and the US in fiction, expect the President to phone up the Soviet leader on his direct line, usually a red dial-telephone with no dial.
10
11	[[RealityIsUnrealistic Except it's not like that in real life]], and never was. Beginning operation in 1963, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow-Washington_hotline Moscow-Washington Hotline,]] colloquially known as the "Red Phone", is designed to relay text – originally via Teletype, then fax machine, nowadays a secure fiber-optic line through which emails are exchanged – because of the possibility that speech could be misinterpreted (a voice link was tested in the 70's but dropped); each side writes in their own language, which is then translated and both versions are given to whichever leader. Also, the Hotline connects the Pentagon to what was then the Communist Party leadership across the street from the Kremlin; it's not a direct link between the White House and Kremlin itself. During the height of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, the line was tested hourly, often using poetry. The Hotline is still in use today, but it still doesn't involve the use of a phone.
12
13	Nowadays, after the Cold War, the Hot Line trope is more likely to be used between the UltimateAuthorityMayor or other ReasonableAuthorityFigure and a local {{superhero}}. Expect a catchphrase, often falling under "To the Batnoun!" The closest thing to this in real life is fire houses and fire brigades using red phones and the like to receive emergency calls from emergency dispatch centers.
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15	See also BatSignal, for another means of summoning a superhero. If a hotline is not used they may be using a DiplomaticBackChannel instead.
16	----
17	!!Examples:
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19	[[foldercontrol]]
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21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* In ''Manga/TheSilentService'', Bennett uses one to contact the Soviet president concerning a temporary suspension of SSBN patrols in the Arctic.
23	[[/folder]]
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25	[[folder:Comic Books]]
26	* ''ComicBook/BillyAndBuddy'': In one gag, Boule paints the family phone red. His father tries to use it, only to hear two people holding up the line asking about the weather in Moscow and Washington. He yells at them, then hears a knock on the door... and sees a CIA and KGB agent waiting to ask him some questions.
27	* ''ComicBook/CaptainFlash'': The FBI regularly requests the help of Captain Flash via public radio broadcast.
28	* ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'s company built one once. It looked like an ordinary telephone. Dogbert used it to prank call Gorbachev.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Fanfics]]
32	* Averted in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic {{FanFic/MANE}}. Princess Celestia proposed the installation of a hotline between her palace and the USR Chancellery in Stalliongrad, but the Chancellor would not have it installed because he refused to recognize that Celestia had any claim to be the ruler of Equestria. Comes back to bite them both during the invasion of Saddle Arabia when [[spoiler:the USR mistake an ammunition dump exploding for a tactical nuclear strike, and begin to retaliate in kind.]] Celestia's attempts to communicate with the Chancellor have to be routed through their embassy instead, by which time it is too late.
33	[[/folder]]
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35	[[folder:Film]]
36	* Averted in ''Film/ThirteenDays''. The Hotline did not exist at the time – in fact, it was created ''because'' of the Cuban Missile Crisis – with messages going by coded telegram. As depicted in the film, this resulted in the US spending 12 hours decrypting and translating Khrushchev's offer (a rambling 3000-word message) to remove the missiles in return for the US not invading Cuba. While the Americans were working on interpreting that message, a second message arrived, this one from the Politburo and much more aggressive, demanding the US remove missiles from Turkey in exchange for the USSR doing the same in Cuba. [=ExComm=] thought about it, and publicly accepted the first offer (while discreetly accepting the second later).
37	* ''Film/TheAvengers1998'': Mother is the head of The Ministry, a top secret British intelligence agency. He has a red phone on his office that connects directly to the British Prime Minister.
38	* In ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', Hadley answers a red phone and is told that [[PlotTwist the sacrifice didn't go exactly as planned]]. [[spoiler:Their failure results in the destruction of all life as we know it.]]
39	* ''Film/DrStrangelove'': Not actually the Moscow-Washington line, but rather an ordinary phone. Which is even worse. Considering the nature of the [[CasualDangerDialogue ensuing]] [[SeinfeldianConversation conversation]], as well as the [[BlackComedy entire film itself]], that is very, ''very'' likely intentional.
40	* ''Film/FailSafe'' (1964, the same year as ''Dr. Strangelove'') probably is the primary inspiration for the common (mis)perception of the White-House-to-The-Kremlin hotline being distinctive telephones for direct talks between the two leaderships. This film features two: the expected phone line between the President and the Soviet Premier, and the [=Red-1/Ultimate-1=] touch phone in SAC HQ that provides a connection to Soviet air defense HQ. Towards the end of the movie they also establish a phone line to the US ambassador in Moscow [[spoiler:and hear the unearthly screech as his phone melts from the nuclear explosion.]]
41	* In ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'', Ray keeps the original Ghostbuster's hotline active and even has it ring into a red phone at his store.
42	* Expect to see at least one red phone per 1970s ''Film/JamesBond'' movie. Though they're usually in government offices, they're usually not ''the'' hot line.
43	** In ''Thunderball'', a government head specifically mentions the President and Prime Minister talking over the Hot Line, which, as the Trope Description mentions, was not a voice line at the time (1965) - it's also used between ''friendly'' countries, rather than Moscow.
44	* ''Film/OurManFlint'': Lloyd Cramden, head of the agency Z.O.W.I.E. (Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage), has a red phone that he uses to communicate with the President of the United States. In one scene Cramden gets off an airliner after [[RefusedTheCall failing to recruit Flint]] to find a carphone version waiting for him on the tarmac. After listening on the red phone for a few moments, he has to get right back on the plane for another go at recruiting Flint.
45	* In the MadeForTVMovie ''The Trial of Series/{{The Incredible Hulk\|1977}}'', Daredevil's FriendOnTheForce police captain has a direct line to call Daredevil.
46	* ''[[Film/DrGoldfootAndTheBikiniMachine Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs]]'' (1966). The InvisiblePresident is only an [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson LBJ]]-sounding voice on the hotline to Colonel Benson, always [[IncomingHam preempted by the strains]] of "Hail to the Chief".
47	* ''Film/DarkPhoenix'': A sign of how accepted mutants have become is that Professor Xavier has a direct line to the US President for when the X-Men are needed. However when the political tide turns against mutants after Jean Grey goes on the rampage, Xavier tries to call the President only to have a White House official inform him that the line is being cut off.
48	[[/folder]]
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50	[[folder:Literature]]
51	* The Creator/TomClancy novel ''Literature/TheSumOfAllFears'' (and TheFilmOfTheBook) shows a more realistic text-based Hot Line in action. It also shows how the operators tested the Hot Line back in the day: with poetry.
52	* ''Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator'' parodies this: the US President has a red phone for calling the USSR on his desk... and a ''porcelain'' phone for calling China right next to it.
53	* ''The Survivalist'' series by Jerry Ahern has a phone line as the Hotline, and a Russian and American operator regularly exchange chit-chat over the line to make sure it's in constant working order. As World War 3 grows imminent, the Russian makes a LoveConfession to the female American operator whom [[LoveBeforeFirstSight he's fallen for without ever having seen her]].
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56	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
57	* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. In Season One, the Hood provides Detective Quentin Lance with a mobile phone (programmed with a voice changer and encryption to prevent tracing) that can be used to call him. Knowing his daughter Laurel is having secret meetings with the Hood, Quentin hands over the phone to her with a hidden bug and TrackingDevice so he can arrest the Hood next time Laurel makes contact. Unfortunately his failed attempt to do so tips off a crime boss that there's a connection between Laurel and the Hood, and they [[IHaveYourWife kidnap her to lure him out]] so Quentin has to use the phone for real to get the Hood's help to rescue her. After that the BatPhone is played straight because Quentin then forms a reluctant alliance with the Hood. Though there's the occasional problem when Quentin or Laurel calls the Hood when Oliver Queen is standing right next to them...
58	* The live-action ''Series/Batman1966'' show had a hotline connecting Commissioner Gordon's office to Bruce Wayne's study (of course, Gordon didn't know where Batman's end of the line was located). The phone is also equipped with Diversionary Bat-phone Lines, which prevent tracing the calls back to [[InsistentTerminology Stately Wayne Manor]].
59	* ''Series/Batwoman2019''
60	** Played for laughs when the phone on Kate Kane's desk rings and her stepsister Mary expresses disbelief that she actually uses a landline phone. In this case, it's a direct line to Kate as CEO of Gotham Pride Real Estate, but serves the same function of calling Batwoman into action because the caller has been told by a SecretKeeper to call Kate for help.
61	** Averted in the Season One finale. Kate has Mary deliver a mobile phone to Commander Jacob Kane of Crow Security that he can use to contact Batwoman, but [[LikesClarkKentHatesSuperman her father responds by smashing it on the spot]], forcing Batwoman to make contact directly.
62	** In that same episode it's revealed that Crow Security has put out an app that any Gotham citizen--even if they're not a Crow client--can use to report sighting a wanted criminal. This is likely a response to the oft-made suggestion that Batwoman is protecting all Gotham citizens while they're only protecting their wealthy clients.
63	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
64	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E5WorldWarThree "World War Three"]]: The Slitheen are thrilled to find the stereotypical bright red phone on the Prime Minister's desk.
65	** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E1TheImpossibleAstronaut "The Impossible Astronaut"]], River comments that the functions within the souped-up spacesuit have a communication suite that links up directly to the highest authority it can find, giving the little girl [[spoiler:(River as a child)]] a hotline to the White House.
66	** In [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]] we're shown the Space-Time Telegraph, a gift from the Doctor to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and left for his daughter, Kate, which gives a direct hotline in times of crisis to the TARDIS, or from the TARDIS to the Black Archives. (In the classic series it was mentioned but not seen at the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen "Revenge of the Cybermen"]] and beginning of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E1TerrorOfTheZygons "Terror of the Zygons"]].)
67	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E8TheLieOfTheLand "The Lie of the Land"]]: The bright red phone turns up again on the desk of the Monks' most loyal servant, the BrainwashedAndCrazy [[spoiler:Doctor]].
68	* ''Series/GetSmart''. CONTROL have a hot line to the President on the Chief's desk. As per the ShoePhone RunningGag it's disguised as a steer horn (a riff on UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson's Texan origins). For a conference call, you talk to the steer's head mounted on the wall. In one episode, KAOS tap into the hot line and use an LBJ-voice impersonator to fire the Chief and replace him with the incompetent Maxwell Smart.
69	* In ''Series/StargateSG1'', General Hammond has a frequently used red phone that includes a direct line to the President. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in one episode where Hammond is on the hotline with a lackey who is stonewalling him, and Hammond shouts at the flunky "Do you know what color this phone is!?" However, at one point he notes that the President is actually the ''second'' speed-dial option, since he reserves the first spot for his grandchildren.
70	* ''Series/Titans2018''. Commissioner Barbara Gordon has a red mobile phone in a palm-print locked drawer in her desk. For an added MythologyGag, the beeping sound is nearly identical to the [[Series/Batman1966 original]].
71	* ''Series/YesMinister'' poked fun at the prosaic realities of the hotline--the phone only goes to a Kremlin switchboard... and the operator doesn't speak English. And they're reluctant to test the line because the hotline ringing causes a panic at the other end, which you might want to avoid when dealing with [[UsefulNotes/FromRussiaWithNukes nuclear weapons]].
72	* ''Series/TheWestWing'' shows that there's a red phone at the ER of George Washington Hospital. When President Bartlet is shot, the Secret Service calls on that line to tell them they're coming in. The nurse on duty dismisses it as a drill until the unmarked vehicles screech to a stop in the ambulance bay.
73	--> '''Nurse:''' Trauma one! Trauma one blue! Blue! Trauma one blue!
74	** An earlier episode subverts this. Bartlet's priest visits him in the Oval Office and asks where the red phone is. Bartlet informs him they don't have one and if he wanted to talk to the Kremlin he'd just ask his secretary to arrange a phone call.
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77	[[folder:Pinball]]
78	* ''Pinball/SpyHunter'' features an unseen caller using a red phone to call Agent GK.
79	[[/folder]]
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81	[[folder:Video Games]]
82	* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'', President Dugan has five of them. He only uses the one wired to the Kremlin when he receives word of the invading Soviet forces. Dugan and Soviet Premier Romanov's conversation turns hostile quickly and Dugan threatens to nuke the invasion force. Romanov dismisses the threat, having ensured that the nukes will be swiftly deactivated.
83	** And, foreshadowing [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3 the next game]], one of the other phones is labeled "Tokyo".
84	* ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'' has a supernatural twist on this with its "Hotline", [[SupernaturalPhone an innocuous-looking red phone that acts as the interdimensional communication line]] between the director of Federal Bureau of Control ([[PlayerCharacter i.e. you]]) and [[MysteriousBacker The Board]]. Incidentally, [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield if anyone who is not the director attempts to pick it up]], the hotline subjects them to [[MindRape "permanent psychic damage"]].
85	* ''VideoGame/Portal1''. Before entering [=GlaDOS=]'s chamber, you see a red phone. In the commentary, the devs explain that it was a hotline for scientists to use in case of [[AIIsACrapshoot an emergency with the AI]]. They point out that the connection cord is cut, hinting at just how effective it was.
86	* Lyndon Johnson and Nikita Kruschev are shown conversing using the hotline in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', discussing the aftermath of the Virtuous Mission.
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89	[[folder:Web Comics]]
90	* In ''Webcomic/{{Blindsprings}}'' Asher Thorne, the Prime Minister of Kirkhall, is shown [[http://www.blindsprings.com/comic/blindsprings-page-two-hundred-and-thirty-nine to have one]] that he uses to call up Master Lumen, the controller of the [[WasOnceAMan Gravers]].
91	* ''Webcomic/TwistedTropes'': Gordon tries to call Franchise/{{Batman}} regarding Penguin's rampage, but accidentally calls UsefulNotes/BarackObama instead because both phones are side by side. [[ActionPolitician Obama kicks Penguin]] in Batman's stead while shouting a [[Franchise/SailorMoon familiar line]].
92	--> '''Obama:''' By the power of the Executive Branch, I compel you, villain!
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95	[[folder:Web Original]]
96	* In ''Podcast/TheJohnDredgeNothingToDoWithAnythingShow'', the ''Human League of Justice'' can be reached via the Leagueophone, while in the ''Gasman & Robert'' sketch, Gas Commissioner Gordon uses the Gasphone for calling Gasman.
97	* Played with in ''Literature/{{Unsong}}''. Shortly after [[TheMagicComesBack the laws of physics start breaking down]], Richard Nixon gets a call on the red telephone. [[SupernaturalPhone Not the actual hotline to the Kremlin, the plastic prop he keeps on his desk.]]
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100	[[folder:Western Animation]]
101	* ''WesternAnimation/KennyAndTheChimp'': [[WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor Professor XXXL]] informs Kenny of The Horrible Disease Help-Me Hotline in his office to be used should he get infected with a disease, heeding instructions on how to cure it.
102	* The Mayor of Townsville has a hotline to ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'' that goes to phones in both their bedroom and their classroom at the school they attend.
103	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Batfink}}'' has a video communication device that is directly linked to the chief of police.
104	* Two Creator/HannaBarbera superheroes with video links to higher-ups: ''WesternAnimation/{{Birdman\|1967}}'' (to Falcon 7) and ''WesternAnimation/DynomuttDogWonder'' and Blue Falcon (to Focus One).
105	* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' has a video link to his superior Colonel K. Somehow, villain Baron Greenback is able to tap into it as well.
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Context Main / HotLine