History Main / TheOperatorsMustBeCrazy

** The show loved to use jokes based on this. For instance, in one of the movies, when Tai is desperate to reach any of the other kids, but the phone lines have all been tied up by Infermon, a computer virus, he reaches a phone operator over and over who keeps telling him that the lines are busy in an increasingly frazzled tone until finally screaming at him "Did you hear me?! IT'S BUSY!!!!!"

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' had that one operator who first demanded a credit card number for a long-distance call, then asked that the guy speak very clearly, then started offering premium service packages, while on the other end of the line was ''an embattled soldier trying to call in an airstrike''. This scene was based on stories that the film's military advisor told Creator/MichaelBay about real soldiers who went through almost identical issues when trying to contact their superiors at the Pentagon while in the middle of intense firefights.

* 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 ''Film/HeartbreakRidge''.

* In the late 80s and early 90s Cliff Robertson did a series of ads for AT&T. One featured frustrated former Ma Bell customers dealing with one of the competition's Operators, whose snide "Well, you're not dealing with AT&T anymore!" became something of a meme/CatchPhrase at the time.

* In Madison, WI, a victim of burglary had to call 911 three times in order for police to be dispatched. [[PoliceAreUseless They finally arrived EIGHT HOURS after the first call]]. Also, they mistakenly dispatched cops in Verona (a suburb) when a call was made about a suicidal woman trying to buy knives in the city itself. Even worse, a UW student called, and was hung up on when the operator didn't hear anything coherent, only screaming. The operator never dispatched officers, and the student, who had been stabbed, died of her injuries before being found by police sent to perform a welfare check. The murder is still unsolved nearly ten years later.

* ''Series/NicholsAndMay'' - does a sketch about a bizarre and difficult operator. See the link [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LjmG4qtkO0 here]].

* In ''Series/GreenAcres'', switchboard operator Sarah is shown to be very inept. On several occasions, whenever Oliver tries to get a call through, there are other party members on the line due to Sarah plugging in more than one at a time, which tends to lead to FunnyPhoneMisunderstandings as the others either think that Oliver is calling them or that Oliver's recipient is talking to ''them''.

* David Spade played a very unhelpful operator in a series of Capital One commercials.
* In the late 80s and early 90s Cliff Robertson did a series of ads for AT&T. One featured frustrated former Ma Bell customers dealing with one of the competition's Operators, whose snide "Well, you're not dealing with AT&T anymore!" became something of a meme/CatchPhrase at the time.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' had that one operator who first demanded a credit card number for a long-distance call, then asked that the guy speak very clearly, then started offering premium service packages, while on the other end of the line was ''an embattled soldier trying to call in an airstrike''. This scene was based on stories that the film's military advisor told Creator/MichaelBay about real soldiers who went through almost identical issues when trying to contact their superiors at the Pentagon while in the middle of intense firefights.
* 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. This is a slightly more justified example than usual, as he's well outside his own jurisdiction and breaking into the police frequency with a civilian radio set, and the dispatcher has no idea who the hell he is and [[MistakenForPrankCall no particular reason to believe this isn't some crackpot with a ham radio and an overactive imagination.]] In addition, John's previous attempt to get emergency services to respond (pulling a fire alarm) was successfully called off by the terrorists as a false alarm, leading the dispatchers to believe the whole thing is a scam. [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure They eventually decide to send a patrol officer to check it out anyway]], at least when they pick up a sudden burst of gunfire from the terrorists.
* 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.'' The higher-ups do eventually get to hear about it after he says the magic word -"[[HilaritySues Lawsuit!]]"- but they don't take it terribly seriously until the shit ''really'' hits the fan.
* In the Creator/ChevyChase film ''Film/FunnyFarm,'' the protagonist is desperately trying to contact the sheriff's department on the phone (because there is a dead body in his back yard). He only has a normal phone, but apparently all phones in this region are pay-phones and the operator refuses to connect him unless he puts a couple of dimes into the nonexistant coin slot.

** ''So Long and Thanks For All the Fish'' has Ford Prefect attempting to call Arthur, and having to convince an incredulous operator to put him through. The reason for the difficulty is he's calling from outer space.

* Lily Tomlin's [[Series/LaughIn Ernestine]].
--> "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company."

* ''Nichols And May'' - does a sketch about a bizarre and difficult operator. See the link [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LjmG4qtkO0 here]].
* ''Series/GilligansIsland'' had one where an undersea cable washed up on the island and they tried to rig up a phone to tap into it, getting a very uncooperative operator who did things like ask them to insert ten cents without listening when told there's no place to put money in an undersea cable.
* Shows up a few times in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
** ''Film/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.
** ''Film/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.

* On ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' the Woodland Valley telephone operator is a blue-footed booby named Lois who is chronically hard-of-hearing and regularly [[ICantHearYou comically misunderstands]] what people are saying. Now how could this go wrong?

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. In [[Recap/DoctorWho2019NYSResolution "Resolution"]] the Thirteenth Doctor tries to call UNIT to warn of an alien who wants to TakeOverTheWorld, only to get an operator on the UK Security Helpline who has no idea what UNIT is (turns out UNIT has been shut down due to lack of funding).
-->'''Doctor:''' UNIT is a fundamentally vital protection for planet Earth against alien invasion!
-->'''Operator:''' ''(scoffing)'' Yes, but when did ''that'' last happen?
-->'''Doctor:''' Now! Right now!

* Hiring WebAnimation/HomestarRunner to provide tech support for his internet service is one of the 99 ways Bubs rips his customers off. Homestar sticks to his script--by which we mean, he reads randomly off various pages of his script rather than even trying to find something relevant to the situation--and even sings the hold music himself as he searches the clearly-empty office for someone to transfer the call to.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'', "Customer Service": Cecil Turtle is a customer service representative in a cable company and savors the sadistic glee this job can provide him. He disconnects Bugs' cable service on purpose, then pretends to be voice mail when he calls, tells him that he can't reconnect his cable (even though he only needs to click on a single button on his computer to do so), makes Bugs wait all day for a house call - and waits until he goes to the bathroom to leave a note on the door, and other indignities... all ForTheEvulz. Finally, Bugs declares "Of course you know, {{this means war}}!" and proceeds to give Cecil a taste of his own medicine, resulting in Bugs getting his cable back and then some, with Cecil still being fired.

* 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. This is a slightly more justified example than usual, as he's well outside his own jurisdiction and breaking into the police frequency with a civilian radio set, and the dispatcher has no idea who the hell he is and [[MistakenForPrankCall no particular reason to believe this isn't some crackpot with a ham radio and an overactive imagination.]] In addition, John's previous attempt to get emergency services to respond (pulling a fire alarm) was successfully called off by the terrorists as a false alarm, leading the dispatchers to believe the whole thing is a scam. [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure They eventually decide to send a patrol officer to check it out anyway.]]