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Jenny's Number

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Sam: We're reporting you! What's your serial number?
Maimtron: 867-5309.
Max: I can't take much more of this, Sam.

The phone number 867-5309 appears in the chorus of the 1981 Telephone Song "867-5309/Jenny" by the band Tommy Tutone. The song is about a guy who finds the phone number of a girl named Jenny on some Bathroom Stall Graffiti. The song quickly became a hit, and Jenny's number got stuck in pretty much everybody's head. People started dialing this number and asking for Jenny, and many of those unfortunate enough to have this number had it disconnected. Nowadays, this phone number is a popular bargaining item for businesses looking for a memorable number.

Since the fallout of heavily popularizing 867-5309 has already happened, the number is often included in works as a stock phone number and Shout-Out to the original song. Often the number itself is just an Easter Egg for those who closely examine a seemingly random 7-digit number.

Compare to 555, another stock phone number.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 
    Advertising 
  • Cingular promoted how people who switch to their service could keep their number using this trope, airing commercials in which a young woman brags that she likes her current number, because it's famous. Cue young woman grooving to Tommy Tutone.

    Arts 
  • 8675309 x 1 is a print by Rosemary Feit Covey of a crouching woman in her underwear. A hand reaches toward her, apparently a reference to the stalker in the original song.

    Comic Books 

    Comic Strips 
  • In a strip of Retail, a guy asks a female cashier for her number; and she replies, "867-5309. My name is Jenny."

    Fanfiction 

    Films — Animation 
  • Kronk's New Groove: Kronk's "Head Delivery Boy" card has a delivery service number written on it: #8675309.
  • Operation: Z.E.R.O.: Numbuh 8675309 is Numbuh Eleventy Billion's evil apprentice, and the fictional persona of the writer Blake Lemons (who was born in 1982).

    Films — Live-Action 
  • In Annabelle Hooper and the Ghosts of Nantucket, 867-5309 is mentioned as a possible lock combination.
  • A truncated example appears in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. The jail cell has "For a good time, call 867" written on the wall.
  • This phone number is a Running Gag in Halestorm Entertainment films.
    • It is the phone number for the Autobahn Service Center in The Singles Ward.
    • In The R.M., it's Jared's number, which he includes on an engagement ring advertisement.
    • In Sons of Provo, Will and Danny's boy band audition flier has this number.
    • Jeremiah's house in Church Ball has a "For Sale" sign with this number.

    Literature 
  • The Cinderella Murder: When Gavin is telling Laurie how he and Nicole first met, including that she gave him a fake name when he asked for her phone number, Laurie is reminded of the many occasions where she scribbled down "Jenny, 867-5309" in response to overeager bar patrons trying to chat her up.
  • One of three young fangirls holding up signs in The Zombie Chasers #4: Empire State of Slime has a sign which reads, "CALL ME, OZZIE! 867-5309—JENNY."

    Live-Action TV 
  • Charmed: In "A Paige from the Past", Darryl Morris' assignment board has 8675309 as a file number.
  • Cheers: In "Coach Returns to Action", Carla, who hates Diane, writes "For a good time call Diane Chambers 867-5309" on the wall of the men's restroom.
  • Eureka: In "Try, Try Again", Allison's master password for Global Dynamics is "8 6 7 5 3 0 9".
  • Friday Night Lights: In "Wind Sprints", Jason Street's hospital room has a dry erase board with the number 867-5309.
  • Game Shakers: In "Air TnP", the code to reverse the virus is 8765309.
  • The Goldbergs: At the end of "Bevy's Big Murder Mystery Party", Adam's guidance counselor wants to befriend the other adults from the party, and Adam claims this is one of their phone numbers. However, it's recognized instantly.
  • Leverage: The pilot has a Freeze-Frame Bonus when they're breaking into Pierson's server room. It shows the screen of the skimmer Hardison used to crack the code, and the first seven numbers are 8675309.
  • NCIS: In "Judgement Day", Gibbs is given an FBI file with the number 8675309.
  • Parks and Recreation: In "Donna and Joe", Leslie finds out that she called the number 867-5309 over a hundred times (in addition to calling the politician Jennifer Barkley). Justified in that Leslie can be heard singing the Tommy Tutone song in one of Jennifer's voice messages.
  • Star Trek: Enterprise: In "Anomaly", the numbers 8675309 appear on the viewscreen as the crew tracks the Osaarian merchant ship.
  • The Transporter: In "Give the Guy a Hand", Frank finds the message "171 Liberty 8675309". He goes to a gym at 171 Liberty and tells the receptionist (named Jenny) that his membership number is 8675309.

    Music 
  • Ur-Example is from the music video for Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny", since it isn't just Jenny's phone number, but also her stalker's prisoner ID number.
  • A variant of the number appears in the music video for Britney Spears' cover of "I Love Rock 'N' Roll". She has "Ben *876-5309" written on her hand.
  • The titular friend in Cal Chuchesta's "Friend From The Apple Store" has the number 867-5309, with the samples the Tommy Tutone song, with 867-5309 being his friend's number.
  • The last track of the Local H album Pack Up The Cats is "Answering Machine", which isn't a song but a series of voice messages sent to the band. One of these messages is:
    Nick: Hey Scott, it's Nick. Um, listen, I found one of those Supero amps you were looking for. It's at this place in Atlanta called Midtown Music, and uh, the girl there ... her name is Jenny, you need to give her a call, it's 404-867-5309. Um, just give her a call, ask for Jenny, and uh, she'll hook you up. See ya.
  • The New Kids on the Block song "80s Baby" starts with an answering machine referencing this number.
  • Roger Joseph Manning Jr.'s "Operator" is about the singer asking the operator for a new girl to call. He says he got stood up by Jenny at 867-5309, meaning she never showed up at their dates.
  • The number is used Ouija Macc song "Body Drop" in the police announcement. The full number doubles as a reference to the Benjamin Franklin Plumbing commercials.
    We urge you please call Crime Stoppers hotline at (866) 867-5309 immediately if you or someone you know has any information on this sick piece of shit.
  • In Coheed and Cambria's "Jessie's Girl 2," with a slight alteration for the sake of the rhyme:
    Oh, so I changed my number
    To 867-5305
    That didn't, that didn't, that didn't stop her
    She wouldn't let me leave her house alive
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic: In the video for "Whatever You Like", dollar bills using Synchro-Vox sing "It's all about the Washingtons, that's right!" Every bill has 867-5309 in its serial number.
  • In Kristina Maria's "FML x2", 867-5309 is the number of the singer's ex, whom she texts after getting drunk.

    Podcasts 

    Radio 
  • The number is used in the "Lightning Fill In the Blank" segment of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me on February 2, 2008.
    Peter Sagal: Police arrested Fujinuma for obstructing business operations, and to give him a taste of his own medicine, they've changed his phone number to 867-5309.

    Video Games 
  • Crush Crush: One of the requirements to get Roxxy past Acquaintance level is giving her 8,675,309 bouquets of flowers.
  • Deus Ex: The only seven-digit keypad in the game has 8675309 as its passcode.
  • Duke Nukem
    • Duke Nukem 3D: The Hollywood Holocaust level has "867-5309" written above the leftmost urinal.
    • Duke Nukem Forever: A restroom wall in Duke Nukem's Titty City has "JENNY 867-5309" written above a urinal.
  • EverQuest has Jenniy's Two-Toned Cuirass which is given during a raid drop during the Shadows of Luclin expansion. It grants the wearer the stats of +8 Strength, +6 Charisma, +7 HP, +5 Intelligence, +30 Stamina, +9 Wisdom.
  • Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades features a fictional submachine gun called the "Tomacuzi" with serial number 8675309 engraved on its receiver.
  • Edmonton in MDK2 is located in sector 8675309.
  • Left 4 Dead 2: As of the Last Stand update, common infected in rural Left 4 Dead campaigns can be seen wearing a shirt for a business whose phone number is 867-5309.
  • Sam & Max: Freelance Police:
    • Maimatron tells Sam this is his manufacturing code. Max believes him before remembering that the robot's entire gimmick is Waxing Lyrical.
    • In Episode 104, the amount of money that Bosco wants for his truth serum is 867.5309 rubles.
  • The arcade versions of San Francisco Rush 2049 feature a numeric keypad for entering account passwords and entering cheat codes in mid-race. In the case of the former, entering the number loads a profile named Jenny, while for the latter, entering 8675309 followed by the pound key (to confirm input) simply results in a Game Over.
  • In Sanitarium, Max's patient number on his outfit is 8675309, though it's easy to miss in some of the cutscenes.
  • Spec Ops: The Line, of all games, features the number as a soldier's ID, but he's interrupted before he can finish it.
  • Tony Hawk's Underground 2: In the New Orleans level, the number 8675309 can be seen on a dumpster.
  • In Wasteland 2, there is a safe in the restrooms area of Angel Oracle that requires a pass code to open. Carved into one of the stalls is a clue: "For a good time, call Jenny 867-" with the rest illegible. The safe can be opened with the rest of the number, 5309.

    Webcomics 
  • The Square Root of Minus Garfield comic "867-5309/Jonny".
    Jon: (on phone) Hello, is this Jenny? / I got it on the wall, why? / Jenny, don't change your number!
    Garfield: 867-5309!
  • Meta-example: In The Rant under one page in A Miracle of Science, one of the creators briefly mentions that his old college dorm's phone number was this very number.
    "We used to get the weirdest dang phone calls..."

    Web Original 
  • The stardate in the TV Tropes entry for The Kirk is 8675309.
  • Used as AmericanX's phone number on Uncyclopedia's entry Commercial. The site also includes a guide to getting over Jenny.
  • The Wikipedia entry for the Unix command paste includes 867-5309 as a number for "Jenny Igotit" ("I got it", a reference to the Tommy Tutone song).
  • Done in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it gag in Board James when playing Dream Phone. When he dials Bad Luck Bootsy, although the number is displayed on the screen as something else, you distinctly see his fingers punch out Jenny's number on the phone if you're watching carefully.
  • One web page keeps track of who has the number in every North American area code. A few jokesters have set up a recording of the song to play when you call the number in their area code. Other jokesters have set up voicemail messages pretending to be Jenny, Jenny's dad, or Tommy Tutone. And at least two people have set up recordings of "Never Gonna Give You Up".

    Western Animation 
  • Big City Greens: In "Gridlocked", when Tilly squirts the mud off the car with the fire engine's nozzle, its license plate number is T8675309.
  • A Breadwinners short has Buhdeuce and SwaySway delivering toast to Jenny Quackles at 8675309 Webster Lane.
  • Duck Dodgers: In "Just the Two of Us", Duck Dodgers logs 86.75.309 as the stardate on the captain's log.
  • In the Family Guy episode "Road to Rhode Island", at first Stewie thinks his phone number is 867-5309.
    Stewie: Oh, wait, that's not it. Damn you, Tommy Tutone!
  • In the My Gym Partner's a Monkey episode "The Spiffanos", Adam and Jake have to deliver a lunchbox to locker #8675309.

    Real Life 
  • After the song was released, people who actually had the number 867-5309 started getting flooded with calls asking for "Jenny".
  • Businesses often try to buy this number because it's easy to remember and can drive new customers. Wikipedia has a list of businesses which have done this. Some of these businesses even use parodies of the original song as a Phone Number Jingle.
  • Jenny's Constant (867.5309019...) is an actual thing, though it's mostly used as a joke. Speaking of mathematics, the number 8,675,309 happens to be a twin prime and the hypotenuse of a primitive Pythagorean triple.
  • Elena Kagan, a judge on the U.S. Supreme Court, used this number in her opinion for a trade association case.
    Under that contract, a company may transport cargo at the Port in exchange for complying with various requirements. The two directly at issue here compel the company to (1) affix a placard on each truck with a phone number for reporting environmental or safety concerns (You've seen the type: "How am I driving? 213-867-5309") and (2) submit a plan listing off-street parking locations for each truck when not in service.
  • An Iowa weatherman joked on social media that the week's highs would be 8-6-7-5-3-0-9, writing, "Hoping that one day the extreme cold will let me plot my DREAM 7-Day forecast!!!"
  • The two 867-5309 extensions for Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts are owned (and trademarked!) by local plumbing company Gem Plumbing & Heating. Their television and radio commercials prominently feature the number, but they aren't allowed to use the Tommy Tutone song or even a soundalike (their jingle that uses the number sounds like it was intentionally written to sound as little like "Jenny" as possible). Gem even sued a national plumbing outfit for using the same number for their toll free line. That case made national news and greatly annoyed Tommy Tutone singer Tommy Heath, who called the whole thing ridiculous (courts ultimately found for Gem, since they had the trademark).
  • You can use this number with any area code at stores like Safeway or Fred Meyer's if you don't have your own store discount card. All of the "card holders" have names referring to songs, such as Lucy Diamond.

Jenny don't change your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny I've called your number
Eight six seven five three oh nine

 
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Video Example(s):

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Family Guy: 8675309

Stewie tries to call home, but the only phone number he knows off the top of his head is Jenny's.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (19 votes)

Example of:

Main / JennysNumber

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