The Tale of the Phone Police

Season 3, Episode 4, Aired

Episode Summary

EDIT
8.0
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Great
53 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate Now!
Two boys learn that the telephone is a serious matter and should not be used as a toy when a group of vigilantes called the Phone Police bust anyone who does not follow the rules of the phone. And the Phone Police can do more than just put you in jail. They can erase your entire existence.moreless
WRITE A REVIEW

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Fan Episode Reviews (4)

See All

  • Very creepy when something like this incident would cause you to lose your existence.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By nejihyuga21, Nov 29, 2008
    this was freaky indeed. I watched it today and it was very unsafe. This episode shows you should never mess with the phone or you might end up like Billy Baxter himself for life trying to escape. I don't understand why the phone company would do such a thing. maybe the receptionist was evil. chris was pretty clever and tried to do the right thing. When Jake is caught, Annie doesn't know Chris but when Jake is here, she does. In the end, Tucker really scared Frank and I wonder why. Maybe it's payback time. It is such a good episode indeed.moreless

  • Two boys think making prank calls is all fun and games, until they learn about the Phone Police and one of their victims, Billy Baxter. One of the boys decides to attempt contacting Billy and something unexpected happens...he gets through...moreless

    9.4
    "Superb"
    By chasmatic, May 28, 2006
    This episode, while its premises may seem petty, says very much about freedom of communication and is absolutely littered with references / similarities to George Orwell's classic novel "1984". From one of the character's "vaporization" to even the last named "O'Brien", it is very clear that the writer was greatly inspired by Orwell. Anyway, the story is told by Tucker (his first original tale thus far) over the phone which was an excellent idea for telling a story like this.moreless

  • To call "Phone Police" anything other than revolutionary would be a gross, even tragic, misinterpretation. David Preston exhibits genius beyond measure in this trenchant take on free communication that we, up until this point, had only seen glimpses of imoreless

    9.8
    "Superb"
    By Shakespeare2, Dec 24, 2005
    To call "Phone Police" anything other than revolutionary would be a gross, even tragic, misinterpretation. David Preston exhibits genius beyond measure in this trenchant take on free communication that we, up until this point, had only seen glimpses of in works such as "The Bookish Babysitter" and "The Tale of C7."

    "Phone Police" tells the story of a rambunctious adolescent who draws innocent satisfaction from making clever, if slightly disorderly, phone calls to strangers. When the protaganist's sister discovers his propensity for making these crank phone calls, she launches a cunning trap that consequently invokes the Phone Police, an organization that imprisons disruptive callers, upon the protaganist. The story then follows another youth's valiant but hopelessly unsuccessful plan to rescue the imprisoned protaganist.

    Preston deftly interweaves weighty symbolism into this gripping storyline. \"Phone Police\" intelligently touches upon several important modern themes: freedom of communication, the relevance of the nuclear family, and the unchecked proliferation of independent security organizations. Preston depicts the hopelessness of these affairs, as represented in modern society, through the bleak, surprise ending.moreless

  • Good Episode.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By gdgggg, Sep 05, 2005
    I just finished watching this episode and I think that it is a really good episode.

    It first starts out as two boys named who like to make prank phone calls. Then one of the boys sister catches them and tells them about this boy named Billy Baxter who was caught by the phone police. Then the boy with the sister calls Billy Baxter's number which is in the phone book. The boy hears static and then a voice but he hangs up. He then keeps on getting phone calls during the night.

    The next day he tells his friend what happened and while they are walking a phone booth rings and it's the same person from the night before asking him for help. The two boys then decide to go to the phone company and when they go into the basement an old man tells one of the boys to come with him. While the other boy is tying his shoes all of a sudden the phone police come out and grab the boy and put him inside a cell. The other boy decides to go back to his friends house and tell his older sister what happened but when he goes to tell his friends sister she acts like she does't remeber who he is. When the boy asks her about the legend and he finds out that his friends existence is erased. Then the boy goes back to the phone company and rescues his friend but the phone police are still chasing them. Then they both run to his sister's house and the sister remebers them. Then the door bell rings and there is a pizza delivery man at the door but he is at the wrong house. Then the two boys go back to the boys bedroom and as the camera moves outside we see the pizza delivery man remove the pizza logo and underneath there is a phone police logo. I know this isn't really good but thats the best I can do.
    moreless
WRITE A REVIEW
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

FILTER BY TYPE

Are You Afraid of the Dark? Forums


Add a Topic See All
Last Activity
Replies

Watch Are You Afraid of the Dark? Full Episodes

See All

Related Shows

Season 3 Episodes

See All
Ep 13
The Tale of the Dangerous ...
Ep 12
The Tale of the Crimson Clown
Ep 11
The Tale of the Quicksilver
Ep 10
The Tale of the Dream Girl
Ep 9
The Tale of the Curious Ca...
Ep 8
The Tale of the Guardian's...
Ep 7
The Tale of the Carved Stone
Ep 6
The Tale of the Bookish Ba...
Ep 5
The Tale of the Doll Maker
Ep 4
The Tale of the Phone Police
Ep 3
The Tale of Watcher's Woods
Ep 2
The Tale of Apartment 214
Ep 1
The Tale of the Midnight Ride

Contributors

Become a contributor
More
Less

TV Listings

Full Listings
TV.com Properties | Shows | Videos | News | Listings | Forums | People | Photos | TV.com Blog

CBS Entertainment | About TV.com | About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Ad Choice | Terms of Use