Moviefone's phone service will soon be disconnected

by Bill Pearis

When I moved to New York in the ’90s, among all the obvious cool things associated with the city, I was amazed with cable access… and, uh, Moviefone. The idea you could just call this number and get showtimes (“and even tickets” the ads used to say) via a very enthusiastic announcer (Moviefone founder Russ Leatherman, who left the company last year.) fascinated me. (They were more innocent times and I was easily impressed.) At one point Moviefone was even so popular it became a plot point in a memorable episode of Seinfeld. It was a part of most NYers’ lives.

I can’t remember the last time I actually called 777-FILM (probably right before I got a cellphone), but the service has remained… but not for much longer. The New York Times reports that over the weekend, callers to the number were greeted with an announcement saying the number “will no longer be in service in the near future.” Moviefone, which is owned by AOL, will live on, however, via the web and mobile app.

Video from the Seinfeld episode below…

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