Cell phone Pilot Ep

[Paul]

Guys I don't know if this has been asked before.The scene where Crockett stops to ring Caroline on there way to front Calderone. Why does he use a the public phone when he has a cell phone in his car. Maybe in the early days of cell phones Crockett's phone only had a limited range. Could he only ring the various Police Agencies, OCB, DEA etc.

[MV86]

I had that same exact thought the other day

[timm525]

I don't recall if he had a cell phone in the Daytona. Back in 84' they were the big almost "back pack" kind that were slightly smaller that the Vietnam era ones the troops had. I'm thinking if he had one in the Dayton, it would have been a portable one like the kind Danny Glover used in Lethal Weapon when he was on the bridge calling the shrink about Riggs.I know he had one in the Testarossa, but even that was a little big compared to today's phones.I'll have to go back and look for a phone in the Daytona in the first few eps.

[Dadrian]

i think he just had a CB in the daytona. remember tubbs' bolo in "one eyed jack"? maybe he had a phone in there later.ferrariman?

[Paul]

Cell phone in Pilot Ep

I don't recall if he had a cell phone in the Daytona. Back in 84' they were the big almost "back pack" kind that were slightly smaller that the Vietnam era ones the troops had. I'm thinking if he had one in the Dayton' date=' it would have been a portable one like the kind Danny Glover used in Lethal Weapon when he was on the bridge calling the shrink about Riggs.I know he had one in the Testarossa, but even that was a little big compared to today's phones.I'll have to go back and look for a phone in the Daytona in the first few eps.[/quote']Yeah I'm pretty certain there was one in the Daytona. I remember thinking at the time that in 83/84 that must have been considered pretty hi tech in it's day .

[Dadrian]

i'm very sure there was a phone in the daytona at least by season two. remember the end of "one way ticket" at chalks airlines. crockett gets a call on it when they find the gun in the safe deposit box. it's right before "everybody go, everybody go" on the walkie talkie.i'm just not sure when the first actual ep that we see a phone in the daytona.anybody know? this would have made a good trivia!

[timm525]

Okey Dukey,Just watched "Heart of Darkness", second ep. season 1, and Sonny did answer a his "car" phone. Didn't see the whole thing, only the handset part Sonny was talking into.I guess that answers that unless someone can point out a car phone in the Daytona in the Pilot.

[Paul]

Hmm reckon it will be a good excuse to watch the pilot again:D:D

[Billy Jack]

That's what I was thinking too, Timm... I knew he had the phone in "Hearts..." also, I think, in the pilot, Tubbs called in backup to pick up Calderone on Crockett's phone as they went after him...

[Viceman Cometh]

Probably just to give us that iconic shot of Bernay's!

[Paul]

Probably just to give us that iconic shot of Bernay's!

Yep one of the standout scenes in the 1st ep

[Stinger390X]

There DEFINITELY was indeed a phone in the Daytona. It as an old analog type Motorola stand type phone. I have one of those antiques in my Lincoln Mark VIII still but it doesn't work anymore. (good conversation piece though...) Bad joke I know.....Someone mentioned range...Well these old phones were five Watts!!! That was increadible power back in those days but cell towers were sparce and thus the high powered phones. Since the early 90's all cellphones in the world are now only 500 MilliWatts (one half of a single watt) because of the scare of cancer being caused by radiation to the brain from a cellphone. They cut the power back!I think Sonny was smart enough that he wanted to use a "landline" as not to be listened to by scanner freaks of the day. Back in the 1980's Scanner enthusiasts were listening to all kinds of things such as police and fire and ambulance etc on their radio scanners. Cell phones of that era were no different as they were on 800 mHz analogue, which means that they could be eavesdropped on easily. A landline (or hardline) would be untracable and anyone with any savey would know to use this method. It plays very well into the persona of the Crockett charachter as he was being "careful"It's a no brainer.

[Dadrian]

That's what I was thinking too' date=' Timm... I knew he had the phone in "Hearts..." also, I think, in the pilot, Tubbs called in backup to pick up Calderone on Crockett's phone as they went after him...[/quote']oh yeah. i think i remember tubbs yelling out on the phone something like "to hell with backup", or something."

[Ferrariman]

I'd say the director obviously used the pay phone for dramatic effect. To make the scene believable, maybe Sonny just wanted a little privacy. Don't forget, at this point he knew Rico for what, a few days at best?

[Dadrian]

privacy. good point. that's the best explanation, to me.

[Richie Rich]

Well , I know we did not see any hand held cell phones, as they didn't come out until the early '90's.The kind permanently installed in cars were around then, but I tend to believe that the Crockett character really has something more like a 2-way radio installed in his car, not a true "cell phone" like we know it today.

[Viceman Cometh]

No, it definitely was a phone. But he did bypass it for the pay phone in the pilot (if they'd even thought to put it in the car in the pilot!).

[Ferrariman]

You can clearly see the phone at the beginning of "Nobody Lives Forever" when he's trying to talk to Brenda. Tubbs wouldn't leave the guy alone! Which backs up my privacy theory.

[Noogy]

I remember seeing the daytona with a flat tire and C&T trying tu use the car phone but the cord had been cut. But i can't remember the name of the ep, you see i've been away from MV for a while now and my expertise isn't what it used to be The scene takes place outside a restaurant by the water.

[timm525]

I believe that was "Sons and Lovers" where they shot out the tire so Sonny couldn't chase after them when they snatched Tubbs?

[Dadrian]

correct! this thread has totally turned into "car phone trivia". awesome!clue:who purchases a car phone from the galleria?character and ep.and for 50 pts, what was the make and model of the car?

[Noogy]

I think it is too, but i wasn't sure and didn't want to say something wrong.

[Stinger390X]

Well ' date=' I know we did not see any hand held cell phones, as they didn't come out until the early '90's.The kind permanently installed in cars were around then, but I tend to believe that the Crockett character really has something more like a 2-way radio installed in his car, not a true "cell phone" like we know it today.[/quote']Hey what about the Batmobile...1966!!! (just kidding)Not true... There were definitely cell phones in the 80's. The most popular ones were the Motorola "Bricks" as they were comically referred to. They were a huge brown block with a little black antenna on them. They had a DTMF pad (the number keys) on the one side of the face, the other side was the battery. You held it up to your ear and it actually looked like a brick!the other was the "Bag Phone" It was a bag with a battery and the phone cell unit. The handheld came off and was attached with a cord to the bag. Many maucho guys thought it was too much like a purse, so they opted for the brick because it wasn't so infeminate! I never understood that as you needed to be a body builder to carry the damn thing, as it weighed a ton!Only very rich and influential people owned any kind of cellphone. The air time was ridiculous (something between 2 and 3 dollars a minute!) in the 80's and only large metropolises had cell coverage as towers were practially non existant (kind of like payhone booths nowadays?????????) Only one person in a ten thousand had one. As you know those odds are much higher today?!?!?!I agree with F-man that yes you can see the cellphone in the car when Tubbs uses it. I actually have all of these phones back at my lockup storage facility. I will pull them out of storage, take pictures of them and put them on the thread here. I also have the original phone still in my Mark VIII, however there is no more analogue coverage so my phone no longer works. Everything is now digital since about last year. All the analogue sites in Canada are now defunct! I believe Verizon put them out of business even sooner about three years ago in the States?Pictures to come...stay tuned. I even think I have the EXACT phone that was in the Daytona. It was a very common model.

[Paul]

Looking forward to seeing the pics. I remember in the mid 80's my old boss had the Brick variety in the carry bag. Come to think of it he wouldn't looked out of place in Miami. He had the white slip ons, shirts with palm trees and the obligatory gold chain burried in a hairy chest a gorilla would be proud of:D:D

[jurassic narc]

Yes, there was a phone in the Daytona all the way back to the pilot. Cell phones (hard mounted type) are seen in several episodes. The one in the Daytona looked like a Motorola of the era, and the one in the Testarossa was credited to Mitsubishi.In ONE EYED JACK there appears to be a police radio in the glove compartment of the Daytona (that is where the radio was hidden in MY undercover car in those days). But in the majority of the episodes they use a hand held radio (commonly called a walkie-talkie).I have been looking for a similar model handset and hangup cup for my Daytona, but can't really make out the model from the photos I have seen.