Hot Line

"Tell me about this big thrill."

Series
In The Dark
Original Broadcast Date
1995
Cast
Davis Black
Format
Found Tape, Telephone, 28 minutes
Preceded by:	Raymond
Followed by:	In A Lonely Place
Purchase

Hot Line is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series In The Dark. It was originally broadcast in 1995.

Synopsis

'Tell me about this big thrill…' says a man, a tarot card reader, to a woman caller who longs for a relationship with a man but won't start talking to any of them. She sees them in stores, on the street; she imagines that they're fascinated with her; she imagines that a state trooper sneaks into her apartment, rearranges her stuff as a message to her. In addition to reading tarot the guy gives common-sense advice, such as that she should strike up conversations with men she likes, go out more often.

17:40: A guy calls the tarot reader, wondering if this other man loves him.

20:10: A woman calls him as a wrong number; he insists on reading her cards.

23:20: (Not on the tarot hotline) A guy remembers his father, how much he misses him (he's dead), how he could always rely on him, talk to him about anything. The father commandeered a street-sweeper in Georgia, drove it into a cemetery. He misses his friends too, dead and alive. He talks about a picture in his room looking at him, over-hearing pay phone conversations.

Legacy Synopsis

• Recordings of a telephone psychic and tarot card reader.

• A woman with seemingly delusional love interests calls: a stranger on an elevator makes her happy. Looking young because of pain and suffering. Angels. A man repeatedly calls her on the phone, never says a word. While she's in the hospital, a state trooper sneaks into her house and re-arranges objects in symbolic ways which please her. Her relationship with a stranger who repeatedly drives past her house. The psychic advises her to get out more.

• The psychic talks to someone else who asks, "does he love me?"

• An insurance company representative calls with a wrong number, and he keeps her talking for several minutes.

• A man talks about missing his father. His father commandeered a street sweeper and drove into a cemetery, stripped his apartment before dying. Waking up next to it and discovering that you are its it. People avoid the lonely.

Music

• "Insomnie Nemurenai (Instrumental)" - United Future Organization (from Insomnie Nemurenai, 1992) | YouTube [Intro]

Additional credits

The original broadcast credits state: "With Davis Black; produced by Joe Frank. It was mixed by Theo Mondle. Music editing by Bob Carlson. Special thanks to Farley Ziegler, Jennifer Ferro, Sean Levin, and Jerry Summers."

Miscellanea

Joe re-used Hot Line as the second half of Phone Therapy, the first half of which is When I'm Calling You.