Why do I keep seeing 2FAN321 on TV license plates?

February 21, 2009 12:14 PM

What, if anything, does the oft-used-on-TV license plate 2FAN321 reference?

On various TV shows across the last 5 years or so, I've seen cars displaying the liscence plate 2FAN321. I first noticed it on an episode of Scrubs, and most recently on last night's episode of Psych

Googling "2FAN321" reveals several additional reports of the plate being spotted, on the TV shows Buffy, Curb Your Enthusiam, Veronica Mars and LOST, and in the films My Life as a House and Role Models.

I've come across a few attempts at explaining the plate or it's recurrent appearances, but I find most of them inscrutable. It might have something directly or indirectly to do with Ben Folds, but that's about as clear an explanation as I can come with for myself.

Assuming there is an answer beyond "It's a prop license plate with no special meaning, which gets re-used", can you explain it to me? Can you share any sightings I haven't listed?

Thanks in advance!

posted by chudmonkey to media & arts (5 comments total)

FAN is on the list of California's banned letter combinations. See also the Wikipedia entry for 2GAT123.
posted by Knappster at 12:30 PM on February 21

For what it's worth, all (assigned) California license plates for cars conform to the same pattern: 1 number, 3 letters, followed by 3 numbers. It may be likely that they struck a deal with the DMV to use that on TV so that it doesn't match anyone real in their database (something akin to the 555 phone numbers).
posted by spiderskull at 12:34 PM on February 21

Should've previewed -- Knappster seems to have it.
posted by spiderskull at 12:36 PM on February 21

Huh, I just watched that Curb episode last night and wondered what it had to do with the Yankees. ;)

"He's a big Yankee fan...and an Orthodox Jew."
posted by avocet at 12:52 PM on February 21

For My Life as a house it seems related to the song "barrel of a gun" by a band named guster.
From their FAQ:

"Life As A House" is a 2001 movie starring Kevin Kline, who plays a man recently diagnosed with cancer. He decides to take his last summer to build a house and bond with his troubled son, played by Hayden Christensen. Writer Mark Andrus is a fan of the band, [...] in the subtlest nod of all, the license plate of one of the cars in the movie is "FAN 321" - a double reference to the fan2fan mailing list and the "4,3,2,1" countdown during "Barrel Of A Gun"

posted by motdiem2 at 5:10 AM on February 22