Sexting Sensation: Why Text Messaging is the Hottest Trend in TV Shows

In the concluding episode of Ted Lasso’s second season, Ted sends a straightforward text to his ex-wife: “Knock, Knock.” It’s not particularly unusual, but the striking part is that this seems to be the very first message he ever sent to his son’s mother. Until now, she’s never texted him back. The empty spaces surrounding the message indicate that the characters have a history of communication.

This issue has been a thorn in the side of television. Why does Emily in Paris receive her boyfriend’s first text saying, “Hey, how about Paris?” Or when Rebecca mistakenly texts her crush using her eccentric ex-girlfriend’s best friend’s phone—why is their conversation history nonexistent when she sees a message about a house party several episodes later? In 2021, Wired journalist Zack Jason highlighted in a series of articles that these characters have no texting history, making it “not allowed and awkward to witness.”

It seems that studios and streamers have taken note. Nowadays, television writers strive to accurately portray their characters’ texting history.

In the dark comedy currently airing, friends and neighbors often text one another. When Jon Hamm’s character Coop wishes to meet up with his lover, we see a long history filled with previous booty calls, and even sexy snapshots. When his son texts his crush, it’s evident that she has previously replied with just “K.” Meanwhile, the newly released thriller series The Stolen Girl showcases text threads bursting with emojis between spouses and colleagues. Ted Lasso’s approach was revised in Season 3; viewers can now observe Ted’s interactions with various people, including a message to his upstairs neighbor stating, “I swear to you, I’m not playing music.”

“It drives us all mad when there’s no text history. That’s something we’ve fought for years,” states Dave Henri, managing partner at Modern Motion, a California-based graphic design firm. The Magic Phone software can be installed on a set of prop devices. The app syncs with a Bluetooth keyboard that allows crews to trigger notifications, or a bubble that pops up when someone is typing, enabling actors to send past messages and display appropriate responses in real-time. Magic Phone allows productions to incorporate text message histories complete with convincing timestamps, and its realism is employed in several Apple TV+ productions, including morning shows, shrinks, and Ted Lasso.

“I believe studios and creatives are recognizing that viewers are accustomed to analyzing these devices,” Henri adds. “A lot of thought goes into this now because fans know to look for errors.”

A contemporary worker, Rodgers, collaborated on Ted’s extensive text history in Season 3. He notes that it went through 25 to 30 revisions before the visuals were perfected. “We engaged with the writers, directors, and showrunners, reflecting on what Ted had previously told his mother or what he said to his doctor three months back,” states Rogers. Several graphics were adjusted post-premiere to enhance viewer experience for those watching the show later. “If they realized that sending a message at 10:53 AM wasn’t feasible, they aimed to rectify it to ensure it was flawless.”

An astonishing amount of effort goes into crafting what appears on the screen for just a moment. “You’re simply sending text messages, and there are 13 or 14 iterations. We think about what a character’s phone displays, what the contact image should be, or whether we even need that image,” Rogers explains. A unique gag for observant viewers shows that Ted’s mother had texted him previously, attaching a photo of a router without a plug and stating that her internet was down. “We loved the three or four different photos they provided of that router. That’s how detailed we get.”

While adding Easter eggs like this can be enjoyable, past texts must not distract from the central plot. This is because the audience tends to miss the “hero text” being sent or received during crucial moments. Script editor Charlie Neal faced this dilemma with The Stolen Girl. Important texts were written into scripts by head writers, but he filled in the conversation history, subsequently approved by writers and producers. “What’s needed is to keep the focus on what’s significant,” he emphasizes. Past texts must not be “quirky, attention-catching, or lengthy” as viewers’ attention can drift away. Conversely, overly mundane messages may also distract. If silence prevails, it becomes distracting too.

Neal even drew inspiration from his own real-life text exchanges. “What do you text your colleagues about?” might be something like, “I’m heading out for coffee, would you like something?” However, he had to ensure that nothing was added that could misrepresent the story or alter the audience’s perception of characters. Continuity is paramount—if a character receives a text on one day, it must be visible in the next day’s history, occasionally amidst random messages.

In the end, Neal wrote 10-20 historical texts for each interaction, although only one or two appear on the screen. At one point in The Stolen Girl, a character scrolls through the DMs sent to a media outlet’s social media profiles, and Neal even had to “channel the voices of internet trolls” to craft these messages. He was also tasked with assigning names to the senders. All names displayed onscreen must receive approval from the legal department; for instance, if a journalist named Amelia Tait appears alongside another journalist named Amelia Tait, Neal named the troll after a fellow crew member.

Ultimately, while texting history may not make or break a show, it is certainly appreciated by the audience. “Today’s television viewers are so perceptive that they will notice if the minor text dated April 26th contradicts anything else in the script,” observes Neal. Actors enjoy interacting with these sound devices as well. “Helping an actor visualize and react to the message is truly one of the best experiences,” Henri remarks. Interestingly, Harrison Ford was reportedly a fan of the Magic Phone on a reduced set, and Kandy even notes how one actor’s typing appears like that of a skilled hacker due to the software, despite their actual method resembling “hunting and pecking with just two fingers.”

Nowadays, if a character’s text history is absent, viewers might feel confident that it was a deliberate choice. “When a typing bubble repeatedly appears and vanishes without any action, it’s a modern metaphor for unresolved communication,” Kandy points out—almost a sign that the text is meant to signify something. The team behind crafting these messages is pleased that their work is finally receiving recognition. “We often go unnoticed or are overshadowed in industry roles,” Rogers states. “But we’re continually evolving,” or to put it another way, people may not exclaim “OMG” at the moment, but if you know, you know (iykyk).