Finder-Spyder

Finder-Spyder is a fictional brand of Web search engine that appears in numerous, otherwise unaffiliated television shows, used in the same manner as the fictitious 555 telephone number in TV and film.^[1][2] Its graphic appearance varies, at times bearing a similarity to Google.^[1] It has been called "an unofficial, open source stand-in for Google and its competitors" (used as a legality-free alternative to a brand-name product),^[1] and "the most popular search engine in the TV universe."^[3] Finder-Spyder is a regular top 10 pick in "best fictional brand" lists by various online media, along with Oceanic Airlines, Morley cigarettes, Acme Corporation, and others.^[4][5][6]

Finder-Spyder offers search engines for Web, images, news, forums, and blogs, also, Phone Trace, a for-a-fee reverse phone number lookup tool.^[7]

Appearances

• Bones "The Geek in the Guck" (16 Oct 2014): Appears as SpyderFinder, "The Best Search Engine on the Web," used by teenage boys in search of porn.
• Breaking Bad "Cat's in the Bag..." (27 Jan 2008): Skyler uses FinderSpyder's Phone Trace feature to do a reverse lookup to discover the identity of the caller behind a suspicious call.
• Criminal Minds
  • "Zoe's Reprise" (18 Feb 2009)
  • "Pleasure Is My Business" (25 Feb 2009)
  • "Hopeless" (14 Oct 2009)
  • "Cradle to Grave" (21 Oct 2009)
  • "100" (25 Nov 2009)
• Crossing Jordan: "Hubris" (7 Mar 2007)
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
  • "Time of Your Death" (4 May 2006)
  • "Meet Market" (1 Feb 2007): At the beginning of the episode, Michael Keppler (Liev Schreiber) uses Finder-Spyder to look up the victim.
• Dexter
• The Finder "Eye of the Storm" (8 Mar 2012)
• nGeneral Hospital Appears as SpyderFinder
  • Used by Nikolas Cassadine to look up "Rachel and Baxter Corbin"
  • Used by Rachel Berlin to "find out what comes up when you type in, Naomi Dreyfus"
  • Used by Elizabeth Webber to find out who "Amy Dryfus" is and discovers Hayden Barnes is actually Rachel Berlin
• Heroes "Hysterical Blindness" (12 Oct 2009)
• Hidden Palms "Party Hardy" (13 Jun 2007)
• Homeland "Grace" (9 Oct 2011)
• Hung Pilot (28 Jun 2009)
• Journeyman
  • "A Love of a Lifetime" (pilot) (24 Sep 2007): Main character, newspaper reporter Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd), uses Finder-Syder on his iPhone to look up Neal Gaines (Christopher Warren).
  • "Friendly Skies" (1 Oct 2007)
  • "The Year of the Rabbit" (15 Oct 2007): Neal Gaines looks up the details of Melissa Waters' death.
  • "The Legend of Dylan McCleen" (22 Oct 2007): Neal Gaines looks up Dylan McCleen.
• Moonlight "12:04 AM" (16 Nov 2007)
• Prison Break
  • Pilot (29 Aug 2005)
  • "J-Cat" (10 Apr 2006)
  • "Unearthed" (30 Oct 2006)
  • "Dirt Nap" (21 Jan 2008): Used by Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell).
  • "Safe & Sound" (22 Sep 2008)
  • "The Legend" (10 Nov 2008)
• Touch
  • "Safety in Numbers" (29 Mar 2012)
  • "Eye to Eye" (1 Mar 2013)
  • "Clockwork" (29 Mar 2013)
• Weeds "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (20 Jul 2009)
• Without a Trace
  • "Baggage" (25 Oct 2007)
  • "Cloudy with a Chance of Gettysburg" (16 Dec 2008)
• The X-Files
  • "My Struggle" (24 Jan 2016) Scully uses FinderSpyder to attempt to access Tad O'Malley's website.
• Bosch
  • "Chapter Ten: Us and Them" (13 Feb 2015) Bosch faces the aftermath of his confrontation with Waits; an unexpected visit from Maddie leads to father-daughter bonding; Bosch's job is in jeopardy.

In popular culture

• Finder-Spyder promotional merchandise - T-shirts, hoodies, mugs - is available online from various sellers.^[8]

References

1. Jay Garmon (16 Mar 2009). "Geek Trivia: Search party of the second part". TechRepublic (CBS Interactive). Retrieved 1 Apr 2014. (WebCite page archive)
2. "The Search Engine Equivalent Of The 555 Telephone Numbers Seen In Television And Film Is?". How-To Geek. Retrieved 20 Jul 2015. (WebCite archive)
3. Seitz, Dan (11 Dec 2009). "5 Things Hollywood Reuses More Than Plots". Cracked (Demand Media). Retrieved 20 Jul 2015. (WebCite archive)
4. "Top 10 Fictional Brands from Movies and TV". WatchMojo.com. 12 Aug 2013. Retrieved 1 Apr 2014.
5. "Best ‘fake’ brands in film and TV". DigiTitles.com. 2013. Retrieved 1 Apr 2014.
6. Stacy Conradt (3 Mar 2009). "The Quick 10: 10 Fake Brands Used by the Entertainment Industry". Mental Floss. Retrieved 1 Apr 2014.
7. "Cat's in the Bag...". Breaking Bad. Season 1. 27 Jan 2008. AMC Networks. The wife of lead character, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), uses Finder SPYder's Phone Trace reverse phone number lookup tool to find out who was behind a suspicious call to her husband. Whether she used the 30-day free trial is unclear. Note the espionage-friendly capitalization of "SPY."
8. Items are available from RealSlickTees, tvteeshop.com, Amazon, and elsewhere.