Where did the expression "Phoning it In." Come from?

Question

Anyone know where it was originally used origins/etc.?

Answer 1

It is used as a derogatory description of an actor's performance. A performance so detached that it was as if the actor was calling from someplace else.

Answer 2

..."Phoned it in" is likely to be first - because a newspaper reporter will phone-in their report to the news desk, whereas Chicago had no urgency about their performance and 'mailed' the show as a contrast to the urgency of the telephone.
: : if a reporter mailed a story, then that would suggest it was a feature that could wait, rather then a news story to be broken.