Simpsons Did It.

 

A 'Dear Abby' advice column was pulled because it included a letter taken from an episode of The Simpsons.

TRUE!

In a column titled "Wife meets perfect match after husband strikes out," Abby proffered advice to a woman who signed her letter "Stuck in a Love Triangle." Mrs. "Stuck" described herself as a 34-year-old woman with three children who had been married for 10 years to Gene, her "greedy, selfish, inconsiderate and rude" husband. So inconsiderate was Gene that his birthday present to his wife was a bowling ball — one drilled to fit his own fingers, with his name embossed on it (and presented, of course, to a woman who didn't even know how to bowl).

But "Stuck" decided to spite her selfish husband by keeping the ball and learning how to bowl, leading to her meeting Franco — a man who was "kind, considerate and loving" — at the local lanes. One thing led to another, they fell in love, and Franco proposed, putting "Stuck" in a quandary: "I no longer love Gene. I want to divorce him and marry Franco. At the same time, I'm worried that Gene won't be able to move on with his life. I also think our kids would be devastated. What should I do?"

Abby's solution was for "Stuck" to admit her infidelity to her husband: "To save the marriage, he might be willing to change back to the man who bowled you over in the first place."

"Stuck"'s dilemma may sound so familiar to some readers — it was taken directly from the plot of a first-season episode of the animated TV series The Simpsons ("Life on the Fast Lane," also known as "Jacques to Be Wild," first aired 18 March 1990), synopsized by TV Guide thusly: "Homer's birthday present 'for Marge' is a bowling ball, prompting Marge to teach him a lesson by taking up the sport — and maybe also a handsome instructor."

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/humor/mediagoofs/dearabby.asp#jP6ylpjT5ZA4DkS2.99