7. A Prankster Paid Seven People To Faint While On A Talk Show
The Phil Donahue Show was a talk show that ran for twenty-nine years, from 1967 to 1996. Back in January of 1985, an episode was being filmed that centred on gay senior citizens (a slightly bizarre topic, but fair enough). Over the course of the filming, however, seven members of the audience collapsed, seemingly falling unconscious. The show's staff were understandably concerned by this, and ceased filming immediately, sending the cast and audience home. For a while it was thought that the temperature inside the studio might have been too stifling, causing certain audience members to faint. There's no doubt television sets are slightly overcrowded, and dozens of glaring lights must surely contribute to the heat. It wasn't until a few days later that the truth was revealed, when a woman named Deborah Harmon one of the people who fainted at the filming came forward and admitted she had been paid to do it by a man named Alan Abel, and that he had paid the others too. In the end, Abel claimed that the hoax was meant as a protest against the low quality of daytime talk shows. Doesn't look like your stunt changed much, Alan...