Advice Column Letter Cribs From Seinfeld Episode

WTXF - The popular syndicated advice column "Ask Amy" was hoaxed this week by a letter writer who based their letter on the plot of a popular 1992 episode of Seinfeld.

In the letter, titled "feeling foolish," the writer describes having met a "popular local sports figure" at their gym and later befriending him. Then, the sports figure begins dating the letter-writer's ex-girlfriend, leading to awkwardness, culminating in the sports figure asking the letter writer to help him move furniture.

Seinfeld fans will recognize the letter as resembling the plot of "The Boyfriend," the Seinfeld episode that guest-starred New York Mets great Keith Hernandez.

The author of the column, Amy Dickinson, admitted that she had been "punked by Seinfeld" in a blog post.

"Every once in awhile, I get punked by a villainous, fun-loving reader. I have some affection for these episodes because I often think that if I didn't actually have a job, punking advice columnists is exactly what I would do with my time. But alas I do have a job and so I am left with the task of sharing my humiliation, as well as trying to enjoy readers' reactions," Dickinson wrote.

This sort of prank has happened before. A letter writer to Slate's "Dear Prudence" column once passed off the plot of the video of the 1980s song "Voices Carry" as a letter, while a Winnipeg Free Press column once fell for a joker who passed off a Breaking Bad plot as an advice-seeking letter. And Ask Amy itself was once pranked by someone reciting the plot of the cult 2003 movie The Room