In 1985, Abel organized a TV hoax on The Phil Donahue Show. On that day's program, seven members of the audience appeared to faint during the broadcast, which was seen live on TV. Donahue, the show's host, thought the fainting was caused by both stress from being on television and an overheated studio on a morning that was cold and snowy outside. He cleared the studio of audience members and then resumed the show. It turned out the fainting "spell" was invented by Abel as a protest against bad-quality television.