Perfect Game (bowling) - in Fiction

In Fiction

The concept of a perfect bowling game has been regularly used in fiction for either suspenseful or comedic effect. For example:

• In a fourth season episode of Married... with Children, "Peggy Turns 300," Peggy bowls a perfect game immediately after Al breaks the record at their local alley.
• In one episode of The Flintstones, an invisible Barney helps Fred bowl a "perfect game" by knocking/kicking aside all the pins whenever Fred bowls the ball.
• In one episode of Malcolm in the Middle, Hal almost bowls a perfect game, but Malcolm accidentally gets caught in the pinsetter and is dropped onto the pins on the 12th roll. Although the computer claims that Hal bowled a perfect game (since Malcolm did knock all the pins over), the game is dismissed by the gathered crowd.
• In an episode of Hill Street Blues, the roll call sergeant had bowled a 300 game. After the bowling alley burned down, the sergeant was an arson suspect because his 300 was not league sanctioned.
• In the 1998 movie The Big Lebowski, the character of Jesus Quintana (John Turturro) is seen wearing three perfect game rings.
• In The Simpsons episode "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder", Homer bowls a perfect game in a parody of The Natural. Later, the baby Maggie also apparently bowls one.
• An episode of The Andy Griffith Show titled "Howard the Bowler" features a bowling match between Mayberry and neighboring Mt. Pilot. Howard is one strike away from a perfect game, only to have the lights go out due to a power overload. He has a day to think about it before he tries for the final strike. They make bets on him bowling a perfect game, and when he returns he gets two practice frames before making his final attempt. Both are gutter balls, so Andy gets the guys to relinquish the bets. With the pressure relieved, Howard makes the final strike for a perfect game.
• In a similar 2001 episode of the series According to Jim, Jim (James Belushi) bowls the first 11 strikes of a game when the power goes out at the bowling center. It is the day before Thanksgiving, and the proprietor tells Jim he cannot get credit for a 300 game (nor a photo on the center's "wall of fame") if he leaves and returns. Jim spends the night, and his wife, Cheryl (Courtney Thorne-Smith), surprises him by bringing Thanksgiving dinner to the bowling center while he waits for the power to return. Cheryl and Jim's family light the lane by placing candles in the gutters, and Jim rolls the final strike to complete the 300 game.
• In the Family Guy episode "Blind Ambition," Mort Goldman bowls a 300 game and becomes a local hero.