3. The Rumors About Ruth
At one point, a rumor proliferated on AOL chat rooms—it goes that far back—for the show, insisting that Ruthie Camden was an illegitimate child. The theory was that she was Matthew’s daughter, but that Eric and Annie were raising her. Adding fuel to the fire, in one season’s opening episode, Ruthie cops to spreading such a rumor amongst her friends. It wasn’t true, only a juicy fan theory, possibly borrowed from another show on the air at the time, Second Noah.