See, it works!

The couple: Judy and Elysa

The backstory: Comedian-actor Judy Gold, 45, billed herself in 2007’s “Date our friends” as a mom of two young boys, “looking for someone to do their laundry.” The tone was funny and flip, says Judy, “but deep down, I wanted it to work.”

E-mails started trickling in as soon as the issue hit newsstands. “I talked to a few people, but then I’d ask for a picture and wouldn’t talk to them again,” she says. “I also got a lot of guys e-mailing me. I was like, ‘Hello?!? This is why I’m gay—you can’t even fucking read!’ ”

Therapist and TONY subscriber Elysa, 46, was coming off a 12-year relationship when she saw the article. She knew Judy’s work, but waited weeks before writing. Judy says her reply was brilliant: “She said, ‘Do I win??? A date??? A chance to do Henry and Ben’s laundry???’ She also sent a photo of her holding her cousin’s baby—you know, to get me on the parent thing. It was very strategic.”

On their first date, they met for drinks and attended a benefit for “young lezzies.” Says Judy, “I felt, like, 900 years old. There are all these baby dykes standing around, it’s supercrowded, and so they put us in the stairwell! Elysa just laughed, and I was like, ‘Okay, that’s it, I love her!’ ”They saw each other a breathless four times that first week—and then Elysa stopped calling. “I freaked out,” she admits. “Like, ‘Oh my God, my head is spinning.’ Also, you have to understand, two weeks after I started seeing Judy, I came out.”

A year later: For their one-year anniversary, which the couple celebrated February 27, Judy made Elysa an iBook featuring their first e-mail exchanges. “I don’t think any of my friends have seen me this happy ever,” says Judy. “For the first time in my life, I have everything I ever wanted. All from a stupid fucking Time Out ad!”

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The couple: Tim and Heather

The backstory: Tim, 25, appeared in “Date our friends” as a trilingual, guitar-wielding paralegal from Jersey. Heather, 22, was working as a nanny when she ran across the issue. “He looked cute and seemed really nice,” she says. “I wrote him hoping to make a new friend.”

Tim received 25 responses, but Heather’s stood out as “funny, frank and inquisitive.” The pair MySpaced before meeting up for dinner in the Village. “I definitely felt something for him,” recalls Heather. “We talked as if we’d known each other for years.” The feeling was mutual.

A year later: After four months of dating, Heather and Tim moved in together. They also traveled to Bolivia and “met and fell in love with” one another’s families. They celebrated their one-year anniversary on March 5.