It is quite plausible that nearly everyone who has ever owned a television set has heard of the Simpsons. The animated show first graced our screens in 1989 and is still going strong now, having released 33 seasons. With no end in sight, and a show that can adapt with relevance and characters that don’t age; The Simpsons will be around for a long, long time. Set in the fictional town of Springfield, the show follows Homer Simpson and his family as they tackle various challenges and issues in a satirical depiction of life in America. It is the longest-running American animated series and has even released a feature length film which grossed over $527 Million in theaters. The show has also received much attention for the many times it has seemingly predicted the future! There is no surprise that a show that has been around as long as The Simpsons and pumps out as many episodes might get a prediction correct every now and then, but some are just too impressive… can they really predict the future?
10 Times “The Simpsons” Predicted The Future
Donald Trump’s Presidency
This one goes all the way back to 2000, where it depicts a future world with Lisa having been elected into office. In one of her opening speeches to her cabinet in the oval office she references that “We inherited quite the budget crunch from President Trump.” Trump was elected 16 years later, and it seems to good of a prediction. Why would you assume that a millionaire business mogul would one day run for office? And also go on to actually win? Impressive or suspicious…
Super Bowl Wins
Going back to Season 3, Episode 14: “Lisa The Greek”; we saw an episode completely centered around Lisa watching football with Homer, and consequently predicting the winner each time. This episode was released 3 days before Super Bowl XXVI and Lisa correctly predicted that the Washington Redskins would be victorious. The following year, writers dubbed in the names of that year’s competing teams and were once again correct, citing that the Dallas Cowboys would win. This trend of redubbing continued for some years and was often correct. The trend concluded with a successful prediction of the San Francisco 49ers being victorious over the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX.
Disney’s Acquisition of 20th Century Fox
In Season 10, Episode 5: “When You Dish Upon a Star”, a particular still shows a 20th century fox logo with a quote “A Division of Walt Disney Co.” just below. Considering this episode was aired in 1998, it was clearly just poking fun at a celebrity-centric episode. There is no way that they could have known just 20 years later Fox would actually sell to Disney… could they?
Smart Watches
Another episode which looked into a depiction of the future; Season 6 episode 19: “Lisa’s Wedding” made many jokes about technology that they anticipated in the future. In the episode, a failed proposal from Lisa’s boyfriend prompts him to make a phone call by talking into his watch. Apple actually released this technology in 2013.
Autocorrect
In Season 6, Episode 8: “Lisa on Ice”, the show predicted autocorrect. In one particular scene Dolph writes “Beat up Martin” on his Apple Newton, which translates to “Eat up, Martha”; a wise crack at the PDA’s weak handwriting recognition. Apple workers possibly knew that this was a major problem that needed fixing, even quoting “Eat up, Martha” in reference to the show. Ultimately, The Simpsons may very well be responsible for such great autocorrect.
Cooking Grease
Homer has had many get-rick-quick schemes across the series, one of which involved siphoning grease from restaurants and other places, selling it for profit. The plan was actually such a good idea for criminals that people in New York began stealing grease from restaurants to sell.
FIFA Corruption Scandal
In Season 25, Episode 16: “You Don’t Have to Live Like a Referee”, Homer is thrust into refereeing as a result of a shortage (from mass corruption). Homer finds himself refereeing the World Cup final and is tempted by bribes, however, ultimately decides to referee fairly; which results in Germany winning the World Cup. In 2015 many FIFA workers were arrested and accused of bribery, fraud and money laundering, while Germany did win the World Cup in 2014.
