The Simpsons has been on air since 1989 and over the years we have gotten some great episodes. Many of them comment on current events and where the world is heading. Over the years, the show has actually made some bold predictions that ended up coming true.
Some of these predictions come from episodes that take place in the future, when the show’s writers had to predict what the future would be like in terms of technology and politics. But other times, the predictions are weirdly coincidental and sometimes spot on! So what did the show get right? Here are 25 times The Simpsons predicted the future.
1. President Trump
The most famous prediction from the show was that Donald Trump would become president one day. This happened in the episode “Bart To The Future,” which aired in 2000. However, the story takes place in 2030. In the episode, Lisa actually becomes president, but she does have the line, “As you know, we’ve inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump.”
So what exactly led to this crazy, accurate prediction? The writer, Dan Greaney told Washington Post, “He seems like a ‘Simpsons’-esque figure — he fits right in there, in an over-the-top way.” He continued, “But now that he’s running for president, I see that in a much darker way. He seemed kind of lovable in the old days, in a blowhard way.”
2. Greece’s tanked economy
In 2013, the episode, “Politically Inept, With Homer Simpson” there is a small scene where Homer is on a news show. In the scene, the ticker reads, “Europe puts Greece on Ebay.” Of course, this didn’t exactly happen, but later on, Greece did have a fraught relationship with Europe. This conflict really started making headlines in 2015 and still continues today.
3. Ebola outbreak
In a 1997, flashback episode about how Lisa got her saxophone, Bart starts Kindergarten and is not too happy as the teacher is mean to him. He is ill and Marge comes up to his room and asks if he would like to be read a story, lifting up the book she is holding. The title of the book reads: “Curious George and the Ebola Virus,” complete with a picture of the eponymous character, the monkey (Curious George) laying ill in bed. Some conspiracy theorists have scratched away beneath their tin foil hats and seem to be under the impression that this was predicting the Ebola outbreak that hit West Africa in 2014. Some just see something darker in a slightly dark joke that is common to The Simpsons and cartoons of that ilk.
4. 9/11 Conspiracy
Now the jury is out on whether this one is true and some may wish to tip their tin foil hats in homage to the conspiracy theory sphere that is as active and kooky as ever. But in an episode where Barney disappears with Homer’s car, he later discovers the vehicle is in New York and Lisa shows the family the back of a magazine, offering coach journeys to The Big Apple for $9. The poster depicts the number next to The World Trade Center, which seems to look like 911. This seemingly innocuous design sent conspiracy lovers nuts after the terrorist attacks of September 11 and although this isn’t a prediction per se, the rumors and paranoia linked to this short glimpse of what was no doubt a hastily sketched image in the mid-90s, has littered the internet ever since.
5. Roy’s tiger attack
In the 1993 episode, “Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling,” gambling is legalized in Springfield. The town essentially becomes Las Vegas and two entertainers have an act with white tigers. One of them gets attacked by the tiger during their act.
Sadly, this episode parallels what happened to Roy of Siegfriend and Roy in 2003. The tiger lunged at Roy’s neck during the show and dragged him off stage. He was in critical condition after the attack, but survived. However, he never regained full use of his left side, according to ET. Years later, the entertainer doesn’t blame the tiger, and thinks it was actually trying to help him.
“I got a stroke and I fell down, and I see these blue eyes staring looking at me,” Roy explained, “I was like, ‘What now? What happened?’” He then continued, “He picked me up by the neck and got me to the side so he’d know I’d be safe — like a mother with a cub. He took care of me.”
6. Smartwatches
In the 1995 episode, “Lisa’s Wedding,” part of the story takes place in 2010 where Lisa is 23 years old. This episode allowed the show to make predictions about what the future would look like. We see one character talking into his watch, which is now possible thanks to smartwatches.
7. Phones with video
In “Lisa’s Wedding” we also see Lisa chatting with her mother on a rotary videophone. This version is actually pretty similar to the earlier versions of videophones, which had keypads. Now, with things like FaceTime, we are able to see and talk to each other through our cell phones.
8. That the Rolling Stones would still be touring in 2010
The Beatles weren’t the only musicians to get predictions from The Simpsons. Once again, in “Lisa’s Wedding” her dorm room has a Rolling Stones poster with “steel wheelchair tour 2010” on it.
In real life, the band toured in 2012, so it was pretty close!
9. Guitar Hero
In “How I Spent My Strummer Vacation” Homer goes to a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy camp that is hosted by the Rolling Stones. By the end of the episode, the band gives Homer a jacket that said “Guitar Hero.” This is pretty weird since the 2002 episode seems to be referring to the popular video game, which wasn’t released until 2005.
10. Autocorrect
Characters on The Simpsons were annoyed by autocorrect long before anyone else. In “Lisa On Ice” Dolph uses a Apple Newton, a personal digital assistant, to write down “Beat up Martin” only for it to be changed to “Eat up Martha.” This joke in the 1994 episode actually somewhat inspired the real autocorrect that was later available on Apple devices.
According to A.V. Club, employees at Apple would actually say “Eat up Martha” to each other as a joke before the tool was released.
11. Bengt R. Holmstrom getting the Nobel Peace Prize
In 2010’s “Elementary School Musical” Krusty wins a Nobel Peace Prize. In the episode, the characters made a betting pool over who would win the award. Bengt R. Holmstrom was predicted by Millhouse, who really did win the prize for Economics in 2016 with Oliver Hart.
12. Edward Snowden
In The Simpsons Movie, Lisa and Marge are in the NSA building where they see thousands of workers listening in on private conversations of citizens. They end up running away and setting off an alarm in the building, essentially blowing the NSA’s cover.
Of course, this didn’t exactly play out the same way as the 2007 movie, but Edward Snowden did blow the whistle on what the NSA was doing six years later.
