“Simpsons” Predicting the Future

The Simpsons follows the Simpson family and their crazy adventures The series is a satirical depiction of working-class life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture and society, television, and the human condition. that first aired in April of 1987 and has since begun their 32nd season as of 2020. Aside from the comedy that the show is known for, there is something else fans have noticed the show doing aside from making families laugh and that’s predicting the future. 

At first glance it may sound outrageous for a comedy TV show to be predicting the future, yet, when you do some digging into older episodes of the show you find some borderline startling discoveries. From predicting technology upgrades, Super Bowl champions, even results of presidential elections, The Simpsons has….

What really brought attention to Simpson’s predicting the future was in episode 17 of their 11th season which aired on March 19th, 2000. Where the show predicted that Donald Trump, would one day become the president of the United States of America. This prediction was the one that started bringing attention to their accuracy on their absurd predictions. When asked what he thinks of the Simpsons’ predictions, FMHS junior Weston Dove said, “It’s something you don’t really give a second thought until you hear about it and actually read about it. Then you see all the predictions they make and then they come true, it’s almost scary in a way.”

Some other predictions that they predicted were the Ebola outbreak in 2014. 17 years prior to the outbreak, Marge suggested that a sick Bart should read a book titled, “Curious George and the Ebola virus.” Another startling prediction was that Disney would buy 20th Century Fox. As in 1998 in the episode, “When You Wish Upon a Star” Ron Howard and Brian Grazer produced a script Homer pitches. The script is being produced at 20th Century Fox, and a sign in front of the studio’s headquarters reveals that it is “a division of Walt Disney Co.”  Some very random and oddly specific predictions  came true such as when Bart caught a three-eyed fish in the river by the power plant. More than a decade later, a three-eyed fish was discovered in a reservoir in Argentina. Strangely enough, the reservoir itself was fed by water from a nuclear power plant. With nearly 20 predictions that have come true through their 32 seasons, it leaves you to wonder what may happen that hasn’t yet happened such as colonizing Mars, president Arnold Schwarzenegger, and even hologram mail. 

While many just view ‘The Simpsons’ as a comedy show for laughs, it has proven it may be one of the most consistent things that predicts the future. Or maybe even the creator of the show, Matt Groening is just a time traveler and we don’t know about it yet. But no matter what we’ll be on the lookout for the next time one of the Simpsons predictions comes true.