The Simpsons is the most acclaimed animated series in history. Throughout its more than 700 episodes, the yellow family has made generations laugh with its acid humor and social metaphors. But in Springfield, it is not all laughter: as the years go by, people have been noticing a pattern of instances that, when first aired, seemed so far-fetched but turned out to occur in reality. Discover the things The Simpsons predicted that shockingly came true.
A Pandemic of Asian Origin
How not to start with one of the most talked-about scenes throughout the past couple of years? The pandemic departed from China to the whole world in 2019 and the Springfield family had already predicted it in episode 21 of the fourth season.
This prediction was a close one, although not exact. During the episode, the virus originated in the city of Osaka, Japan. But the fast way of spreading and the later on restrictions were accurately predicted. As soon as the international news about the current pandemic aired, fans brought back the images released in 1993.
Video Calls
Although today it is one of the most widely used forms of communication, when Season’s 6 Episode 19 premiered in 1995 showing Lisa on a video call with her mother, it seemed impossible. There were hardly any cell phones and owning one was seen as a luxury not many could afford.
Oddly enough, in 2010, exactly 15 years after the episode first aired, the technology for video calling was introduced. And they did not only predict this new feature! They also predicted the older generations to have a hard time adapting to it.
New Owners
Towards the end of the episode “When You Dish Upon A Star”, aired in 1998, the writers included a sign outside of a building that read “20th Century Fox, A Division of Walt Disney Co”.
In 2017, Disney announced that they were acquiring part of 21st Century Fox, which owns 20th Century Fox. ESPN’s reporter Darren Rovell was the first to notice the accurate prediction and posted a tweet including a screenshot from the episode.
Tiger attack
When Mr. Burns first opens the doors to his casino in Springfield, two characters inspired by the magicians Siegfried & Roy make an appearance. This duo entertained millions of turists in Las Vegas with their famous shows involving white tigers.
Towards the end of the episode, the illusionists find themselves getting attacked by one of their tigers. 10 years after the episode premiere, a shockingly similar attack took place. A tiger named Montecore struck Roy during one of their Vegas shows bitting his arms and neck, which consequently put an end to their performing career.
World Trade Center
The Simpsons’ predictions are usually funny, nostalgic, and overall shocking. But also, at times, a bit disturbing. In 1997, the show aired an episode called “The City of New York vs Homer Simpson”. In one of the scenes, Bart is seen holding a flyer that reads: New York, $9, and the Twin Towers appear to make up the number 11. Four years later, when the attack took place, viewers pointed out the similarities with the episode, and we can’t unsee it.
In 2010, the executive producer of the show, Bill Oakley, told The New York Observer: “$9 was picked as a comically cheap fare, and I will grant that it’s eerie, given that it’s on the only episode of any series ever that had an entire act of World Trade Centre jokes.”
World Cup Final
At the beginning of 2014, season 25 premiered, which included an episode about the World Cup in Brazil, which was held a few months later. In it, Homer is a referee and the series anticipated one of the most important matches of that tournament: Brazil vs. Germany. This prediction wasn’t completely accurate but it got pretty close. In the episode, the two teams met during the semifinals when in reality the match took place during the final of the tournament.
However, both in the episode and in the actual tournament, the victory went to the Germans. The writers can officially add another success to the list of predictions!
Three-eyed fish
Blinky, the three-eyed fish, made its first appearance on season 2 of the show. Bart and Lisa were fishing near the nuclear power plant and came across the little three-eyed guy. This instance sparked concerns about the harm of nuclear waste to marine life.
Roughly ten years later, a similar mutant fish was found in Argentina, near a nuclear power plant. This proves that The Simpsons didn’t just predict the existence of such creature but also the cause of this frightening mutation.
The Higgs Boson Equation
Not everyone knows that many Simpsons writers are also excellent mathematicians, and the episode “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace” aired in 1998 is the perfect proof of it. Homer appears to be imitating Thomas Edison in front of a blackboard with a math equation written on it.
At first, the equation might seem like scribbles just to fill up the space, but upon closer look, it predicts the mass of the Higgs Boson particle more than a decade before physicists discovered the mass of the particle through an experiment that cost over $13 Billion dollars. Once again leaving us wondering, how are they coming up with these?
Lady Gaga
Another one of The Simpsons’ predictions became reality on February 6th, 2017 during the Super Bowl’s halftime show. The episode “Lisa Goes Gaga” aired in 2012 featured a Lady Gaga concert in which she is hanging by wires over the crown, freakishly similar to the real performance.
Although she wasn’t shooting fire out of her costume, the stage had plenty of fire and smoke machines that gave the prediction an even more realistic feel.
Prediction or Spoiler
Back in 2017, two years before the episode premiered, The Simpsons correctly predicted how the highly-anticipated Game of Throne final would end.
During the fantasy-themed episode “The Serfsons”, Marge, Homer, Bart and Lisa, while looking down at their town, point out a red dragon blowing flames from the sky and Bart say “Look!, the dragon is burning our village”. The scene is undeniably close to the one in the last episode of the HBO show, and fans are quick to notice.
It was all a dream
Adding to the list of The Simpsons‘ technological predictions, we have Virtual Reality and VR headsets. In Lisa’s Wedding episode, based on a futuristic world, Bar appears playing virtual billiars while wearing a shockingly similar device to the current Oculus tech. They even have the gloves!
During the game, another character manages to virtually “hit” Bart and the pain is reflected in real-life, which would be the only difference from reality. Or at least for now!
A New Flavor
In season 11, Episode 9, Homer accidentaly creates a hybrid fruit from tomato and tobacco plants and called it: the “tomacco”. In ended up being a huge success within the population but it created a certain dependency among animals and humans.
Years later, a farmer and dedicated Simpsons fan called Rob Baur decided to make this invention a reality, being that both plants belong to the same family and are able to produce a viable result. Writers of the show where so impressed by Rob’s initiative that they invited them to The Simpsons Headquarters and tried some of the real-life “tomacco”
¡Enough is enough!
The Simpsons have done it once again. In Season 9, Episode 3, aired in 1997, Marge appears to be reading Bart a book, titled “Curious George and the Ebola Virus”. Even though the virus was first discovered in 1976, it wasn’t particularly widespread in the late 1900s.
In the year 2014, the world was hit with the largest outbreak of the virus to date and was labeled as one of the worst epidemics in the history of Africa. All we can hope is that the writers of The Simpsons don’t plan on including any more of these in their future episodes.
The Grease Bandit
Fans of The Simpsons have proven time and time again that they are willing to go to endless measures to prove their commitment to the show. This time around, someone took inspiration from Season 10, Episode 1, where Bart and Homer decide to steal used grease from their elementary school’s cafeteria.
In 2014, thousands of pounds of cooking oil were solen from restaurants in the Minnesota area and fans were quick to link it back to the show.
Yellow judges
Ah yes, another Simpsons episode coming to life before our eyes. In the episde “Elementary School Musical”, Milhouse Van Houten predicted the Economic Sciences Nobel Prize winner for the year 2016, professor Bengt R. Holmström.
Viewers of the show later realized that he not only predicted one Nobel Prize winner, but two! W. E. Moerner, won the Chemistry Novel Prize in 2014.
Endless Tour
In the episode titled “Lisa’s Wedding” aired in 1995, Lisa Simpson travels to the future all the way to the year 2010. During one of the scenes, a poster appears featuring the Rolling Stones and their “Steel Wheelchair Tour” implying that the band will still be on tour 15 years later.
Surprise, surprise!
Mr. Burns is real
Burns’ Bear, premiered in 1993, is one of the favorite episodes of many fans. The plot featuring Homer’s boss, an ever-malicious old man sensitized by a doll from his childhood, is one of the most fondly remembered of the series.
So when an ancient bear without an eye appeared at an airport in England, scenes of the episode immediately went viral. A search for its owner was even proposed, but it seems unlikely that the legendary Mr. Burns will show up and retrieve it.
I did it first
Again anticipating technology. As in series such as The Jetsons, the genius of the writers in dealing with themes of the future is demonstrated with each new advance. Although basic prototypes already existed, the first smartwatches hit the market as of 2012.
However, John, Lisa’s English fiancé, was already communicating by this means 17 years before, in the series created by Matt Groening. He can be seen in the scene where he asks the young Simpson to marry him.
An animated complaint
In the same chapter where the semifinal of the 2014 World Cup is anticipated, a murky and recurring theme in the universe of this sport is also predicted: corruption. Homer is a witness and participant in match fixing until the president of the International Football Federation is discovered and arrested.
Just one year later, the “FIFA Gate” scandal revealed the shady dealings in the organization and even cost its president Joseph Blatter his resignation.
Saving resources
It is a well-known fact that at Springfield Elementary School there is no budget to spare and sometimes adjustments have to be made in different areas. For example, food. In an episode released in 1994, cook Doris can be seen using horse meat for her dishes.
Although it started as a delusional joke, in 2013 it became a reality when several countries in the European Union discovered meat from this animal in hamburgers and other foods.
Great inspiration
The movie What Happened Yesterday, starring Bradley Cooper, was released in 2009 and was a worldwide sensation. But, like almost everything in life, The Simpsons had already done it.
In the episode Long live Ned Flanders, released 10 years earlier, Homer’s neighbor realizes that he is already 60 years old and still didn’t have enough adventures. So they spend a night of madness in Las Vegas and even marry two women without remembering it, something that also happens in the film.
Yellow Steve Jobs
In a 1996 episode, in which Bart works in a burlesque house, you can see a device curiously similar to the first iPods, which were only released in 2001.
Although it was an electric intercom for the home, the shape and design so similar to Apple’s early music products is striking. Perhaps the brand’s creators had that scene in mind.
Up to the constructions
The building known as the Shard of Glass is an architectural marvel of the city of London. With almost 310 meters high, began its construction in 2009 and was inaugurated in 2012. The funny thing is that in a scene of The Simpsons from 1995, where a plan of the English capital is made, you can see in the background a tower with a tip similar to the structure of the Shard.
Of course, construction was almost 15 years away. The predictions of the yellow family never cease to amaze us.
Screenwriters and economists
When Homer becomes a specialized critic and attends several TV shows as a guest, the caption referring to Greece can be read in one of them. The episode premiered in 2012 and, three years later, a financial crisis broke out in that European country.
Of course, a default is building up some time in advance, but not any economist would have dared to anticipate such a tragic situation for Greece. However, the writers of the series have several specialties.
Let them predict their solution
In 1994, Lisa y los deportes was released, a memorable episode in which the most intelligent of the family realizes her sporting shortcomings. For this reason, she decides to join an ice hockey team, where she achieves success as a goalkeeper.
However, in a scene at the beginning, you can see how school bullies write a sentence on an electronic device and it corrects them nonsensically. Quite a current problem in many smartphones.
The Space Race
The 1994 episode Homero in Deep Space showed how an ordinary person can travel in a spacecraft to raise television ratings. Today, the private space race has already put famous billionaires like Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos in the stratosphere.
This prediction became one of the most recent for the series, which continues to surprise. Each new event that happens may have a page written in the more than 700 chapters of the series.
Exaggerated but true
In another of the episodes that show the future, Lisa finds herself in a room where she can see Google’s absolute control over the Internet, and also over a good part of the world. Anyway, Homer and Marge’s daughter does not seem so unhappy with this issue.
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Although it is not a prediction that came true in its entirety, the yellow family series anticipated the enormous growth of the search engine. The worst thing is that there is still time for it to come true in its entirety!
They mastered the technology
The Simpsons not only predicted physics formulas or space travel, but also new types of cameras. In the episode Homero and Apu, premiered in 1994, the father of the family investigates the owner of the mini supermarket with a kind of GoPro installed in a hat, looking for him to reveal the conditions of his food.
This system was not commercialized until 10 years later, when the first models went on sale. A camera small enough to fit in a hat was only in the imagination of screenwriters at the time.
Maybe it’s plagiarism
In 2013 the series Under the Dome, based on a novel by Stephen King, was released. In it, a small town is covered by a giant dome, and the citizens enter into a conflict to try to get out. However, it seems that beyond the novel, an extra inspiration was the The Simpsons movie, completed in 2007.
The resemblance is evident: the city of Springfield is trapped because of Homer and the neighbors are looking for ways to save themselves, while the general panic increases.
Up to eBooks
Without a doubt, Lisa’s first future episode takes all the awards in terms of predictions: in addition to smart watches and Rolling Stones tours, they also anticipated the first electronic books.
In the scene where Lisa and John are lying down in the college room, a device like the one that the Kindle brand would launch only 12 years later can be seen on the floor. Although some prototypes already existed, this version was the first to be released.
