10 Times The Simpsons Predicted The Future!

Cartoon series like „The Simpsons“ are just harmless entertainment, right? Hang on now! Because regardless of how creepy this may sound, the loveable, yellow cartoon characters predicted some things in the series that sounded impossible at the time – and were right every time. Here’s a selection of episodes in which the Simpsons predicted the future – and were right!

#1 Donald Trump for President – Season 11, Episode 17

Yes, it’s true – the Simpsons knew it before „The Donald“ himself.

#2 iPhones and Autocorrect – Season 6, Episode 8

The episode „Lisa on Ice“ was broadcast in 1994 and showed a device called „Apple Newton PDA“ that looks like an iPhone. The phone’s brand logo seems to be a parody of Apple – but this was 13 years before the first iPhone had even been released on the market. You can also see the use of autocorrect in this episode – although this didn’t come into use until 2005…

#3 Smartwatches – Season 6, Episode 19

In the Simpsons episode entitled „Lisa’s Wedding“ from 1995, a device is shown that is a combination of a phone and a watch – 20 years before the Apple Watch came out.

#4 „FarmVille“ – Season 9, Episode 12

In the episode „Bart Carny“ from 1998, the cartoon characters laugh at kids playing a farm simulator game. At the time this idea seemed totally ridiculous. But in 2009, 11 years after the episode premiered, people all over the world were obsessed with a game called „FarmVille“, in which they plough, plant and harvest things.

#5 Faulty voting machines – Season 20, Episode 4

In the special Halloween episode „Treehouse of Horror XIX“, a rigged voting machine changes Homer’s vote for Barack Obama to a vote for his rival John McCain several times. The episode was broadcast in 2008: Four years later, in 2012, an electronic voting machine manipulated votes in Philadelphia so that people who wanted to vote for Obama could only click on Mitt Romney. Coincidence?

#6 Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl Halftime Show – Season 23, Episode 22

In 2012 an episode of the Simpsons showed Lady Gaga performing a show while suspended in the air. In 2017, during the Super Bowl halftime show, Lady Gaga let herself be dropped into the stadium while hanging from cables. Was the Lady inspired by the series?

#7 „Game of Thrones“ – Season 29, Episode 1

In the episode „The Serfsons“ from 2017, Homer’s shenanigans lead to a dragon burning an entire village down. In 2019, two years after this Simpsons episode, a Game of Thrones episode was broadcast (season 8, episode 5) in which Daenerys and her dragon burn thousands of innocent people to death.

#8 Disney buys 20th Century Fox – Season 10, Episode 5

In the episode „When You Wish Upon A Star“ from 1998, a sign in front of the 20th Century Fox Studio shows it’s „A Division of Walt Disney Co.“, which, at the time, was not true… In 2017, 19 years later, Disney bought up 21st Century Fox.

#9 Siegfried and Roy: The fatal tiger attack – Season 5, Episode 10

In the episode „$pringfield“ from 1993, two magicians performing in a casino are attacked by a white tiger. In 2003, 10 years after the episode was broadcast, Siegfried and Roy were indeed attacked by one of their white tigers.

#10 And finally a letter from one of the members of the Beatles – Season 2, Episode 18

In the episode „Brush With Greatness“ from 1991, Ringo Starr answers some old fan post from Marge, which she’d sent him while still at high school. In 2013, 22 years later, a similar thing happened, except that it involved Paul McCartney.
Two fans had sent McCartney a letter 50 years earlier, which he unfortunately never received. It was then discovered decades later during the sale of a secondhand car. In an episode of the BBC reality TV series „The One“, the two fans were shown holding their old letter again. And the best part of it: They got a personal reply from Paul McCartney!

Do you like The Simpsons too? And do you also find it a little shocking how precisely the makers of the series sometimes predicted the future? Tell us in the comments section!

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