15 of the strangest things The Simpsons has predicted

The Simpsons is a show that has been running since 1989. Since then, the jokes, story plots, and scenes presented have somehow managed to consistently predict future events. From Trump’s presidency to technological developments, The Simpsons has seen it all. While all of this could be dismissed as coincidence, especially considering the show’s long run, life seems to have managed to imitate art as more similarities and predictions constantly emerge as the years go by.

The writers of the show tend to humble themselves and say it’s just luck or coincidence. But it is quite shocking to see the number of things that have come to life, only to find out they happened in this cartoon. Just to prove that this was the case, here are 15 events that The Simpsons predicted.

15. Walt Disney and Fox Merger

The Simpsons does not shy away when it comes to bashing Disney and its parent company, 20th Century Fox, to the point where it joked about its potential merger. The final scene of the 1998 episode, “When You Dish Upon A Star,” showed a 20th Century Fox sign, but with the added text “A division of Walt Disney Co.” While this may just be some tongue-in-cheek comedy since Disney is a huge media company, this joke eventually came true in 2019 when Disney finally acquired the company behind The Simpsons. Just hope their prediction of everyone being forced to wear Mickey Mouse ears in acknowledgment of our new “corporate overlords” doesn’t come true.

14. Donald Trump as President

Another joke The Simpsons eventually came to life when Donald Trump became President of the United States in 2016. In the Season 11 episode, “Bart to the Future,” President Lisa and her cabinet pointed out that the Donald Trump administration was the reason why the country is broke. This joke first aired in 2000, 16 years before the 2016 Presidential Election. Throughout the election period, people pointed out this episode constantly during the lead-up to voting day.

13. The 2020 election results

Asides from the Trump Presidency, it also predicted the results of the 2020 election. This happened in a 2012 clip in which Mr. Burns endorsed Mitt Romney. However, BuzzFeed News reported that the map isn’t close to the actual results of the election. Regardless, this clip was brought up after the election results came in since it looked oddly similar, even if some states, like Arizona, had different results.

12. Faulty Voting Machines

In 2008 The Simpsons‘ ‘Treehouse of Horror XIX’ episode showed Homer placing his vote during an election race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Due to his size, he had to use the “double-sized booth,” which had an electronic voting terminal. Unfortunately, it kept registering his vote for McCain instead of Obama. The machine began to kill him, and he realized it was rigged. While killer voting machines aren’t real, a similar incident occurred during the 2012 election, where a machine would only register Mitt Romney instead of Obama

11. Smart watches

The 19th episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons‘ predicted a lot of technology that was available in 2010. One of them was the invention of smart watches. In the episode, Lisa’s future fiancé, Hugh proposes to her. The first attempt had issues. So he called a buddy of his through his watch and started plan B. This episode aired in 1995, 20 years before the release of the Apple Watch. In 2014, Tim Cook announced the new Apple smartwatch that can not only tell time but can also accept phone calls.

10. FaceTime

In that same episode, The Simpsons predicted easy access to video chats. While video conferencing technology has been around since the 1960s, as stated by vyopta.com, it wasn’t until the 2000s that the use of webcams and home computers made it simple to communicate with others through video and audio. As technology developed, like the invention of smartphones and platforms like Skype, video calls became more easily accessible, just like in The Simpsons.

9. Autocorrect

The Simpsons also predicted the annoyance of autocorrect all the way back in 1994. In the eighth episode of season six, titled ‘Lisa on Ice,’ Dolph wrote a memo to “beat up Martin,” but it was autocorrected to “Eat up Martha.” This led to the device being thrown because it couldn’t recognize Dolph’s handwriting. While this may be seen as a prediction, Uproxx reported that this segment in the Fox cartoon served as inspiration for Apple’s keyboard during its development.

8. FIFA corruption

In 2015, FIFA was under investigation for allegations of corruption, fraud, bribery, and money laundering. According to Britannica, more than two dozen FIFA officials and their associates were involved. Funnily enough, a year before this came to light, a Simpsons episode, titled ‘You Don’t Have to Live Like a Referee’ aired. Homer was asked to be the referee in the World Cup as a result of official referees receiving bribes and it was Lisa’s speech that made FIFA’s decision so that the sport could have a clean reputation.

7. The U.S. wins gold in curling

In the 2010 episode ‘Boy Meets Curl,’ Homer and Marge team up with Seymour and Agnes Skinner to participate in a curling event at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. This Springfield team took home the gold for their country, despite Marge’s injury. This victory would later come to fruition in the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where the U.S. team took home the gold in the same sporting event.

6. The Beatles’ belated fan mail response

Celebrities tend to be mentioned in The Simpsons, and the Beatles were no exception. Ringo Starr played himself in the 18th episode of season two, ‘Brush with Greatness’ in 1991, in which he wrote back to Marge after he received her old painting of him when she was in high school and apologized that it took so long for him to reply. You’d think this type of fan mail response is just something seen on TV. Fortunately, the same can be said in real life. The BBC reported in 2013 that two Beatles fans from Essex received a reply from Sir Paul McCartney 50 years after sending him a letter. Just like in The Simpsons episode, he acknowledges the lateness of the reply.

5. Lady Gaga’s SuperBowl appearance

Lady Gaga is another celebrity that appeared on the show in 2012. Episode 22 of the show’s 23rd season, ‘Lisa Goes Gaga’ featured Lady Gaga consoling Lisa during her surprise visit to Springfield. In the episode, Lady Gaga soared above her audience using a wire. Five years after the episode aired, the pop singer did a similar stunt during the Super Bowl. She even wore a similar outfit. Only Lady Gaga can reveal if this was a coincidence, or if she actually was inspired by her Simpsons appearance.

4. Tom Hanks endorsing the USA

Tom Hanks appeared in the 2007 film, The Simpsons Movie, where he starred in an ad promoting the “new Grand Canyon,” located where Springfield used to be. The ad was endorsed by the U.S. government in The Simpsons universe, as it told people to “trust this one.” Who would have known that this would be enough to convince the Biden Administration to feature Hanks in another government-endorsed ad in 2022? He spoke in a two-minute video that shared a pro-Biden narrative.

3. Stealing cooking grease

Speaking of weird things that happen in America, the show also predicted the idea of stealing cooking grease for cash. According to the New York Post, thieves attempted to steal cooking grease in 2013 with hopes of selling it on the black market for $1 a gallon. The same concept was depicted in the first episode of season 10 titled “Lard of the Dance,” where a character learned from Apu that one could make a profit by selling grease, leading to a heist at Springfield Elementary to acquire the “hot commodity.” It’s very weird and probably disgusting, but this episode aired in 1998. It’s quite surprising that it took a long time for people to realize the value of grease.

2. Censoring the Statue of David

During the season two episode, ‘Itchy & Scratchy & Marge,’ protesters arrived at the Simpsons’ home in protest against the statue of David due to the same reason why the same statue was censored in a school in Flordia, according to AP News. Both the show and school complained that the iconic statue is “pornographic” and shouldn’t be shown to children due to the exposure of genitalia. It’s quite surprising that a fictional complaint in 1990 would somewhat resurface in 2023.

1. The missing OceanGate Submarine

While it was really tragic to hear about what happened to the Titan and the loss of five lives, it’s pretty shocking to see that this Fox cartoon predicted this as well. In the 2006 episode, ‘Homer’s Paternity Coot,’ Homer rides a submarine down with Mason Fairbanks, Mona Simpson’s ex-boyfriend, and Homer’s potential biological father. The two went underwater in submarines before being separated. Eventually, Homer got stuck and the oxygen levels quickly get depleted. Fortunately for Homer, he didn’t suffer the same tragic fate as the passengers on Titan.

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