The Simpsons is renowned for its prescient predictions in addition to being one of the funniest satirical series on television. Some of the scenarios are merely fantastic conspiracy fan theories, while others have grown startlingly accurate, raising doubts about the influence this show has on reality. Here are the show’s most impressive and mesmerising predictions.
Khaleesi Going Berserk
The Game of Thrones ending offended many people personally, especially since nobody could have predicted how the latter seasons would turn out. In a 2017 episode, The Simpsons mocked the venerable series. While there were many Game of Thrones parallels, one in particular stood out: Homer brought back a dragon, which then set fire to a whole hamlet of defenceless residents. Two years later, Daenerys Targaryen committed the same same crime in a fit of sheer insanity, thus it didn’t take long for the gory event to actually happen.
Giant Ferrets Masked as Toy Poodles
It’s likely that no one ever imagined that this particular narrative line would come to pass, but it did. In a 2002 episode, Fat Tony manages to glue cotton balls on ferrets to make them look like toy poodles, selling them for a high price. This is just one more of the mobster’s hoaxes. Incredibly, a man from Argentina mistakenly purchased two toy poodles at a bazaar in 2013, but it later proved out that they were actually ferrets on steroids. This is entirely genuine.
A Three Eyed Fish
When Lisa and Bart decide to go fishing near a nuclear power station in an old episode from season two, everything goes as planned until Bart unexpectedly snags an uncommon fish. Even while the fact that it has three eyes naturally causes uncertainty and wonder, Mr. Burns argues that it is simply the next stage in fish evolution. Others aren’t entirely convinced. It wasn’t simply animated, though. In 2011, a real three-eyed fish was discovered in Argentina. That’s right; it was close to a nuclear power plant.
An Olympic Win
It would be an odd enough scenario for the programme if the Simpson family formed an underdog curling team, competed in the Winter Olympics, and actually won. Nevertheless, that was the premise of an episode from 2010. Together with Seymour Skinner’s mother Agnes, Marge and Homer defeat the traditional favourites, the Swedish squad, with their help. This sort of prophecy didn’t come to pass until 2018 when the U.S. curling team defeated Sweden to win their first-ever gold medal in this competition.
Tom Hanks Narrating for the Government
We can’t possible forget Tom Hanks’ brief cameo as himself from The Simpsons Movie, which featured some fantastic cameos and hidden nuggets. He was speaking on behalf of the government in the scene, outlining the justification for Springfield’s transformation into a sizable gorge equivalent to the Grand Canyon. Hanks is undoubtedly the right choice for the animated role—he borrows some of his credibility—but that doesn’t mean the real-life United States government didn’t consider it as well. On January 20, 2022, the inaugural committee chose Hanks to narrate the anniversary of the current administration. Coincidence?
20th Century Fox Being Sold to Disney
Most of the show’s crazy predictions begin with jokes, but this one in particular is more stranger because there isn’t even a joke to be found—just it’s an unexpected business merger that they apparently foresaw. A script that Homer authored in 1998 was chosen by 20th Century Fox, which at that point was a division of Disney. The Simpsons is now available on Disney+, thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2017 for a revealed sum of $52.4 billion. At the time, there wasn’t much to it, but in 2017 it came to pass.
Siegfried and Roy Attacked by Their Own Trained Animal
A tragic turn of events saw a real-life accident occur ten years to the day after it appeared on The Simpsons. In a 1993 episode, Homer and his friend Ned travel to Las Vegas to watch two German performers named Gunter and Ernst, who perform with white tigers. It sounds like you? One of them is injured by the tiger, and the incident is uncannily similar to Roy’s injury in Siegfried & Roy, in which he was attacked by one of their own tigers. Producers of The Simpsons predicted that it would eventually occur.
Predicting Nobel Prize Winners
The Simpsons’ kids aren’t like other kids; they wager on Nobel Prize winners instead of soccer clubs. The fact that the creators were able to anticipate a real-life Nobel prize winner six years before it was revealed was genuinely a remarkable feat. In a 2010 episode, Lisa, Martin, Milhouse, and Database all make predictions about who will win the Nobel Prize, and if you look closely at the bracket, you can see who made which predictions. Six years later, Milhouse was correct when he predicted that Bengt Holmström would win the Economics competition.
Baseball Team Name Change and New Location
In some cases, rather than being a forecast, it is more like a case of “life mimicking art,” but it doesn’t make it any less amazing. In a surprising episode from 2001, Homer declares a hunger strike in opposition to the Springfield Isotopes, his beloved minor league baseball team, moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Uncanny as it may seem, the genuine Calgary Cannons relocated to the same location. A local newspaper held a vote to decide on their new name, and Isotopes won. The main characters’ statues can be found in their stadium.
A Beatles Member Answering Fan Mail– After 50 Years
If you’re a fan of the Beatles, you’ll appreciate this: in a season two episode, Ringo Starr is seen with a mountain of fan mail and promises to respond to each one, even if it takes him 20 years. Even when it seems like nothing but a dream, reality occasionally takes us by surprise. Although it wasn’t Starr, two women had the pleasure of receiving a response from Sir Paul McCartney to a cassette they had sent him far back in 1963. Better late than never, he said, and he was right.
Predicting Lady Gaga’s Iconic Performance
Was Lady Gaga simply using a coincidence or was she stealing ideas from the show? Decide for yourself. In a 2012 episode where she visits Springfield and performs with Lisa, the singer voiced herself. The creators sought to reproduce a few of Gaga’s most iconic looks, even if it meant copying the dress she wears in her animated form. The problem is that, in 2017, she performed brilliantly during the Super Bowl halftime show and descended using a cable, which is clearly visible on the episode from 2012 in which she appeared. Before 2017, she had never performed this act.
Meat with a Little Something Extra
This horrifying scene does not belong in cartoon television programmes where some things are better left alone. In a 1994 episode, Lunch Lady Doris fills the kids’ lunch pots with actual horse meat. Truly scary, but understandable when it was only there in the cartoon world. Horse meat was discovered in beef in a series of horrifying events that rocked the UK and Ireland in 2013. One of the most repulsive predictions the show has ever made, the unpleasant realisation is without a doubt.
Checking If All-You-Can-Eat Is Physically Possible
Unexpectedly, Conan O’Brien wrote a season four episode that tackled a sensitive topic. Homer’s insatiable appetite is put to the test when he is actually expelled from an all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant for devouring every last morsel while still suing the establishment for deceptive advertising. The identical thing really happened twice; in 2012 and 2017, two individuals sued all-you-can-eat restaurants for failing to meet their needs. In fact, the latter incident took place in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Craziest Year
A Japanese factory worker may be seen sneezing into a box in a 1993 episode, which was later delivered to Springfield and marked the beginning of a “superflu” virus known as the “Osaka flu.” The city was covered with it. Strange, huh? We assume that it is unnecessary to explain the analogous situation in real life, but there was more to the odd occurrence than that. It included rioting and killer bees, which were similar to the hornets that recently overran the United States. Even one of the episode’s authors, Bill Oakley, acknowledged that they indeed anticipate 2020.
Londons Shard
The idea that a complete structure was imagined before becoming real is absurd, yet that’s how The Simpsons operate. In a futuristic 2010 scene from a 1995 episode, the London skyline can be seen. Apart from the pointed building in the background that was certainly not there in 1995, the photo wasn’t very noteworthy other than the fact that Big Ben now has a digital face.
The Baby Translator
Are you familiar with Herb, Homer’s half-brother? He didn’t play a major role in the show, although he did show up in some significant scenes. In a 1992 episode, Herb (who had previously been a successful car manufacturer until Homer forced him into bankruptcy) uses Maggie’s insights to inspire the creation of a baby translator gadget, which helps him get back on his feet because it is profitable. In 2015 an actual baby translator became reality in the form of an app that could reportedly translate babies’ crying to help determine the specific need they were requesting.
The Accurate FaceTime Prediction
The Simpsons didn’t truly foresee some things on their own, but their accuracy may be pretty unsettling. In a 1995 episode, Lisa and Marge converse on a “picture phone.” The fascinating invention entered our daily life as a real thing. Picking up the phone, contacting a friend, and being able to see them on the screen are now more commonplace than anything else. Even still, it was extremely alarming to find that the incident occurred in 2010, the same year that Apple launched FaceTime.
Richard Branson in Space
In the 2014 episode “The War of Art,” the protagonist, an art forger, tells Lisa about the admirers of his false paintings before cutting to a montage of those people. One of them is Virgin Group billionaire Richard Bronson, who is admiring the artwork from what appears to be his personal spaceship. Strangely enough, on July 11, 2021, Bronson actually took a trip into space on his own Virgin Galactic test flight, travelling 53 miles over New Mexico.
The War of the Sequels
Fans have seen enough poor Star Wars movies and are eager to watch some good ones because there have been so many of them. In an attempt to parody this idea, The Simpsons displayed two movie posters for impending releases: Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Gettin’ Rabies and Star Wars Episode 7: The Apology (how appropriate). After we stop giggling uncontrollably at the latter, we must let you know that in 2015, virtually exactly the same thing actually occurred. Alvin and the Chipmunks 4 was the real Episode 7’s biggest cinematic rival when it was released.
JCPenny’s Disintegration
Though some of them are truly weird and sad, it’s frightening how many things The Simpsons envisioned that actually happened. The show mysteriously predicted JCPenny’s demise 13 years before it actually happened, which was then tragically confirmed in a 2007 episode. Marge says, “There used to be a JCPenny there,” and we witness the store turn into a spot where a man is selling Persian CDs. In 2020, the chain itself filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Invention of Smartwatches – Sort Of
Although The Simpsons didn’t foresee smartwatches initially, we nonetheless want to acknowledge their influence in this area. In a 1995 episode that takes place in 2010, Lisa’s boyfriend can be seen using his smartwatch to propose to her and even giving voice commands to the device. Even though they failed to foresee the smartwatch, they were correct about voice commands; even though it wasn’t until 2014 – rather than 2010 – that a true voice – activated smartwatch was made available.
Greece’s Economic and Political Chaos
It’s truly amazing how sometimes the smallest informal jokes the show makes end up being real. In a 2013 episode, Homer participated as a guest panellist on a brand-new show, and there was a playful dig at Greece. The title “Europe puts Greece on eBay” appears for a fleeting second before the screen moves on. Greece was forced to declare bankruptcy to the IMF in 2015, which plunged the nation into severe political and economic instability from which they have still not fully recovered.
Major Soccer Corruption Controversy
This 2014 episode was a double-hitter since two soccer-related events actually happened as a result of it. After some sensational corruption allegations surface, Homer is asked to help the cartoon World Football Federation restore its good name. Even in the middle of his explanation to Homer, the soccer executive gets taken into custody. Just one year after this incident, FIFA was rocked in 2015 by numerous highly publicised arrests on suspicion of corruption. The show also correctly predicted Germany’s World Cup victory over Brazil in 2014.
Robbing Restaurants of Their Grease
The Simpsons has a tonne of completely absurd plots, which is one of the reasons fans adore the show so much. In humour, being funny is more important than constantly making sense, which they successfully accomplish. Homer stealing grease—that disgusting substance used in restaurants—was a less-than-sensible scheme. Just a few years after this bizarre episode aired, it motivated individuals to go steal grease despite the fact that it made no sense.
Tempering with the Voting System
It is only reasonable to think that conspiracy theories will emerge at every turn in a world where corruption lurks around every corner. Voting irregularities are a real concern in politics and elections today and have been for some time. In an episode that aired roughly four years before the 2012 elections, the voting machine switches Homer’s vote. Many people think the authors are actually a group of psychics because of how the show anticipated this drama-filled scenario before it even occurred.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Passing
This is less of a reference than a public service announcement, but we felt it was important to include. Various images and ideas began circulating online when Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022, asserting that The Simpsons had foreseen the long-reigning British monarch’s demise. Some of them even went so far as to say that the show had accurately predicted the day in question. We regret to inform you that every single one of those hypotheses and photographs is utter nonsense. While Elizabeth was depicted on the show, six times to be exact, not a single appearance made any mention of or depiction of her passing.
Super Bowl Winners, and Many of Them
Gather ’round, football fans. In a 1992 episode, Homer used Lisa to place bets on games because of her remarkable talent for predicting the NFL champions. Naturally, she learned and proclaimed that even if the Washington Redskins win, she would still adore him. They first appeared to win before winning in reality. Additionally, just days before the following two Super Bowls, Fox chose to re-air the same show and predict the Dallas Cowboys will win, which they did!
A Civilian Being Sent to Space
Although entering space will always be a remarkable, astounding accomplishment of the human race, it is gradually becoming more commonplace in our society. Space travel is clearly not as expensive as it once was, and an episode where Homer travels to space demonstrated this idea. Unsurprisingly, after this episode aired NASA made the decision to launch a civilian into space, totally reiterating the theme of this episode.
Don Mattingly’s Mane Problem
Mr. Burns makes the decision to form a softball team for his nuclear plant in a 1992 episode. He enlists Don Mattingly, a former Yankees first baseman, among others, for this purpose. Burns insists Mattingly trim his sideburns, which he does (and even fully shaves the sides of his head), but Burns nevertheless dismisses him from the team. When Mattingly in real life refused to follow the team owner’s hair rules, he was eventually benched. Although the episode was broadcast after the catastrophe, it was still created before it happened.
Michelangelo’s Work Being Censored
We still believe this next prediction is quite fascinating, even though some of them are predicated on the idea that history repeats itself. Marge seeks to get the gruesome cartoon Itchy & Scratchy partially edited in a 1990 episode that was entirely about censorship. The iconic David statue by Michelangelo was also being covered up by city citizens who felt it was too exposed. The Russian city of Saint Petersburg had a referendum on whether David should be more thoroughly covered up in 2016, and it actually happened.
The Donut Theory
Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is another famous person who enjoys providing their voice for the animated Simpsons. Since the producers sought to put “the world’s stupidest man and the world’s smartest man in the same room,” the scientist’s very first appearance on the show was undoubtedly the most memorable. Hawking loves Homer’s donut-shaped universe idea in the 1999 episode, stating he might take it. There is a valid theory that contends the cosmos is donut-shaped.
27+ Times The Future Was Predicted by The Simpsons With Terrifying Accuracy
