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!
