Photo: 20th Century Fox
If you’re in your 20s, The Simpsons has been on the air your whole life. The iconic cartoon aired for the first time way back in December of 1989 when the Christmas special “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” aired. For those keeping track, that’s a ridiculous 32 seasons. It’s not surprising that with all the different storylines, this revered show has accurately predicted the future on multiple occasions.
It feels like these Nostradamus-like predictions come up every few weeks.
The newest involves Ted Cruz and his recent ill-fated trip to Mexico. Like many other events, The Simpsons actually predicted this political gaffe. During a season four episode entitled “Marge in Chains,” Mayor Quimby does an interview saying that he’s going to cancel a trip to the Bahamas while he’s actually already in the Bahamas. Why does this fit into the prediction mold? Well, it all happened during a pandemic referred to as “Osaka Flu.”
This makes us think of some of the other times the show accurately predicted the future. Below you’ll find 10 of our favorites.
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The Simpsons Ten Predictions
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Auto-correct on Your Smart Phone (Season 6, Episode 8)
In the episode, bullies Kearny and Dolph are using an Apple Newton-like device to take a memo to remind them to “beat up Martin,” but the memo actually translates the message to “eat up Martha.” This is more than a decade before we all got aggravated by auto-correct garbling our text messages.
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Disney Purchases 20th Century Fox (Season 10, Episode 5)
In the 1998-episode, Homer pitches a script to Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. In an establishing shot, we see that the script will be produced at 20th Century Fox and the sign says “a division of Walt Disney Co.” At the time, Disney didn’t own 20th Century Fox, they didn’t buy it until 2017.
Photo: Disney
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Solving the Higgs Boson Equation (Season 10, Episode 2)
Fourteen years before scientists actually figured it out, Homer solved the Higgs Boson Equation that predicts the mass of the elementary particle. While we honestly have no idea what that means, we love that Homer figured it out more than a decade before the eggheads did.
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The Rise of 'Farmville' (Season 9, Episode 12)
At one point a decade ago, Farmville was (for some unknown reason) huge. People loved the idea of spending their free time virtual running a farm. The Simpsons predicted this infatuation with farm work back in a 1998 episode where children as playing a yard work simulator.
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Siegfried and Roy Attacked By Tiger (Season 5, Episode 10)
In 2003, Roy Horn of the famed duo Siegfried and Roy was attacked by a white tiger during a live performance. The Simpsons actually predicted the attack 10 years earlier with a scene where a white tiger mails the magicians. That’s a pretty straightforward prediction.
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The Smartwatch (Season 6, Episode 19)
Back in 1995 there was an episode called “Lisa’s Wedding” where viewers got a glimpse into the future. Lisa’s husband has a smart watch that he talks into. Sure, other shows and movies also had references to smartwatches before, we still give The Simpsons credit for this one.
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Ted Cruz Flees to Mexico (Season 4, Episode 21)
The second to last episode of season four was about a pandemic called the “Osaka Flu” that ravages the town of Springfield. While the residents are left to handle the flu, Mayor Quimby does an interview to tell the towns people that he plans to cancel his trip to the Bahamas, only to have it revealed that he actually already left and is currently in the Bahamas.
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Lady Gaga Flying at the Super Bowl (Season 23, Episode 22)
In an episode in season 23 called “Lisa Goes Gaga,” Lady Gaga is suspended by cables and flies above an audience during a concert. During Super Bowl LI, she flew over the crowd, wearing almost the same outfit as her Simpsons character.
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COVID and Murder Hornets (Season 4, Episode 21)
Back in 1993, The Simpsons predicted both the COVID outbreak and murder hornets in the same episode. A Japanese factory worker mistakenly spreads the “Osaka Flu” to the town and then in the frenzy, a van filled with killer bees is knocked over.
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Donald Trump’s Presidency (Season 11, Episode 7)
In this glimpse into the future, Lisa becomes the first “straight female” president of the United States. She has an offhand comment where she says that the job isn’t easy because former President Donald Trump caused a huge budget crisis.
