Over the course of 37 seasons and nearly 800 episodes, The Simpsons continues to amaze viewers with predictions of the future.
Gags that start out as simple jokes eventually manifest into reality years later, including a global pandemic, a U.S. presidential inauguration, and an international sports scandal.
While some of the hit anime’s writers downplay the show’s uncanny ability to predict the future as “educated guesses,” loyal fans consider the iconic anime to be a modern-day Nostradamus.
“I’m anxious,” showrunner Matt Selman told Page Six ahead of the show’s 800th episode. “It makes you think maybe we’re living in a simulation or something like that.”
“But what’s more unlikely, as I always say, is that we never predicted anything,” he clarified. “Because I think these are coincidences. And even if there are no coincidences, it’s very unlikely, almost statistically impossible.”
But Selman acknowledged that “the coincidence that we predicted by chance is pretty strange.”
As the popular series celebrates its 800th episode on Sunday, here are the top 10 times “The Simpsons” predicted the future.
“Marge in Chains” (Season 4, Episode 21)
Nearly 30 years before the coronavirus sent the world into extended lockdowns, The Simpsons poked fun at a pandemic in the 1993 episode “Marge in Chains,” in which a disease called the “Osaka Flu” traveled all the way from Japan to Springfield.
The episode made headlines again during the actual coronavirus outbreak in 2020, forcing co-writer Bill Oakley to speak out against the “terrible” comparison.
“It should have been ridiculous that someone could cough into a box and the virus could live in the box for six to eight weeks,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2020.
“It’s cartoonish,” Oakley added. “I wanted it to be silly and not scary, so I purposely made it look like a cartoon.”
“$Springfield” (Season 5, Episode 10)
When local millionaire Mr. Burns decides to build a casino in Springfield in the 1993 episode “$pringfield,” he hires the entertainment duo Gunter and Ernst and their white tiger, Anastasia, to perform.
However, the performance turned tragic when Anastasia attacked them, leaving them both in tatters.
A similar incident would unfold in the real world 10 years later. In October 2003, Roy Horn of the famous magic duo Siegfried & Roy (whom Günter and Ernst are clearly based on) was attacked and nearly killed by a white tiger, Mantacore, at the Mirage Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Mr Horne suffered serious injuries during the attack, including massive blood loss which caused a stroke. The incident ended Hawn’s acting career, and he passed away in 2020 at the age of 75 due to complications from the coronavirus infection.
“Lisa’s Wedding” (Season 6, Episode 19)
The Simpsons first explored future settings in the 1995 episode “Lisa’s Wedding,” when Lisa visits a psychic at a local carnival and the fortune teller shows the Simpsons’ eldest daughter her future husband.
In one scene, Lisa and her future girlfriend lie together in a college dorm, with a poster of the Rolling Stones’ “Rolling Stones Steel Wheelchair Tour 2010” taped to the wall.
Not only were Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood still touring in 2010, they were still performing together as the Rolling Stones in 2024.
Meanwhile, Jagger made a guest appearance in the 2002 Season 14 episode “How to Spend Strummer’s Vacation.”
“When You Serve a Star” (Season 10, Episode 5)
One of the most surprising predictions made by “The Simpsons” came during the show’s 1998 episode “When You Dish Upon a Star.”
After Homer develops (and later disintegrates) close friendships with Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, and Ron Howard, the “Apollo 13” director is seen pitching a movie idea that Homer had earlier in the episode to 20th Century Fox.
However, when the 20th Century Fox logo appears on the screen, it becomes clear that the studio is owned by the Walt Disney Company.
In 2019, 21 years after the episode aired, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets for $71 billion.
“Bart to the Future” (Season 11, Episode 17)
Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox was one of the most surprising predictions made by “The Simpsons,” but Donald Trump’s ascension to the US presidency remains one of the most talked about.
In a glimpse of the future in the 2000 episode “Bart to the Future,” it was revealed that Lisa, a businesswoman and reality star, was chosen to become Commander in Chief.
“As you know, we inherited a significant budget shortfall from President Trump,” says Lisa from the Oval Office.
Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States in November 2016, 16 years after “Bart to the Future” aired in March 2000.
“Homer’s Father Coot” (Season 17, Episode 10)
In 2006, nearly 20 years before a similar disaster occurred, Homer and a man believed to be his estranged father set out on an underwater adventure in their submersible to find the shipwreck’s treasure.
But their deep-sea journey takes a frightening turn when Homer’s private submarine becomes entangled in a coral reef and nearly runs out of oxygen. That was until America’s favorite common man woke up in the hospital three days later.
In June 2023, 17 years after Homer’s Coot aired, an Ocean Gate submersible carrying five passengers (including a father and son) sank while on a deep-sea expedition to view the wreckage of the Titanic. All five passengers died in the tragedy.
“Boy Meets Carl” (Season 21, Episode 12)
In addition to being the parents of Lisa, Bart, and Maggie, Homer and Marge Simpson are also Olympic champions.
The central “Simpsons” couple were selected to join the U.S. curling team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in that year’s episode “Boy Meets Curl,” where they defeated Sweden and took home the gold medal.
It took just eight years for that prediction to come true, as Team USA defeated Sweden in a landslide to win the sport’s first gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
“You Don’t Have to Live Like a Judge” (Season 25, Episode 16)
To commemorate the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the creators of “The Simpsons” wrote an episode in which Homer is asked to officiate a match because all the other officials have been fired for taking bribes to unfairly call the match.
In one scene, the executive vice president of the World Football Federation is arrested for corruption while speaking with Homer.
Homer himself was offered a bribe to unfairly call the FIFA World Cup finals, but he ignored the bribe and named Germany the winner against Brazil.
Four months after “You Don’t Have to Live Like a Referee” aired in March of the same year, Germany not only won the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but in 2015 the US Department of Justice launched corruption investigations against numerous FIFA officials.
In the end, 18 individuals and two entities were charged with racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering.
“Surfsons” (Season 29, Episode 1)
Two years before Game of Thrones ended with a widely panned series finale, The Simpsons kicked off its 29th season with an episode that poked fun at HBO’s hit Surfsons.
After Homer resurrects the dragon to restore magic to the kingdom, the mythical creatures attack the residents of Springfieldia and begin burning down the village.
Back in May 2019, many Westeros fans were furious when Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) rode the dragon Drogon and burned down King’s Landing in the show’s penultimate episode, “The Bell.”
“The West Wing Story”
After “The Simpsons” predicted Trump’s inauguration into the White House long before it actually happened, it appeared as if the show had done it again for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
In the August 2019 short story “West Wing Story,” author David Silverman parodied “West Side Story,” depicting then-President Trump confronting Squad members Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ayanna Pressley.
Trump ultimately lost the runoff and was forced out of the White House, where he will face a long line of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
Biden and Harris were paired together on “The Simpsons,” although they were not chosen as vice presidential candidates until August 2020. The two were elected president and vice president in November of the same year.
