Are the writers time travelers, or are they related to Nostradamus? The Simpsons never disappoints viewers with its eerie Simpsons predictions that ring true years later. The Simpsons family is made up of several characters, but the main characters are Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta), Marge (voiced by Julie Kavner), Lisa (voiced by Yeardley Smith), Bart (voiced by Nancy Cartwright), and Maggie. Each episode is filled with the Simpsons family interacting with other residents of Springfield including guest stars that appeared in some episodes on The Simpsons. Yet what intrigues viewers is how some events were predicted by The Simpsons writers at least five years before it happened.
America Wins the Gold Medal in Curling
“Boy Meets Curl” Season 21, Episode 12 (2010)
Everyone loves an underdog story, and The Simpsons were able to predict the most unlikely of tales in the Season 21 episode, “Boy Meets Curl.” Released in 2010, it centers on Homer and Marge as their search for a fun date takes them to the winter sport of curling. Teaming up with Agnes and Seymour Skinner, they are brought into the U.S. Olympics team for the sport and embark on an incredible run to win gold.
While the episode was released in conjunction with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada, it would be eight years later that the prediction would come to fruition when America took home gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Like in “Boy Meets Curl,” the Americans had to topple Sweden to emerge victorious.
Ebola Outbreak
“Lisa’s Sax” – Season 9, Episode 3 (1997)
“Lisa’s Sax” is an episode that tells the origin story of Lisa’s love for the musical instrument. In one scene, Bart is shown sick and feeling down, so Marge attempts to cheer him up by reading a strangely titled book. The book, titled “Curious George and the Ebola Virus,” is a strange narrative choice considering Ebola wouldn’t be widely known until the outbreak in 2000, and then again in 2014.
The Ebola outbreak back in 2000 made headlines for claiming the lives of 254 people in the Republic of Congo, and 224 more in Uganda. It’s bizarre to see the disease featured on The Simpsons, as it was still relatively unknown by the time the episode premiered. It’s a shaky connection, but one loyal fans are still willing to make and point out.
Barbie Mania
“Lisa vs Malibu Stacy” – Season 5, Episode 14 (1994)
Greta Gerwig’s comedy hit Barbie became the biggest box office success of 2023, grossing over $1.4 billion as it took the world by storm, enveloping pop culture in pink hysteria with Margot Robbie’s leading performance becoming instantly iconic. While the film was a critical success that earned plaudits aplenty for its social commentary, The Simpsons initially pictured a world engulfed in a doll daze in the Season 5 episode “Lisa vs Malibu Stacy.”
Touching on themes similar to Barbie, the episode focuses on Lisa as she grows concerned about the message that the Malibu Stacy dolls send to little girls about what womanhood can and should look like. When her pleas with the doll’s designer see a progressive shift in the product, mass hysteria takes over Springfield as everyone reacts to the new range of dolls on display.
Donald Trump Being Arrested
“Lisa vs Malibu Stacy” – Season 5, Episode 14 (1994)
Despite being released in 1994, “Lisa vs Malibu Stacy” proved to be an episode that held a lot of relevance for viewers in 2023. Not only did it preface the fanfare surrounding Barbie, but it also subtly hinted at Donald Trump’s arrest. On the 24th of August, the former President of the United States surrendered himself to authorities after being indicted on charges relating to racketeering.
Quite hilariously, “Lisa vs Malibu Stacy” sees newsreader Kent Brockman speak at great length about the popularity of the playthings before offhandedly closing the broadcast with a brief mention that the president was arrested. While vague, it could be viewed that the episode not only predicted the craze of Barbie, but even foreshadowed the social response that starkly contrasted between the political bombshell and the Barbie fanfare.
Robots as Librarians
“Lisa’s Wedding” – Season 6, Episode 19 (1995)
It would make sense that “Lisa’s Wedding,” an episode that’s essentially a flashforward into the future, would have many Simpsons predictions. It’s centered on Lisa’s experience with a fortune-teller, who predicts that she will fall in love and marry an upper-crust English man named Hugh Parkfield, whom she’ll meet at her future university. In that future, librarians have been replaced with robots.
In 2016, some brilliant Aberystwyth University students did exactly that by building a prototype for a library robot that can walk around and assist people. The robot’s name might sound familiar, as it’s also called Hugh. Hugh’s job is “to listen to [a person’s] request, find the book, and take” them there. With recent advancements in robotics, it’s safe to assume this will be a reality for many libraries around the world soon enough.
An All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant’s False Advertising
“New Kid on the Block” – Season 4, Episode 8 (1992)
For Homer, the all-you-can-eat buffet by “The Frying Dutchman” was a dream come true. He takes full advantage of the promotion by eating for hours, finishing most of their items including the shrimp and two plastic lobsters. This causes management to call him “a remorseless eatin’ machine” and eventually kick him out of the restaurant, which could go bankrupt because of his patronage. Homer is annoyed and takes them to court for false advertising.
A real-world court case would soon take place when a man from (coincidentally) Springfield, Massachusetts sues Golden Corral Corporation for $2 million for false advertising. This is after he’s kicked out of one of their all-you-can-eat restaurants by one of their employees. Much like Homer, the man ends up accepting an “out-of-court settlement.”
Doughnut-Shaped Universe
“They Saved Lisa’s Brain” – Season 10, Episode 22
“They Saved Lisa’s Brain” is a busy episode of The Simpsons, following Lisa as a letter she writes concerning how Homer humiliated the city sees her inducted into Springfield’s Mensa society which then goes on to rule Springfield when Mayor Quimby flees. As the situation escalates, Stephen Hawking arrives to see what the Mensa society has done, declaring his disapproval of their actions before going to Moe’s Tavern to share a drink with Homer.
While at the bar, Hawking compliments Homer on his theory of a doughnut-shaped universe, saying the idea is intriguing before mentioning he may steal it for himself. Interestingly, there has been a theory of a doughnut, or rather a “torus,” shaped universe since the 1980s. However, it has only risen to popularity early in the 2000s, meaning Homer may have inspired a new understanding of how the universe functions.
Whacking Day
“Whacking Day” – Season 4, Episode 20 (1993)
The episode “Whacking Day” is named after an annual tradition in Springfield where the residents gather to joyfully beat snakes to death to allegedly keep the snake population under control. Though it’s said to have originated from founder Jebediah Springfield, this is later proven to be false. Only the first half of the plot has made it to real life, with the “Python Challenge” having a similar idea.
The Florida Python Challenge calls on individuals to help control the population of invasive Burmese pythons, and it has become a highly anticipated annual event. With cash prizes that go all the way up to $10,000, the event sees more participants every year, with no soul singer like Barry White around to give them a reason to stop.
A Late Letter From The Beatles
“Brush with Greatness” – Season 2, Episode 18 (1991)
In the Season 2 episode “Brush with Greatness,” Marge picks up a paintbrush again for the first time in a long time after learning about the fate of her Ringo Starr portraits. One of the scenes in the episode shows Ringo Starr himself carefully replying to countless fan mail piled all around him, with many having been written several years ago.
This isn’t too far from a real-life event involving Paul McCartney, who replied to two fans from Essex, London in September 2013. This was a response to a letter they sent in 1963, which ended up in a car boot sale. McCartney hilariously wrote back “better late than never” and thanked the fans for their “lovely tape.”
Daenerys Targaryen’s Villainous Turn
“The Serfsons” – Season 29, Episode 1 (2017)
Game of Thrones will forever be remembered as a great fantasy show that went downhill and gave its fans one of the worst TV finales ever. One of its most questionable plot points was on The Simpsons before it ever made it on the HBO series. In “The Serfsons,” an episode that parodies Westeros and GoT in general, a dragon burns down the Serfsons’ village after Homer revived it.
This likely reminds most of how Daenerys Targaryen’s Drogon burned King’s Landing in GoT, even after the people had already surrendered. It was an infuriating scene for many fans and critics, and it was only about to get worse, with Daenerys’ villainous turn transforming her arc in the worst way possible.
Autocorrect
“Lisa on Ice” – Season 6, Episode 8 (1994)
“Lisa on Ice” sees the brightest Simpson in danger of failing thanks to new “Academic Alerts” that have identified gym class as her weak point. She immediately tries to change this, appealing to her gym teacher and reaching an agreement about joining a sports program outside of class. In the meantime, Martin is, as usual, in danger of bullying.
One scene sees school bullies read a memo to “beat up Martin,” only for the message to be scrambled to read “eat up Martha.” Anyone who’s ever experienced the frustrations of autocorrect can immediately see the parallels here, with the Newton device clearly being a very early version of the iPhone.
32A Submersible Disaster
“Homer’s Paternity Coot” – Season 17, Episode 10 (2006)
A more recent prediction from The Simpsons became clear earlier this year, when fans made the connection between the Titanic submersible disaster and the episode “Homer’s Paternity Coot.” In the episode, Homer finds a man he thinks is his long-lost father and agrees to venture into the depths of the ocean with him in an attempt to find an old ship. Disaster strikes and Homer gets stuck, but thankfully opens his eyes in a hospital a few days later.
Last June, a real-life submersible carrying five passengers toward the sunken Titanic unfortunately imploded. The expedition to see the wreck dominated conversations around the world, and the tragedy has raised crucial questions about safety regulations and protocols to prevent a similar event from ever happening again.
31Planning to Block the Sun
“Who Shot Mr. Burns?” – Season 6, Episode 25 (1995)
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When oil is discovered right beneath Springfield Elementary, Mr. Burns ruins any chances of financial gain for Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers, who had started taking suggestions from students and residents about what they should do with their newfound money. Instead, Mr. Burns beats them to drilling the oil and subsequently blocks out the sun with a giant disc so every person in Springfield is forced to use energy from his power plant.
A real-life billionaire, George Soros, recently had a similar idea, but not for the same reason Mr. Burns did. At the Munich Security Conference, Soros suggested using a cloud cover as a sort of shield over the melting Arctic in an effort to reduce global warming. It’s a totally different intention, and actually one worth rooting for.
FIFA Corruption Scandal
“You Don’t Have to Live Like a Referee” – Season 25, Episode 16 (2014)
A The Simpsons episode that features not just one but two big predictions that came to fruition, “You Don’t Have to Live Like a Referee” follows Homer as he becomes a referee in the World Cup and is approached by gangsters to fix results. The first prediction the episode got right was relatively harmless, with the episode featuring Germany emerging from the tournament as victors, which they went on to do, defeating Argentina 1-0.
A less innocent eventuality from the World Cup though was the police raid on FIFA’s headquarters as the governing body of the sport was investigated amid accusations of bribery, money laundering, and fraud. “You Don’t Have to Live Like a Referee” sees Homer land the job as a ref because FIFA struggles to overcome a referee shortage brought on by a corruption scandal.
Real Tomacco Plants
“E-I-E-I-D’oh!” – Season 11, Episode 5 (1999)
When Homer sets his eyes on agriculture, wacky disasters follow. Using nuclear ingredients from the power plant, Homer decides to create a mutant hybrid plant in the episode “E-I-E-I-D’oh!” – the result is the not-so-humble “tomacco.” A bizarre combination of the tomato and tobacco plants, the potential to make money from it drives a wedge between Homer and the rest of his family.
Disturbing real-life counterparts emerged around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where deformed vegetables and fruit popped up and looked unsettlingly similar to Homer’s creation. While no one has (thankfully) tried to find a way to make money out of these monstrous mutations, it’s not too far-fetched to imagine less scary versions of these in grocery stores in the future.
NSA Spying on Citizens
‘The Simpsons Movie’ (2007)
One of the major news stories of 2013 revolved around Edward Snowden’s leaking of information related to the U.S. government spying on its citizens as part of an anti-terror initiative. The breaking story shook Americans to the core, with many feeling as though the government and the NSA had committed an egregious breach of their privacy that was, to many, unthinkable. However, an eerily similar scenario was depicted in The Simpsons Movie in 2007.
In a scene that now has an air of ominous dread about it, the Simpsons board a train while on the run from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As Lisa frets about them being so outspoken about their efforts to warn the world about what is happening in Springfield, Marge says “Oh Lisa, it’s not like the government is listening to everybody’s conversation” before the scene cuts to the NSA listening to everybody’s conversations. It is one of the most uncanny predictions The Simpsons has ever made.
Winning the Nobel Prize in Economics
“Elementary School Musical” – Season 22, Episode 1 (2010)
The year’s Nobel Prize winners are announced in the episode “Elementary School Musical,” which shows a confused crowd as Krusty the Clown is declared to have won the Peace Prize. With Homer as his chosen companion, Krusty flies to Oslo for the awards ceremony, only to learn that it was all a trap.
Before the elaborate trap in the Season 22 episode, a freeze gag shows a “Betting Pool” card containing Milhouse’s and other students’ predictions for the Nobel Prize. One of these is Milhouse’s bet for the Nobel Prize in Economics – Bengt R Holmstrom. The Finnish economist would actually go on to win the award six years later, without having to go through what Krusty did for the rest of that episode, of course.