In the winter of 1989, America’s favorite animated family, The Simpsons, found their home on Fox and has remained there for 33 consecutive seasons. The Simpsons has been a staple for the network and has been renewed for a 34th season, making it one of the longest-running animated shows of all time. The beloved family of five has adapted to the ever-changing world of pop culture, bringing on celebrity guests who have voiced the “Simpsonized” versions of themselves. However, guest stars and Halloween specials aren’t the only thing that make The Simpsons one of the most enjoyable satires on television. They have been making spot on future predictions in more outcomes than one.
Thankfully, The Simpsons didn’t correctly predict the end-of-the-world phenomenon in 2012, however, they were correct on a lot of other bizarre coincidences. Throughout the series, the show has accurately predicted a variety of Super Bowl wins as well as the election of Donald Trump for President. The coincidences of these jokes-turned-facts is still in counting. Will newer episodes allude to future truths? Here are the best predictions in the series that actually came true.
5 Lady Gaga's Super Bowl LI Performance
In 2012, an episode of The Simpsons aired that depicted Lady Gaga performing at the Super Bowl halftime show whilst suspended in the air. A mere five years later, Lady Gaga's performance at Super Bowl LI mirrored The Simpsons episode almost perfectly. Gaga started her performance on the roof of NRG Stadium while singing "God Bless America," only to drop out of sight a moment later. She then propelled down to the stage and over the crowd just like her Simpsons character had done years prior.
4 The Smartwatch
The Simpsons wasn't the first television show to introduce gadgets of the future. The Twilight Zone and The Jetsons are great examples of shows with writers who thought far beyond their time as far as technological advancement goes. However, in 1995, well before the idea of a functional smartwatch was even in the works, The Simpsons aired an episode that did a time jump into the future. In this episode, Lisa is to be married, and her fiancé appears with an all too familiar gadget on his wrist. Lisa's fiancé, Hugh Parkfield, was voiced by Mandy Patinkin, and although he only appeared in one episode of the series, he is infamous for speaking into his smartwatch. At the episode's conclusion, Lisa and Hugh don't end up getting married because Hugh disapproves of her family.
3 Disney Acquires 20th Century Fox
There is almost no property left for the Walt Disney Company to buy, and over 20 years ago, The Simpsons predicted that they would be among those owned by Disney. According to Insider, Disney purchased 20th Century Fox for about $52.4 billion. The Simpsons weren't the only family that Disney acquired in the deal. Family Guy, Futurama, and Bob's Burgers became part of the Disney family as well. The prediction was made in an episode was titled, "When You Dish Upon a Star," playing on the famous song title from Disney's animated classic, Pinocchio. The episode featured a celebrity guest appearance from Alex Baldwin and Kim Basinger.
2 Super Bowl XXIX
Although the internet debunked the theory that The Simpsons predicted the Super Bowl win of the Cincinnati Bangals, back in the early 90s, the show accurately called that the San Francisco 49ers would win Super Bowl XXIX. This was the second time the series had correctly predicted a Super Bowl. Just the year before, they also called the win of the Washington Redskins. Before the 2022 Super Bowl, a string of pictures were going around the internet saying that The Simpsons was calling for the Bengals to win against the LA Rams. Apparently, the image was doctored, having lettering over the animation. Despite this small mishap in the series' running streak of future accuracies, it is still fun to imagine a world in which they were actually right again.
1 The Donald Trump Presidency
In the year 2000, an episode of The Simpsons aired entitled "Bart to the Future." In a comedic flash-forward, Bart learns that Lisa is President of the United States, and he is mooching off of his sister. As the episode unfolds, there is a throwaway line mentioning Donald Trump's Presidency. The episode's plot seemed to be a satire at the time, but in 2016, this became a reality in the United States. However, in 2000, Trump wasn't just focusing on real estate and casinos. According to Intelligencer, Trump actually almost ran for President in the year 2000. Coincidence or an eye into the future, The Simpsons have been bringing laughter into homes for just over 30 years, and hopefully there are many more to come.