<\/p>\n
The beloved animated TV show The Simpsons<\/em> is not just for laughs. It\u2019s known for predicting the future!<\/p>\n As fans know, the Matt Groening<\/strong>-created FOX series holds the record as the longest-running American primetime scripted television show of all time. Plus, over its more than three decades, 36 seasons and 790 episodes, the show\u2019s writers have scripted eerily prescient plotlines about politics, math and science, commerce, pop culture, sports and entertainment. The jaw-dropping bits that later came true include Donald Trump<\/strong> becoming President, the correct teams winning the Super Bowl, a tiger attacking the Siegfried and Roy show and a submersible malfunctioning in the ocean.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac<\/strong>\u00a0SIGN UP for Parade\u2019s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\ud83c\udfac\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When asked how the magic happens, The Simpsons<\/em> producer Matt Selman<\/strong> told People<\/em>, \u201cWell, the sourpuss answer I always give that no one likes is that if you study history and math, it would be literally impossible for us not to predict things. If you say enough things, some of them\u00a0are going to\u00a0overlap with reality, and then that\u2019s the math element.\u00a0And then, the history element is if you make a show\u00a0that\u00a0is\u00a0based\u00a0on studying the past foolishness of humanity, you\u00a0are surely going to\u00a0anticipate the future foolishness of humanity as it sinks further into foolishness.\u00a0So we don\u2019t\u00a0really\u00a0think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n While the producers and writers don\u2019t think about it, viewers sure do! And will there be more Springfield soothsaying in the hit Fox series\u2019 eagerly anticipated season 37, which premieres this Sunday night, Sept. 28, at 8 p.m. ET\/PT?<\/p>\n Time will tell if there\u2019s more left in the crystal ball. But until then, read on to find out more about The Simpsons<\/em>\u2019 top 15 predictive moments.<\/p>\n In this 2000 episode, Bart Simpson travels back to the future and sees sister Lisa as president of the United States. In a cabinet meeting, she mentions they have inherited quite a budget crunch from a former President Trump! Of course, 16 years later, Trump actually became president. Strangely, Trump ran again for 2024\u2014which was the year that\u00a0The Simpsons<\/em>\u00a0had originally predicted that he would be president.<\/p>\n During the same Trump presidency show, Lisa wears a purple pantsuit and white pearls, which is the outfit Vice President Kamala Harris<\/strong> actually wore to President Joe Biden<\/strong>\u2019s 2021 inaugural. Animators might have been honoring Hillary Clinton<\/strong> with the pantsuit, but the color purple \u201cseemed to have been a random choice. It may have been done by the animators,\u201d Simpsons<\/em> producer Mike Scully<\/strong> has noted. As for the pearls, it was sheer coincidence as \u201cLisa always wears them.\u201d<\/p>\n Lisa correctly predicts that the Washington Redskins will win the 1992 Super Bowl on the episode that aired just three days before the real game. When the episode was rebroadcast in 1993 and 1995 ,it was redubbed and again accurately predicted the winners, the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, respectively.<\/p>\n After Mr. Burns builds a Las Vegas-style casino in Springfield, the \u201cGunter and Ernst\u201d act, clearly a parody of famed Siegfried and Roy, gets attacked by their white tiger, Anastasia. Ten years after that 1993 episode, the real-life duo\u2019s white tiger, Mantecore, savagely attacked Roy Horn and caused the cancellation of their hit Vegas wild animal show. Both performers later passed away.<\/p>\n The Simpsons<\/em> showed a movie poster in 1998 indicating 20th Century Fox belongs to Disney as \u201cA Division of Walt Disney Co.\u201d is shown below it. As it turned out, Fox sold to The Walt Disney Co. in July 2018.<\/p>\n Related: Marge Simpson Dies in Shocking Finale\u2014and Fans Are Furious<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n In this 2006 episode, Homer embarks on an undersea sunken ship treasure hunt with a man he believes is his long-lost biological father. They travel in individual underwater submersibles. However, Homer\u2019s vessel gets stuck in coral, and he loses consciousness due to lack of oxygen. While Homer wakes up in the hospital, fans later noted the creepy parallels to the June 2023 OceanGate submersible story. OceanGate imploded while transporting five passengers to the bottom of the Atlantic to view the Titanic ruins. The tragic accident killed everybody on board, including founder Stockton Rush, who was posthumously blamed for negligence.<\/p>\n Homer Simpson becomes a referee in this 2014 soccer-themed episode because of FIFA (F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de Football Association) corruption. A scene shows the Vice President of the organization getting arrested. In 2015, FIFA\u2019s very real corruption was exposed as the group was raided on charges of bribery, fraud, and money laundering. Also, Germany wins the World Cup on The Simpsons<\/em>, which actually happened that same year!<\/p>\n In a 1990 Simpsons<\/em> episode, Blinky, a three-eyed fish, is found near a nuclear power plant. It foreshadowed a horrifying event in 2011 when fishermen caught a three-eyed wolf fish\u00a0in a reservoir near a nuclear plant in Argentina.<\/p>\n In this 2010 episode, Homer and Marge compete for the U.S. curling team in that year\u2019s Winter Olympics and win the gold medal against Sweden. In 2018\u2019s PyeongChang Winter Games, an underdog U.S. team actually achieved the dream, winning a gold medal against Sweden in the bizarre cult favorite brush and stone sport.<\/p>\n Incredibly, The Simpsons<\/em> seemingly foresaw even the COVID-19 pandemic. In this 1993 episode, a factory worker in Japan spreads germs by coughing into boxes that are being used to ship juicers to Springfield. Everyone in the town and all the Simpsons except Marge catch the \u201cOsaka Flu.\u201d In March 2020, the devastating effects of COVID-19 hit the world. While some believe the origins of the virus that killed millions began in a Wuhan, China lab, that has never been proven. <\/p>\n The episode\u2019s co-writer Bill Oakley<\/strong> was caught off guard by its being brought up as prophetic, explaining to The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/em> that at the time, \u201cIt was meant to be absurd that someone could cough into a box and the virus would survive for six to eight weeks in the box. It is cartoonish. We intentionally made it cartoonish because we wanted it to be silly and not scary.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: \u2018Simpsons\u2019 Icon Dead at 84 After Private Health Battle<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The Simpsons<\/em>‘ big screen outing in 2007 shows Marge planning to expose government secrets \u2013 and a room full of National Security Agency operatives listening in on Americans\u2019 phone calls. In 2013, whistleblower Edward Snowden<\/strong> revealed the NSA does indeed run secret surveillance programs of telecommunications data. While the scandal is now well-known, people in 2007 had no idea that authorities were able to access their private information.<\/p>\n Springfield Elementary\u2019s Doris uses old gym mats as recipe ingredients for school lunches in this 1995 episode. In 2014, the Environmental Working Group released a report that found a compound called azodicarbonamide in various food products, including the bread they used to make sandwiches at Subway. It\u2019s also used in yoga mats. Although Subway insisted there was no reason for concern, the company removed azodicarbonamide from its bread in 2014.<\/p>\n Homer and his friends travel to Canada to buy cheap drugs in a 2005 episode that predicted future legalization of marijuana. In the episode, Homer is surprised to learn that cannabis is legal in Canada, which, in reality, it wasn\u2019t then. But in 2018, Canada legalized pot for recreational use.<\/p>\n While the Simpsons are visiting a dilapidated mall, the family members are shown staring inside an empty and abandoned JCPenney storefront. In 2020, viewers talked about the episode again when JCPenney filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The retailer is now closing stores across the country every year due to market realities and expiring leases.<\/p>\n As fans know, Homer Simpson is obsessed with donuts, and that played a part in another show prophecy. When famed physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking<\/strong> is a cameo character in 1999, he tells Homer at Moe\u2019s Tavern, \u201cYour theory of a donut-shaped universe is intriguing. I may have to steal it.\u201d Actually, donuts are torus-shaped, and Homer\u2019s idea might well be correct, as cosmologists have since discovered evidence that the universe was round and tube-like, but empty in the middle.<\/p>\n Related: FOX Reveals Fall Premiere Dates for \u2018Hell\u2019s Kitchen,\u2019 \u2018Doc,\u2019 \u2018The Simpsons\u2019 and More<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n This story was originally reported by Parade<\/a> on Sep 27, 2025, where it first appeared in the TV<\/a> section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The beloved animated TV show The Simpsons is not just for laughs. It\u2019s known for predicting the future! As fans know, the Matt Groening-created FOX series holds the record as the longest-running American primetime scripted television show of all time. Plus, over its more than three decades, 36 seasons and 790 episodes, the show\u2019s writers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2054321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[381994,353321,22389,327964,361143,21889,381995,381996,319678,375489,361142],"class_list":["post-2054320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-bart-to-the-future","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-donald-trump","tag-episode","tag-homer-simpson","tag-kamala-harris","tag-predicting-the-future","tag-purple-pantsuit","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-siegfried-and-roy","tag-the-simpsons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/15-Eerie-Times-\u2018The-Simpsons-Predicted-the-Future.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2054320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2054321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2054320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2054320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2054320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Simpsons<\/em> Predictions<\/h2>\n
Donald Trump becomes President (Season 11, Episode 17: \u201cBart to the Future\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Kamala Harris wears a purple pantsuit (Season 11, Episode 17: \u201cBart to the Future\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Super Bowl winners named (Season 3, Episode 14: \u201cLisa the Greek\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Tiger attacks Siegfried and Roy (Season 5, Episode 10: \u201c$pringfield\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Disney acquires Fox (Season 10, Episode 5: \u201cWhen You Dish Upon a Star\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Underwater submersible goes down (Season 17, Episode 10: \u201cHomer\u2019s Paternity Coot\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
FIFA\u2019s corruption scandal \u2014 and the World Cup winner (Season 25, Episode 16: \u201cYou Don\u2019t Have to Live Like a Referee\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Three-eyed fish (Season 2, Episode 4: \u201cTwo Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The U.S. wins gold in curling (Season 21, Episode 12: \u201cBoy Meets Curl\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
A mysterious virus outbreak (Season 4, Episode 21: \u201cMarge in Chains\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
NSA spying is exposed (The Simpsons Movie<\/em>)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Yoga mats in bread (Season 6, Episode 21, \u201cThe PTA Disbands\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Canada legalizes pot (Season 16, Episode 6, \u201cMidnight RX\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
JCPenney goes bankrupt (Season 18, Episode 3, \u201cPlease Homer, Don\u2019t Hammer \u2018Em\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Donut-shaped universe (Season 10, Episode 22: \u201cThey Saved Lisa\u2019s Brain\u201d)<\/strong><\/h3>\n