While Homer Simpson may be getting worse as the years go by, the writers of The Simpsons predicting the US curling gold medal victory in 2010 to foretelling the merging of Fox and Disney, the animated series has an uncanny ability to see the future, making me wonder if they have a psychic on their payroll.
Considering that The Simpsons has been running for over 30 years, and is constantly referencing current events, it's not surprising that the writers would accidentally stumble on a few accurate predictions. Even so, it can sometimes be downright eerie how closely some of the show's humorous hypotheticals have come true. As we entered into the 2020s, there were many things from previous episodes of The Simpsons that continued to come to — some of which were chuckle-worthy and others that seemed more like a nightmare come to life.
13 Donald Trump Elected President
Season 11, Episode 17: “Bart to the Future”
Just as Lisa Simpson got her glimpse into the future in "Lisa's Wedding," Bart was shown his own possible fate in "Bart to the Future." A 40-year-old Bart lives by mooching off of his family and his roommate, Ralph Wiggam, while still hoping that his music career will take off. When Bart hits rock bottom, he decides to pay a visit to his sister Lisa — the recently elected President of the United States.
During a meeting in the Oval Office, President Lisa Simpson says to her team, "As you know, we've inherited quite the budget crunch from President Trump." It may have seemed like a throwaway joke in the year 2000 when the episode aired, but remarkably, the prediction came true 16 years later when Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States. Even stranger, a poster seen in the background of one scene shows President Trump with the year "2024" written on it, an eerie foretelling of his reelection and second term.
12 Lisa Wears Kamala Harris' Purple Pantsuit
Season 11, Episode 17: “Bart to the Future”
Yet another strange Simpsons prediction happened in the episode "Bart to the Future," though this time it involved a different presidential candidate. As we see a grown-up Lisa Simpson at the beginning of her term as president, she is wearing a purple pantsuit with her trademark pearl necklace — an ensemble she continues to sport throughout the rest of the episode.
On November 6, 2021, Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first woman Vice President, appearing in a very similar purple outfit to the one that Lisa Simpson wore in "Bart to the Future." Vice President Harris also wore a pearl necklace, which was custom-made by designer Wilfredo Rosado (via Women's Wear Daily). She then wore a different deep purple pantsuit for her concession speech in 2024 — which, according to Elle UK magazine, was a symbol of the unity of the Democratic and Republican parties.
11 Cypress Hill Performing With The London Symphony Orchestra
Season 7, Episode 24: “Homerpalooza”
Hoping to reconnect with today's youth and prove he's still hip, Homer takes Bart and Lisa to the Hullabalooza music festival. The event features some of the most iconic musical performers of the 1990s, including the hip-hop group Cypress Hill, who are best known for their 1993 single, "Insane in the Membrane." When Homer gets hit in the stomach by a t-shirt shot out of a cannon, he is offered a chance to the tour as a sideshow act.
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On one leg of the tour, a stage manager enters the green room with of the London Symphony Orchestra, asking who hired the musicians to play. The of Cypress Hill confess that it might have been them, and ask if the orchestra can play "Insane in the Membrane." The symphony go on to provide a bit of high-class accompaniment while Cypress Hill performs the song. Surprisingly, these two seemingly mismatched musical acts actually did perform the song together in October 2024, which I, for one, did not see coming. You can check out part of the live event on YouTube.
10 A Flu Virus That Originates From Asia
Season 4, Episode 21: “Marge in Chains”
Most of the predictions from The Simpsons are pretty hilarious, but there are a few that I could have done without them actually coming true. First airing in 1993, "Marge in Chains" begins with Homer ordering a juicer that he sees d on TV. The scene then cuts to Osaka, Japan, where a packaging facility is about to mail out the product. One of the workers is ill, and coughs flu germs into the box. This results in an epidemic that affects many of Springfield's citizens, and is named by the media as the "Osaka Flu."
This scarily accurate prediction came true with the COVID-19 virus, which spread worldwide and caused the unprecedented pandemic of 2020. The outbreak reportedly originated in Wuhan, China (via NPR), which, like Osaka, is in east Asia. Unlike the Osaka Virus from The Simpsons, however, COVID-19 was much more serious, causing over 7 million deaths worldwide (via World Health Organization), and still counting.
9 Murder Hornets
Season 4, Episode 2: “Marge in Chains”
As if the threat of COVID-19 wasn't terrible enough, 2020 had yet another unpleasant surprise in store — one that was foreseen yet again by The Simpsons, and takes place in the same episode. As the Osaka Flu ravages throughout Springfield, an angry mob gathers in front of Dr. Hibbert's medical clinic to demand a cure. In a panic, the crowd starts to rock a nearby truck, hoping to find a cure inside. A crate falls out that reads "Danger: Killer Bees," which then breaks open as a swarm of the stinging insects escape and attack the crowd.
In May 2020, reports emerged that a species of giant hornet originating from Asia had been spotted in the United States. Although the intimidating 2-inch insects were not generally a threat to humans, these hornets were said to be capable of wiping out entire honeybee hives. Dubbed "murder hornets" by social media, these horrifying critters were yet another seemingly bad omen from a year that was already potentially apocalyptic.
8 The Downfall Of Jenney
Season 18, Episode 3: "Please Homer, Don’t Hammer ‘Em"
The Simpson family pays a visit to the Springfield Mall at the beginning of this episode from 2006. As they walk through the nearly abandoned shopping center full of decrepit stores and a dried-up water fountain, Marge declares, "Ooh, a Jenney's", before the next frame reveals the almost empty shop with most of the sign's letters missing, as she finishes: "... used to be here."
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Not only is the scene a humorous commentary on the dying market of shopping malls in America, but also a foretelling of the fate of the famous retail store. Jenney filed for bankruptcy in 2020, blaming the COVID-19 pandemic for its economic woes — although, according to CNN, the company had been in steady decline for at least a decade beforehand. The store came out of bankruptcy later that year, although it has since been forced to close several locations (via NBC).
7 One Of The Beatles Replies To A Fan Decades Later
Season 2, Episode 18: "Brush with Greatness"
While looking for his old fitness equipment in the attic, Homer and Bart discover several paintings made by Marge, each one featuring her favorite member of The Beatles, Ringo Starr. Marge recalls that she once sent one of her fanart pieces to the famous drummer along with a letter back in the 1960s, but he never wrote back. Later in the episode, we see Ringo himself finally answering some of his fan mail decades after it was received, including Marge's letter and the painting.
In a somewhat distorted reflection of that episode, Paul McCartney, singer and songwriter of The Beatles, replied to a fan's declaration of love decades later. His post on Instagram in May 2024 featured a news clip from 1963 in which a young woman from Brooklyn said to a journalist, "And Paul McCartney, if you are listening, Adrienne from Brooklyn loves you with all her heart." Paul followed up the clip with his reply, saying, "Hey Adrienne, it’s Paul. Listen, I saw your video. I’m in Brooklyn now. I’m in New York. I finally got here. We got an exhibition, a photo exhibition. Come along and see it!”
Just like Ringo Starr finally replying to Marge's letter decades later in The Simpsons, Paul's response to Adrienne was better late than never. Still, it would have been nice to also hear him say: "P.S., Please forgive the lateness of my reply."
6 Mr. Burns Planning to Block the Sun
Season 6, Episode 25: "Who Shot Mr. Burns?"
In one of The Simpsons, Mr. Burns comes up with his most nefarious money-making plot in the show’s history. When the citizens of Springfield discover oil beneath the elementary school, Mr. Burns immediately begins scheming to take the newfound wealth for his own. With the fuel absconded, there is only one natural source left keeping Burns’s nuclear power plant from being Springfield’s sole energy source: the sun. He uses his limitless wealth to build a giant disk that will block the sun, earning the ire of the entire town.
Mr. Burns's nefarious scheme may sound like something concocted by one of the best James Bond movie villains, but it's actually not as far-fetched as it seems. In fact, rather than dooming the world, recent studies have shown that reflecting sunlight into space might actually be a solution to climate change. In 2023, billionaire philanthropist George Soros suggested solar geoengineering as a possible solution to the climate crisis, and even offered to donate his own funds to the effort (via Politico). Soros’ intentions are the opposite of Burns’ in The Simpsons, thankfully, but the coincidences are still uncanny.
5 Homer Takes A Submersible On A Failed Expedition
Season 17, Episode 10: "Homer's Paternity Coot"
The Simpsons receive an old letter from the 1960s written by a man who claims to be Homer's biological father, and Homer decides to seek him out. His name is Mason Fairbanks, an eccentric multimillionaire who hunts for sunken treasure. Mason invites Homer to him in a hunt for a legendary treasure known as the emeralds of Piso Mojado. They each pilot two single-person submersibles to find the sunken ship with the treasure, but Homer gets lost and finds himself stuck in a patch of coral with no oxygen.
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Homer is later found and rescued, but one real-life underwater expedition in 2023 was not so lucky. Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate and owner of the underwater vessel, Titan, led a search for the remains of the Titanic along with four other engers in June 2023. They were all killed by an implosion at the bottom of the ocean, with the debris found 1600 feet from the Titanic's location (via CNN). The fact that both Mason Fairbanks and Stockton Rush were wealthy amateur adventurers is quite a coincidence, though it makes the real-life event no less tragic.
4 Richard Branson Goes To Space
Season 25, Episode 15: "The War Of Art"
Marge buys a painting at the Milhouses' yard sale, and later discovers that it may have been made by a renowned artist. During efforts to hunt down the painting's true origin, the family meets a forger by the name of Klaus Ziegler, who claims to be the true artist. When Lisa criticizes him for his dishonesty, Klaus insists that his forgeries make people happy, and the scene cuts to various people enjoying Ziegler’s artwork. One of them is Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Records, who ires an abstract painting while reclining in zero-gravity aboard a space vessel.
This predicted moment from The Simpsons isn't that much of a wild guess, considering that the English billionaire founded the spaceflight company Virgin Galactic in 2004. However, Branson did make history by being the first founder of a commercial spaceflight company to travel personally into space in 2021 (via NPR). Virgin Galactic then went on to launch its first tourist trip in 2023 (via PBS).
