Top 20 Times TV Shows Predicted the Future

Top 20 Times TV Shows Predicted the Future

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 Times TV Shows Predicted the Future.

For this list, we’ll be looking at times when fictional programs appeared to imitate a real-world event before it occurred.

Which of these predictions shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments below!

#20: The COVID-19 Pandemic

“Supernatural” (2005-20)
Since “Supernatural” is so focused on mystical elements, no one expected that they’d predict something realistic. But it looks like it accurately predicted the biggest news event of 2020. In one episode from season five, Dean gets a glimpse of the world five years into the future. He finds that public events have been shut down and the streets are mostly empty. Why? Well, because a virus starting with the letter c has run rampant. Although this episode aired in 2009, a good eleven years before COVID shut the world down, “Supernatural” was set to end in 2020. And if that wasn’t evidence enough, Dean is even told to hoard toilet paper just as many people did at the beginning of the pandemic.

#19: The Ashley Madison Hack

“Mr. Robot” (2015-19)
Ashley Madison is a notorious dating site marketed towards married people looking to have an affair. This site only became more infamous after a group calling themselves The Impact Team acquired the personal information of the site’s users in 2015. After their demands to shutter Ashely Madison weren’t met, the hackers released some of the data they acquired. This resulted in the site being caught in a class action lawsuit and led to several public figures being exposed. That’s why viewers raised their eyebrows when an Ashley Madison hack was present in “Mr. Robot” the season one finale of “Mr. Robot.”. While the episode aired after the hack, writer and showrunner Sam Esmail confirmed that it was written and shot before the real event occurred.

#18: Hyde Goes to Jail

“That '70s Show” (1998-2006)
Danny Masterson found great success playing lovable stoner Steven Hyde on Fox’s “That '70s Show.” Despite being intelligent, Hyde is an underachiever and doesn’t seem to have much ambition in life. He’s also very rebellious and harbors little respect for authority. Because of these traits, Hyde often declares that he will end up in jail. This proved correct in more ways than one. In the season two finale, Hyde is arrested for possession after covering for Jackie. And in real life, Masterson was charged with numerous counts of forcible assault. He was found guilty in May 2023 and could face life in prison.

#17: The Fall of the Berlin Wall

“Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In” (1968-73)
Erected in 1961, the Berlin Wall was found in the Federal Republic of Germany and served to separate West Berlin from the communist East. It’s perhaps the most enduring symbol of the Cold War. While it was up, the popular comedy show “Laugh-In” did a segment called where comedians would report on distant events. One bit saw Dan Rowan reporting from 1989 and claiming that the Berlin Wall was just torn down. It was meant as a joke to the viewers in 1969 as there were no signs that the structure would come down. However, the comedians completely called it. The wall was figuratively broken in November 1989 and literally demolished throughout the early ‘90s.

#16: The Cubs Win the World Series

“Parks and Recreation” (2009-15; 2020)
And speaking of things that would seemingly never happen, let’s talk about the Chicago Cubs! By 2016, the Cubs had the longest World Series drought in baseball history because they hadn’t won since 1908. History was made on the night of November 2, 2016. That’s when the Cubs beat Cleveland in game seven for their first title in 108 years. This historic event was predicted one year earlier in an episode of “Parks and Recreation.” During the season seven episode set in 2017, a character named Lucy mentions that the Cubs have recently won the series. This piece of dialogue was just meant to be a funny dig at the long suffering team. However, the Cubs got the last laugh.

#15: Blinky the Three-Eyed Fish

“The Simpsons” (1989-)
“The Simpsons” writers are no strangers to predicting the future, as we have a whole list solely based on times done so, and - spoiler alert! - they might even appear again on this list. This second season prediction is one you might not even know about. In the episode “Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish”, Bart catches a three-eyed fish that is named Blinky by the media. The deformed fish was caught near a nuclear power plant that is found to have 342 safety violations worth over $50 million. This remained a silly joke until 2011 when fishermen in Córdoba, Argentina caught a three-eyed wolf fish. Sure enough, the lake was used as a dumping ground for a nuclear power plant facility’s hot water.

#14: Facebook

“Friends” (1994-2004)
This iconic sitcom came to an end in 2004, the same year that Facebook was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Mark Zuckerberg and company. But “Friends” predicted it about one year earlier. “The One with the Memorial Service” aired on March 13, 2003. It sees Ross finding a social website exclusively for college students. Of course, similar sites like MySpace existed at the time, but they were open to the general public and not exclusive to college alumni. When Facebook launched in 2004, it was meant specifically for Harvard students and later expanded to many universities around the country. It wasn’t until September 2006 that it was opened to the public. And we’re sure Ross jumped on as soon as he could.

#13: Colonel Gaddafi

“Second Chance” (1987)
This oft-forgotten sitcom only aired for one season in the 1980s. The first scene sees various dead people visiting St. Peter in his heavenly office and being judged for their actions in life. One of Peter’s visitors is Libyan revolutionary Colonel Gaddafi, who shows up with multiple gunshot wounds in his chest. The title card informs us that this scene takes place on July 29, 2011. This dark gag came shockingly close to being 100 percent identical to reality. Muammar Gaddafi was shot to death by militants on October 20, 2011. Somehow, a sitcom that came and gone predicted a major world event.

#12: Google Glass

“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993-99)
With the amount of futuristic technology present in the “Star Trek” franchise, fiction has met reality a few times. One such case can be found in “Deep Space Nine” and Google Glass, and while it wasn’t a spot-on prediction, it's extremely close. In the show, virtual display devices are placed over characters’ heads, and a little computer screen hovers over one eye. One character even says that “it’s like having a viewscreen inside your brain.” A few decades later, Google would unveil the Google Glass. It looked and functioned almost exactly like the show’s virtual display devices.

#11: Super Bowl XXX

“Quantum Leap” (1989-93)
These writers should look into sports betting. In the episode “All-Americans,” which aired in 1990, Al was watching Super Bowl XXX, and it was mentioned that the Pittsburgh Steelers were down by three points. Sure enough, the Pittsburgh Steelers played the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX, six years after the episode aired on television. And the kicker? In the fourth quarter of the game, the Steelers were down 20-10 when running back Bam Morris scored a touchdown, making the score 20-17. Yes, the Steelers were down by three in Super Bowl XXX, just as “Quantum Leap” had said.

#10: iPads

“Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987-94)
Seeing as how “Star Trek” takes place in the distant future, it’s not surprising to hear that it correctly predicted a few things. One of their best call forwards came with their Personal Access Display Devices. These handheld touchscreen computers were used for a variety of functions. And you may have noticed, Personal Access Display Device shortens to PADD. Sound familiar? Computers of this magnitude were literally the stuff of science fiction in 1992. But less than two decades later, Apple would revolutionize the computing game with the first iPad. Released in April 2010, the real device was virtually identical to the PADD. Even their names bore startling similarities.

#9: The 7/7 Bombings

“Spooks” [aka “MI5”] (2002-11)
“Spooks” is a BBC One production which follows the lives of various MI5 officers. On July 7, 2005, conspirators bombed various areas of England including the London Underground. Many were injured and lost their lives in the attack. The “Spooks’” series four premiere followed an extremely close storyline. During the episode in question, the agents are forced to battle a group called Shining Dawn who threaten to blow up public places like the London Underground.While this episode aired two months after the attack, it was filmed months in advance. It ended up airing with an advisory which warned viewers of the episode’s similarities and coincidences.

#8: O.J. Simpson’s “If I Did It”

“The Chris Rock Show” (1997-2000)
This feels like it must have been intentional, because the similarities are just way too coincidental. In this segment, Chris Rock is showing us around the backstage of his studio. It is there he finds O.J. Simpson’s fictional video “I Didn’t Kill My Wife! But If I DID, Here’s How I’d Do It.” This episode aired in 1997. Ten years later, the book “If I Did It” was released, which details how Simpson would have enacted the murders if he decided to kill Brown and Goldman. While Simpson’s manager has claimed that Simpson didn’t write the book, he still accepted money for its publication, indicating an acceptance of the material within.

#7: Edward Snowden

“Person of Interest” (2011-16)
Edward Snowden shocked the world in 2013 when he controversially leaked classified information regarding secret surveillance programs. The reaction was mixed; some hailed him as a hero and a patriot, while others called him a traitor. We all would have seen this coming if we had watched “Person of Interest.” In May of 2012, the episode “No Good Deed” aired, which told the story of an NSA security analyst who learns of a massive surveillance program, leaks the info to the press, and is subsequently hunted by the government. So, you know, pretty much the same situation that Edward Snowden found himself in. (xref) It sounds like someone knew something we didn’t, because “Scandal” covered similar ground in an episode dated from October 2012.

#6: Harvey Weinstein

“30 Rock” (2006-13; 2020)
A brilliant satire of the television industry, “30 Rock” aims a lot of vitriolic humor towards celebrities, producers, and networks. The narcissistic Jenna Maroney makes some wickedly dark jokes about the embattled and now convicted producer Harvey Weinstein. In one scene, Jenna claims that she resisted Weinstein’s advances three out of five times. This episode aired in March of 2012. The following January saw the release of “Florida,” in which Jenna makes a reference to being put in an uncomfortable position with the producer. News of the real Weinstein’s bad behavior and crimes began to come to light in October 2017. Viewers noted that Jenna’s comments could’ve been both a prediction and a way of drawing attention to a then open secret.

#5: The Moon Landing

“Star Trek” (1966-69)
We’re pretty sure that “Star Trek” writers are just time-hoppers at this point. In a season one episode titled “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” the Enterprise crew is sent back to the 1960s, and there is a reference to a three-man mission to the Moon leaving Cape Kennedy on Wednesday. This episode aired in 1967. Two years later, Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the Moon, left Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, July 16, with three men onboard. While details of the upcoming mission were probably big news in 1967, it’s still pretty impressive.

#4: Kevin Spacey

“Family Guy” (1999-2003; 2005-)
This animated sitcom has predicted several major historical and pop culture events during its run. years. In recent years, many have examined their dig at the now-disgraced Kevin Spacey. Like Harvey Weinstein, Spacey’s career spiraled in October 2017 when he was accused of some heinous crimes. This was seemingly referenced twelve years earlier when “Family Guy” released an episode called “Don't Make Me Over.” Stewie performs a public prank by running through a mall and claiming that he has escaped from Spacey’s basement. Similarly to the Weinstein incident, viewers wondered if insider knowledge of the actor’s alleged crimes informed this joke.

#3: President Trump

“The Simpsons” (1989-)
When this clairvoyant writer’s room isn’t busy predicting the Disney-Fox merger, they’re foretelling the future of American politics. Remember when the idea of Donald Trump being President of the United States was just a joke? Who knew that it would actually happen? In March 19, 2000, “The Simpsons” aired the episode “Bart to the Future.” While the young Simpson discovers that he’s a deadbeat, his sister Lisa is the President of the United States. She makes a comment regarding her predecessor, President Trump. Sixteen years later, he was elected the country’s 45th President. Simpsons did it first, indeed.

#2: Osama bin Laden in Pakistan

“Scrubs” (2001-10)
Who knew that a goofy medical comedy would correctly predict the location of one of the most notorious people in modern history? In the 2006 episode “His Story IV,” the hospital is in the midst of a political debate, and J.D. feels left out. The wacky janitor enters and claims that the government should be looking for bin Laden in Pakistan. While J.D. ask to look at a globe, some wondered if he glanced into a crystal ball. Bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011 in his supposed home of five-plus years. This would mean that bin Laden was allegedly living in Pakistan in 2006 as the janitor predicted.

#1: The 9/11 Attacks

“The Lone Gunmen” (2001)
“The Lone Gunmen” was an “X-Files” spinoff that aired for just 13 short episodes in 2001. And like its parent program, it was full of mystery and intrigue. In the series premiere, which aired on March 4, 2001, the characters find themselves unraveling a plot to intentionally send a plane to collide with the World Trade Center. This episode shockingly aired six months before the World Trade Center was actually attacked. It’s hard to rewatch this episode of “The Lone Gunmen” and not think that the people behind this show somehow saw this grim historical event coming.