Top 10 Times TV Shows Predicted the Future

“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 pretty damn 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, and it looked and functioned almost exactly like the show’s virtual display devices.

“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.

“Spooks” [aka “MI5”] (2002-11)
“Spooks” is a BBC One production which follows the lives of various MI5 officers. On July 7, 2005, terrorists bombed various areas of London, including the London Underground, killing 52 and injuring over 700. “Spooks’” series four premiere followed an extremely close storyline, as the agents are forced to battle a terrorist group called Shining Dawn who threaten to blow up a public place, including the London Underground, every ten hours. While this episode aired two months after the attack, it was filmed months in advance, and it aired with an advisory which warned viewers of the episode’s similarities and coincidences.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“Family Guy” (1999-)
In the episode “Turban Cowboy,” which aired on March 17, 2013, Peter runs his car through the Boston Marathon and kills and injures dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people. It’s a pretty sick joke, but this is “Family Guy.” The bombing of the Boston Marathon occurred only one month later, an event which killed three and injured hundreds. The episode was immediately pulled from Fox.com and Hulu, and Fox claimed that the episode would not be re-aired on television in the immediate future. Some cried conspiracy while others called it a sick coincidence.

“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? Back on March 19, 2000, “The Simpsons” aired the episode “Bart to the Future,” in which Bart sees a vision of…well, the future. While he’s a deadbeat alcoholic, Lisa is the President of the United States, and she makes a comment regarding her predecessor, President Trump. The episode’s writer, Dan Greaney, said that the joke was meant to insinuate that America couldn’t sink any lower. Sixteen years later, Trump was elected the country’s 45th President. Simpsons did it first, indeed.

“Scrubs” (2001-10)
Who knew that a goofy medical comedy would correctly predict the location of the most notorious terrorist 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. Enter the wacky Janitor, who claims that the government should be looking for bin Laden in Pakistan, causing J.D. to ask for a globe. Bin Laden was famously 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. No one ever listens to the janitor.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Colonel Gaddafi’s Death
“Second Chance” (1987-88)

- Caitlyn Jenner
“Family Guy” (1999-)

“The Lone Gunmen” (2001)
It really is quite something to predict a massive terrorist attack. “The Lone Gunmen” was an “X-Files” spinoff which aired for only 13 episodes in 2001. That’s right; same year and everything. In the series premiere, which aired on March 4, the characters find themselves in the middle of a government conspiracy. The plan is to ram a plane into the World Trade Center, blame it on terrorists, and reap the rewards of increased weapons sales. Only six months later, history was made when two planes were flown into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center. Now we’re not saying that the writers are psychic, but that is pretty damn creepy.