Top 20 Most Surprising Simpsons Predictions That Came TRUE
#20: Cypress Hill & the London Symphony Orchestra
“Homerpalooza”
Back in 1996, “The Simpsons” aired the episode “Homerpalooza,” where Homer tours as a cannonball absorber in a parody of the renowned Lollapalooza music festival. While backstage at an event, a producer asks the acts who ordered the London Symphony Orchestra, perhaps while in an altered state, and then looks at hip-hop group Cypress Hill. After a brief discussion within the band, they decide to move forward. We get a brief taste of classical “Insane in the Brain,” which Marge supports, and so do we. Well, in 2024, after having performed with classical groups in the US the year before, Cypress Hill announced a gig at the Royal Albert Hall in England with… the London Symphony Orchestra!
#19: Game of Thrones Heel Turn
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“The Serfsons”
The final season of “Game of Thrones' ' is one of the most controversial last outings for a TV show in history. One of the biggest problems was Daenerys Targaryen’s heel turn. In the episode “The Bells,” she and her dragon Drogon go on a rampage through a surrounded King’s Landing, setting it ablaze. Two years before this aired, in 2017, “The Simpsons” released “The Serfsons,” which parodied fantasy and “Game of Thrones.” Homer revives a dragon before the family heads off. When they look back at the town, the dragon is rampaging above it, spraying it with fire. We can only assume a “Game of Thrones'' writer watched the episode and took detailed notes.
#18: Don Mattingly's Hair
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“Homer at the Bat”
When fans chit-chat about the greatest “The Simpsons” episodes of all time, 1992’s “Homer at the Bat” is often in the running. After all, it stars a host of famous athletes from the era and is a hotbed of jokes. One in particular involved baseball star Don Mattingly being constantly harassed by Mister Burns to shave his sideburns, even though he doesn’t have any, and gets benched. In 1991, Mattingly ruffled the feathers of the New York Yankees management by refusing to cut his hair. He was dropped and fined before being put back in the roster and announcing his intention to get his follicles snipped. While “The Simpsons” episode aired later, the recording of it was done BEFORE Mattingly’s real-life incident.
#17: Eating Irradiated Fish
“Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish”
Mister Burns and his dodgy practices with his nuclear power plant came back to bite him in this peerless 1990 episode. After Bart discovers a three-eyed fish nearby, Burns runs for political office to stop his plant from being closed down. Later, the resident billionaire eats at the Simpsons’ house with the press watching, only to be served the three-eyed Blinky. While Burns tried to eat it, he couldn’t keep it down. Fast forward to 2023, Japan’s real-life Prime Minister Fumio Kishida did something similar. Alongside other ministers, he proceeded to eat a fish caught in the waters in Fukushima to showcase it was safe after treated nuclear wastewater was released from the power plant.
#16: Nobel Bet
“Elementary School Musical”
Predicting the winners of the Nobel Prize seems like an impossible task to do years beforehand. After all, breakthroughs can happen at any time, slingshotting someone into the favorite position. In 2010, “The Simpsons” episode “Elementary School Musical” aired that used the prestigious awards as a plot backdrop. At the start, Lisa and her friends are watching the ceremony. Martin explodes in happiness as his pick in the betting pool wins in economics. When he shows the betting table, we can see Milhouse chose “Bengt R. Holmström.” Well, in 2016, that blue-haired icon was correct: the Finnish economist was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, alongside Oliver Hart, for their work in contract theory.
#15: Goodfather
“Worst Episode Ever”
1972’s “Godfather” is one of the best films ever made. Somehow, Francis Ford Coppola kept nearly the same quality with 1974’s “The Godfather Part II.” Yet 1990’s “The Godfather Part III” is pretty much universally acknowledged as the weakest entry in the trilogy. In the 2001’s “Worst Episode Ever,” “The Simpsons” took a jokey jab at the latter film. When Bart and Milhouse stumble upon Comic Book Guy’s secret film vault, they discover a bunch of unique movies. One in particular was “Godfather Three: Good Version.” Seemingly, Paramount took note. In 2020, they released “The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone,” a recut version of the 1990 version. Coppola and star Al Pacino praised this version and felt it vindicated the original.
#14: Gaga Attire
“Lisa Goes Gaga”
Lady Gaga is a very hard person to predict. Yet, someone in “The Simpsons” writing team somehow defied the odds to foresee her actions. In the 2012 episode, “Lisa Goes Gaga,” the music icon comes to Springfield to lift their spirits. At one point, Gaga performs to the crowd before having a quick costume change. While parodying her flaming bra outfit, she takes to the sky, flying around the stage and the audience with cables. Five years later, the seed of that cartoon interpretation bloomed in Gaga’s mind. For her halftime performance at the Super Bowl, Gaga began at the top of the stadium in a similar silver costume and boots. Then, she descended onto the stage via cables, appearing to soar.
#13: Late Beatle Post
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“Brush with Greatness”
In the 1991 episode “Brush with Greatness,” Marge loses her artistic drive after sending a portrait of The Beatles’ Ringo Starr to the drum icon himself. However, after having no response, she pauses her painting passion before picking it up nearly 20 years later. When Marge has doubts again, Starr goes through his fan mail, finds her drawing, and sends her a positive response. In real life, in 1963, young Barbara Bezant and Lyn Jeffries sent a message on a tape to The Beatles. However, the recording never reached them and was later found at a community sale. Thanks to “The One Show,” it was eventually given to Paul McCartney in 2013, who sent the pair a lovely response.
#12: Horse Meat Meals
“Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song”
2013 in Europe was a bizarre time as the “horse meat scandal” swept the continent. An investigation found that various food products claimed to contain beef often turned out to have meat from the equine species. Several people responsible for the controversy were sentenced to jail. Once again, the prediction gods favored “The Simpsons.” In the 1994 episode “Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song,” Santa’s Little Helper is at the school after Bart brought him in for Show and Tell. The pup then smells something enticing in the cafeteria kitchen. In a throwaway gag, we see Lunchlady Doris making a stew – we assume – and next to her is a big container of horse meat, with an emphasis on extra intimate pieces within.
#11: Canadian Reeferino
“Midnight Rx”
In 2005, “The Simpsons” took aim at US prescription medication costs in the episode “Midnight Rx.” Homer, Apu, Grampa, and Ned team up to go north of the border into Canada to get cheaper pills, then smuggle them back into the States. Ned meets his Maple Leaf doppelganger and the two exchange nonsense for a while. But the double quickly falls out of Ned’s grace when he offers him legal “reeferino.” Ned gets all judgy and accuses him of being a Satanic temptation. At the time, in reality, Canada hadn’t legalized marijuana. But jumping ahead to 2018, the country formally introduced the Cannabis Act, which legalized the substance for medical and recreational use.
#10: Richard Branson in Space
“The War of Art”
In an episode not focused on space travel, we get a blink and you’ll miss prediction. Homer and Lisa go on an adventure to prove the ownership of a priceless painting Homer bought from Kirk Van Houten. They travel to Puerto Rico where they encounter an art forger named Klaus Ziegler who confirms the painting is a forgery he painted. When Lisa claims that what he’s doing is dishonest, Ziegler counters that his works bring pleasure to people all over the world. During that moment there’s a brief cut away of Richard Branson on a spacecraft. This depiction was 7 years before Branson space flight with Virgin Galactic.
#9: Tiger Attack
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“$pringfield”
As a way to improve Springfield’s economy, the town legalizes gambling and Mr. Burns builds a casino. One of the attractions featured at the new casino is the duo Gunter and Ernst who are magicians performing with a white tiger. During one of the performances, the tiger, named Anastasia has a flashback recalling her capture. This causes the big cat to attack the two. Gunter and Ernst are parodies of Siegfried & Roy who were known for performing their magic show with white lions and tigers. Unfortunately about 10 years following the airing of this episode Roy was attacked by a tiger during a performance. He survived but had to retire due to extensive injuries suffered in the attack.
#8: Faulty Voting Machines
“Treehouse of Horror XIX”
In the opening for the annual Halloween episode Homer goes to vote for Barack Obama for the 2008 United States presidential election. While in the voting booth, Homer selects Obama as the machine continues to register his vote as one for John McCain. The machine ends up sucking Homer in. Of course, in real life voting machine’s don’t do that, yet, but during the 2012 presidential election footage was captured of a person trying to vote for Obama but the machine would select Mitt Romney. Many couldn’t help but notice the eerie similarity between the two moments.
#7: Smartwatches & Video Calling
“Lisa’s Wedding”
While at a Renaissance fair Lisa encounters a fortune teller who says she’ll tell the young girl her future and the story of her true love. In the vision we see Lisa as an adult in the year 2010 where she meets Hugh and the two fall in love. Aside from the prevalence of robots, and new airplane designs, communication tools have improved. When Lisa makes a call to Marge she does so on a video phone which seems to have been adopted recently as Marge forgets she can be seen by Lisa. Earlier in the episode when Hugh is proposing to Lisa, he speaks into a smartwatch. The episode aired in 1995 and both these tools would be popularized in the 2010s.
#6: Disney Buys Fox
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“When You Dish Upon a Star”
While Homer is parasailing he accidentally discovers the vacation home of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin. He forms a close relationship with the couple and Ron Howard, becoming their assistant. He would run errands for them so they can keep a low profile while in Springfield. He also pitched a screenplay starring Baldwin with Howard to direct. Later in the episode Howard takes the story to his producing partner Brian Grazer at 20th Century Fox. In an establishing shot of the Fox film lot there's a sign for the studio indicating it’s a division of Walt Disney Co. In 2019 Disney would in fact buy Fox and would become the owners of “The Simpsons”.
#5: NSA Spying
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“The Simpsons Movie” (2007)
Once the townsfolk discover that Homer was responsible for EPA enclosing the town under a large dome, an angry mob forms to confront the Simpson family. They’re able to escape through a sinkhole and go on the lam. They end up in Alaska but after several months away Marge and the kids can no longer stay and head back to save Springfield. While on their way back it’s revealed that the NSA has a large network dedicated to listening to people’s communications. If that isn’t scary enough, in 2013 Edward Snowden came forward revealing the NSA’s surveillance programs. “The Simpsons” predictive powers aren’t just confined to the TV series.
#4: Higgs Boson Particle
“The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace”
Feeling as though he hasn’t accomplished anything with his life, Homer takes inspiration from Thomas Edison after learning of several inventions credited to him. Homer dedicates his life to coming up with inventions. Of course taking up such a task is harder than it sounds. We get a brief montage of Homer hard at work and he has an equation written on a chalkboard during this process. What you might not realize is that the equation predicts the mass of the Higgs boson particle with the result being just a bit larger than the observed mass. The amazing part is that this is 14 years before the particle was discovered.
#3: Titan Disaster
“Homer’s Paternity Coot”
Homer finds out that Grandpa might not be his father after a letter to Mona from a former lover is discovered. Homer tracks down Mason Fairbanks, the man who could be his real dad. Fairbanks spends his time salvaging valuables from sunken ships. Two dive into the ocean with submersibles searching for treasure where Homer’s vehicle becomes trapped and his oxygen runs out. In 2023, OceanGate’s submersible, Titan, went on a voyage to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Many people noted the similarities between the two situations when the ship was first reported missing. Unfortunately, the search for the Titan ended in tragedy when the ship imploded and its debris was located a few days later.
#2: Trump’s Election Victory
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“Bart to the Future”
Few could have seen Donald Trump winning the White House in 2016, that is except for “The Simpsons”. While at a Native American casino Bart is shown a vision of his potential future if he doesn’t change his deceitful ways. In it, Bart is a 40 year old slacker, rooming with Ralph Wiggum. Lisa on the other hand is doing quite well for herself as she’s become President. We get a brief scene with Lisa in a meeting to discuss a budget shortfall where it’s revealed that it’s been inherited from President Trump. The episode aired in 2000 and in 2016 Trump would be elected. Following Trump's election the show had a chalkboard gag stating, “Being right sucks”.
#1: USA Wins Gold in Curling
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“Boy Meets Curl”
Marge and Homer get swept up in the sport of curling accidently when they plan to go ice skating. After Agnes Skinner notices Marge’s sweeping talent she and Homer join Anges and Seymour to form a team. When the IOC announces that mixed curling will be held at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the foursome end up representing the USA for the event. They make it to the gold medal game, facing off against Sweden where they take the gold. Although it wasn’t at the same Olympic games, the USA would go on to win gold over Sweden at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
If the Simpsons family, including the extended members, got into a “Battle Royale”-esque fight, who would win? Lisa? Marge? Uncle Herb? Or someone else? Let us know in the comments!
