‘The Simpsons’ are once again getting credit for predicting American politics
TV’s longest running series is once again is being hailed as a modern day Nostradamus.
In episode titled “Bart to the Future,” which released in 2000, Lisa Simpson is shown growing up to become the first female president of the United States. She’s dressed in an outfit strikingly similar to the one America’s first female Vice President Kamala Harris wore to the 2021 inauguration, including her accessories.
Al Jean, one of the best known among “The Simpsons” writers, commented about the similarity on social media.
“@TheSimpsons ‘prediction’ I’m proud to be a part of,” he wrote on X.
But it’s not the first time an episode of “The Simpsons” has served as a coincidental Magic 8 Ball.
Here are a few other examples of the show’s accurate squints into the future:
President Trump
Lisa Simpson became president in that episode after a “President Trump,” 16 years before he was actually was elected. However, reports the animated series foresaw an image of Trump on an escalator and predicted the electoral map from his win turned out to be false.
Lady Gaga playing the Super Bowl
The singer appeared as a guest on “The Simpsons” in 2012. An animated Gaga is shown playing a concert for Springfield in which she flies through the air – much like she did during her halftime performance at the Super Bowl in 2017.
Smartwatches
Well before you could strap that Apple smartwatch on your wrist, “The Simpsons” had something similar in a 1995 episode.
Siegfried & Roy tiger attack
Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, the famous Vegas performers who worked with big game cats, were parodied by the show in 1993.
In the episode, a white tiger attacks “Gunter and Ernst” during their act as revenge for having been snatched away from his life in the wild.
In real life, Horn suffered a career-ending injury in 2003 after a tiger attacked him during a show.
Cypress Hill
The hip-hop group Cypress Hill discussed collaborating with the London Symphony Orchestra in a 1996 episode of “The Simpsons” titled “Homerpalooza.”
Nearly three decades later, the two ensembles recently did just that in a performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
A version of this story was first published in 2017.
The predictions made in "The Simpsons" extend beyond political figures, as the show also depicted Lady Gaga performing at the Super Bowl with aerial stunts, similar to her real-life halftime show in 2017. Moreover, the series showcased smartwatches before they became mainstream, with an appearance in a 1995 episode.
