Today, I’m going to talk about a topic that’s widely discussed. Why Matt Groening -creator of shows like The Simpsons and Futurama– is, in fact, a time traveller. 

Okay, maybe not a time traveller, per se, but you have to admit there’s something fishy going on. The Simpsons are famous for depicting events in their show that match real-world events, often before they happen. 

For example, an episode featured an Apple phone, with the faulty autocorrect we know today, back in 1994. Before we could even play the 1997 Snake on the Brick phone in real life, the Simpsons had autocorrect messing up people’s messages. Predicted in 1994, came true in 2007. 

The Siegfried and Roy tiger attack in 2003, where two performers were famous for their shows with two white bengal tigers was also predicted. In 1993, the Simpsons predicted the tigers would turn on them. In 2003, it came to fruition, with Roy being hospitalized and paralyzed by the damage done to him by one of the tigers. 

Facetime, an integral part of phone usage today because the actual phone part is statistically one of the least used features on there, was predicted in ‘95, and came true in 2010. 

Faulty voter machines. The campaign of 2008, Homer Simpson tries to vote for Obama but the machine records his vote for McCain. In the campaign between Obama and Mitt Romney in 2012, footage was discovered of voter machines that recorded votes for a certain delegate, despite the majority voting for someone else. 2008 it was predicted, 2012 it happens. 

The whole NSA spying scandal. Before it was revealed the government was watching all our activity, the Simpsons Movie had the NSA listening in on conversations. 2007 it was predicted, 2013 it was revealed.

Smart watches were predicted in 1995, and came true in 2014. They were depicted as literally cell phones on your wrist, and now that’s basically what they are, just on a very small screen.

The Ebola outbreak was ALSO predicted! Predicted by the show in 1997, and 2014 rolls around and Ebola became a pandemic of global attention. They had hospitals shutting down and people walking around in hazmat suits.

The whole thing with corruption in the FIFA industry. The show predicted it in 2014. One year later, in 2015, the real-world FIFA corruption was brought to light. 

The financial problems in Greece. 2012 it was predicted, with the news channel “Head Butt” saying that Europe put Greece on Ebay. 2015 it came crashing down. 

Disney’s takeover of Fox. Predicted in 1998, with a giant “20th Century Fox” sign listing it as “a division of Walt Disney Co.” Lo and behold, in 2017, Disney buys Fox for $52 billion. 

Super Bowls XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII. In 1992-1994, the Simpsons accurately predicted the winner of the Super Bowl game. 

In 2000, they predicted Trump running for president. They even had the red tie and him waving as he goes down an escalator. 2000 it was predicted, 2016 he runs for President. The funny thing about that is one of the directors said the logic behind it was that it was one of the things that marked a country gone insane. Ironically, the episode also features main character Lisa as President, which isn’t the ironic part. Her administration “inherits quite the budget crunch from President Trump.” Given that elections are coming up and the state our economy is in, this actually doesn’t sound that far-fetched. 

The London Shard. A beautiful building visible from the top of the London Eye, it was built in 2009. In 1995, on Lias’s trip to London, there is a building that looks the same and is in the same location. Crazy. 

Here’s the doozy. The God Particle. The equation that outlines how the universe was created. In a 1998 episode of the show, the Simpsons featured Homer Simpson taking on a new persona as an inventor. The show had him writing on a chalkboard like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. Homer was writing what looked like a very fancy scientific equation on the board. 14 years later, in 2012, scientists confirmed that yeah, that’s actually the model of how the universe was created. 

Another prediction is somewhat debated, but HOLY CHEESE is it crazy. 9/11, the terrorist attack of 2001. An advertisement poster in the show (background of one of the episodes) showed a special discount for travel to New York (with the Twin Towers highlighted) with rooms costing $9. The kicker is that the 9 was right next to the towers. Predicted in 1997, and it happened in 2001. Of all the numbers, and all the things… They could’ve had $10 hotel rooms to stay in Ohio or something. The fact that they had that specific number, with that specific placing. 

Recently, it was found out that the show ALSO depicted Coronavirus, AND Tom Hanks’ quarantine! In 1993, the show depicted a package from Osaka, Japan, giving everyone a very contagious disease. Furthermore, they predicted the country’s lockdown. That’s the episode with the NSA prediction: there was a biodome around the show’s central location, Springfield, designed to lock the citizens in. The Simpsons escaped, and the prediction of the NSA spying.

Tom Hanks’ quarantine. 2007, they had Tom Hanks on the show claiming “this is Tom Hanks saying that if you see me, leave me be,” in the Simpsons Movie. Now, he’s really in quarantine, in real life. On a lighter note, they sent him the Wilson volleyball from Castaway to keep him company. 

One prediction to come true is probably just a coincidence. Two, mildly concerning. Three, something’s definitely up. More than 18 accurate predictions? Time travel. I haven’t even covered everything, just the ones I thought were the most interesting. There’s correctly predicting the winner of the Olympics, Lady Gaga in the halftime show, Nobel Peace Prize, weird plant hybrids although that one they caused themselves, censoring art, nuclear mutated fish, Game of Thrones, and SO. MUCH. MORE. 

AND THEN the creator of the show, Matt Groening, went on to make another show- Futurama. Just…. FUTURAMA!! A part of me thinks this is just him rubbing it in the face. Like a space show or a show from the past. But noooo, it HAD to be set in the future. 

At this point I don’t even know what’s real anymore. I am 90% convinced that Wyoming isn’t a real state, but just part of Idaho, like that one family member we have that’s part of the family but you do everything you can to avoid acknowledging that.