The Simpsons is currently in its 36th season. It’s brought a lot to pop culture over the last few decades, but I would argue that nothing has been as impressive as the show’s crazy ability to predict the future. Most recently, an episode from 2000 called “Bart to the Future” made headlines because it featured Lisa Simpson as America’s first female president. In the episode, Lisa is wearing a purple pants suit, pearl necklace, and earrings, which is, of course, what Vice President Kamala Harris wore during her inauguration in January 2021. Other prophecies include Lisa mentioning that she inherited a “budget crunch” from a “President Trump” in the same episode, correct Super Bowl winners, a 1996 ep that predicted January 6, a 1999 episode that predicted the pandemic, and a 1997 ep that alludes to 9/11.
Over the course of 35 years, coincidences are bound to happen, but The Simpsons has had so many prophecies that it’s almost eerie at this point. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the tally is currently at 34 predictions. In a recent interview with People, executive producer Matt Selman was asked about what crystal ball they’re using in the writers’ room. He responded with the most scientific answer possible: If you know your history and you’re good at math, you, too, can predict the future!
“Well, the sourpuss answer I always give that no one likes is that if you study history and math, it would be literally impossible for us not to predict things,” showrunner and executive producer Matt Selman tells PEOPLE exclusively. “If you say enough things, some of them are going to overlap with reality, and then that’s the math element. And then, the history element is if you make a show that is based on studying the past foolishness of humanity, you are surely going to anticipate the future foolishness of humanity as it sinks further into foolishness fair. So we don’t really think about it.”
Noting that the list of things the series has predicted (which currently stands at 34) is “completely unregulated,” Selman — who has worked on the series since 1997, beginning as a writer — says the only thing writers “hate” is when fans “put obviously fake images online and say, we predicted things that we didn’t.”
“It was nicer when the predictions were just predicting real horrible events, not people pretending we predicted horrible events,” he says, adding that it’s “very depressing and dispiriting that people want the magic to be true so bad that they just start” making up scenarios that never appeared on the show.
The Simpsons, created by Matt Groening, made its debut on FOX on Dec. 17, 1989. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer have rounded out the show’s primary voice cast.
As a big “the Universe” person, I kept fighting back the urge to “Well, actually” Selman while reading this, hehe. Yes, yes, I know what he is saying actually makes complete and total sense. I’m also a big math person with a minor in grammar snobbery because that is the way my mind works. I just think it’s cooler to imagine that someone in production has a little bit of a third eye. But that said, this does have a very “All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again” feeling to it. That doesn’t explain the prediction of the first female president of the United States being a fan of wearing purple pantsuits with pearls, but point taken. Humanity really is predictable in our predilections and basic nature. Who knows what The Simpsons will correctly predict on this upcoming season? Odds are that they’ll get something. STEM fans, this is truly your time to shine!
Photos are screenshots from YouTube/TheThings Animated