For over three decades, The Simpsons has established itself not only as America's longest-running animated sitcom but also as an uncanny prophet of future events. Created by Matt Groening in 1989, this satirical masterpiece has consistently amazed audiences with its ability to predict real-world events years—sometimes decades—before they occur. From Donald Trump's presidency to technological innovations, the show's track record has sparked genuine curiosity about what lies ahead for 2025.Cartoon depiction of Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, holding a Bender figurine from Futurama.
The Science Behind The Simpsons' Prophetic Powers
How does a cartoon manage to predict the future with such startling accuracy? According to showrunner Matt Selman, the answer combines mathematics and historical awareness. "If you study history and math, it would be literally impossible for us not to predict things," Selman explained to reporters. The show's writers, many of whom hold advanced degrees in mathematics and science, craft storylines based on studying "the past foolishness of humanity". Research conducted by mathematician Matt Zaremsky revealed that while The Simpsons has made approximately 1,224 predictions across its 750+ episodes, only about 34 have actually come true—a success rate of roughly 1.6%. However, the average prediction that does materialize typically comes true 13 years after it aired, suggesting intentional foresight rather than pure coincidence.
The Simpsons Predictions for 2025: What to Expect
Flying Cars Finally Take Flight
In a 2005 episode titled "Future-Drama," The Simpsons depicted a world where flying cars had become commonplace, with Homer purchasing a hover car prototype. Fast forward to 2025, and this prediction edges closer to reality. Samson Sky, an Oregon-based company, has announced plans to deliver its Switchblade flying car after 14 years of development. The vehicle, which transforms from a road car into an aircraft, successfully completed test flights in 2023 and could revolutionize transportation as early as 2026.The Simpsons characters in a futuristic flying car, illustrating the show's imaginative predictions of future technology.
Artificial Intelligence Takeover
Season 23, Episode 17 of The Simpsons showed Mr. Burns replacing all human employees with robots after his lawyer advised him that automation would save money. "Ladies and gentlemen, meet the future masters of the human race," Burns announces ominously. This prediction resonates powerfully in 2025 as AI-driven automation continues reshaping the workforce, with widespread layoffs occurring across multiple industries globally.
Economic Recession and Global Instability
The show has depicted economic collapses and financial crises in multiple episodes. Economists warn that 2025 could see a recession rivaling the 2008 financial crisis, with rising debt, global instability, and technology sector layoffs threatening economic stability. In the episode "Bart to the Future," President Lisa Simpson inherits a "massive debt" from her predecessor, President Trump—a scenario that eerily mirrors current fiscal concerns.
Environmental Disasters
The Simpsons Movie featured an environmental catastrophe where toxins from Springfield Lake prompted the EPA to place a giant glass dome over the entire city. With pollution levels escalating in major cities worldwide and climate change accelerating, this prediction doesn't seem as far-fetched as it once did.
The Most Famous Simpsons Predictions That Already Came True
Donald Trump's Presidency
Perhaps the show's most famous prediction occurred in the 2000 episode "Bart to the Future," which featured Lisa Simpson as president, inheriting "quite the budget crunch from President Trump". The episode aired 16 years before Trump's actual 2016 election victory, and gained renewed relevance when Trump announced his 2024 presidential run.Fact check debunking false Simpsons prediction about Donald Trump.
Disney Acquires 20th Century Fox
The 1998 episode "When You Dish Upon a Star" showed a sign reading "20th Century Fox, A Division of Walt Disney Co.". Nearly two decades later, in 2019, Disney acquired 20th Century Fox for $52.4 billion, making The Simpsons officially Disney property.
Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Performance
In the 2012 episode "Lisa Goes Gaga," Mother Monster was shown suspended by cables, flying over an audience while performing. Five years later, during Super Bowl LI's 2017 halftime show, Lady Gaga descended from the stadium roof using suspension cables while wearing a remarkably similar outfit.
Video Calling Technology (FaceTime)
In a 2010 episode, Milhouse predicted that Bengt R. Holmström would win the Nobel Prize in Economics. Six years later, in 2016, Holmström and Oliver Hart were announced as joint winners of the prize.
The Simpsons Season 26 Episode 10: A Deep Dive
"The Man Who Came to Be Dinner" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons' twenty-sixth season, originally airing on January 4, 2015. Directed by David Silverman and written by Al Jean and David Mirkin, this episode marked an unusual departure from the show's format by featuring Kang and Kodos—typically Halloween-exclusive characters—in a regular canon episode.
The plot follows the Simpson family visiting "Diz-Nee-Land" (a Disneyland parody), where they board what appears to be a ride called "Rocket to Your Doom," only to discover it's actually a spaceship transporting them to the alien planet Rigel 7. Once there, Kang and Kodos display the family as zoo exhibits before demanding that the Simpsons choose one family member to be eaten in a ritual.
Homer is selected for sacrifice but gets rescued by vegetarian Rigelians who oppose eating sentient species. The episode culminates in a twist: the Rigelian Queen attempts to eat Homer but dies from poisoning, revealing that the Simpsons' fast-food diet has made their bodies fatally toxic. Ironically, Lisa—a vegetarian—is deemed the most poisonous due to her plant-based diet.
The episode received mixed reviews, with fans finding it "weird" to see Kang and Kodos outside their traditional Halloween special context.
The Simpsons Season 35: Recent Developments
Season 35 of The Simpsons ran from October 1, 2023, to May 19, 2024, consisting of 18 episodes instead of the usual 22 due to the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Matt Selman served as the primary showrunner, with Al Jean handling select episodes.
This season marked several firsts: it was the only season without any chalkboard gags in the opening credits and featured no billboard gags. The season was added to Disney+ on October 2, 2024, for U.S. subscribers. Notable episodes included "Homer's Crossing," which focused on Homer becoming a crossing guard with absurdist consequences, and storylines that continued the show's tradition of satirizing contemporary issues.
On April 2, 2025, Fox renewed The Simpsons for four additional seasons, each containing 15 episodes, ensuring the show's continuation through Season 40.
Matt Groening: The Mastermind Behind The Simpsons
Matthew Abram Groening (born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator best known as the creator of The Simpsons. Born in Portland, Oregon, Groening first gained recognition with his comic strip Life in Hell (1977-2012), which caught the attention of producer James L. Brooks in 1985.
When Brooks approached Groening about adapting Life in Hell for animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, Groening feared losing ownership rights and quickly created a new cast of characters—the Simpson family. He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name because he thought "Simpson" sounded funny, similar to "simpleton".
The shorts debuted on April 19, 1987, and after three seasons, evolved into the half-hour series that premiered on December 17, 1989. Since then, 793 episodes have aired, making it the longest-running American animated series and sitcom.
Groening has won 14 Primetime Emmy Awards—12 for The Simpsons and 2 for Futurama—along with a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012. Beyond The Simpsons, Groening created Futurama (1999-2003, 2008-2013, 2023-present) and Disenchantment (2018-2023).
Simpsons Predictions About India
While The Simpsons has never explicitly focused episodes on India-specific predictions, the show has made references that resonate globally, including with Indian audiences. Viral videos have circulated claiming predictions about India, including scenarios involving nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan depicted through satirical episodes. However, these interpretations often involve creative readings of broader geopolitical commentary rather than India-specific predictions.
The show's universal themes—technological advancement, political satire, and social commentary—transcend borders, making its observations relevant to India's rapidly evolving technological landscape and political climate. Many Indian fans have embraced the show's predictive reputation, creating content analyzing potential connections between episodes and events in India.
The Simpsons No Internet Prediction: Fact or Fiction?
In January 2025, social media erupted with claims that The Simpsons had predicted a global internet outage on January 16, 2025. The viral theory suggested the outage would be caused by sharks chewing through underwater cables, with a video showing what appeared to be clips from the show depicting chaos following the internet shutdown.
However, this claim was thoroughly debunked as a hoax. The video was not from an actual Simpsons episode but rather an AI-generated clip created using various video tools and capitalizing on the show's reputation for bizarre predictions. No such episode or prediction exists in the official Simpsons archive.
Interestingly, while the prediction was fake, the underlying concept has some basis in reality. According to BBC reports, there have been documented cases of internet outages caused by sharks chewing cables on the ocean floor. Major tech companies like Google have even had to reinforce underwater cables with protective materials to prevent shark attacks.
This incident highlights how the line between genuine Simpsons predictions and internet-generated content has blurred in the social media age, with AI technology making it easier to create convincing fake clips.
Simpsons Predictions 2024: The Year in Review
Throughout 2024, several Simpsons "predictions" gained attention, though many proved to be misattributed or exaggerated:
Trump's 2024 Presidential Run: The show's 2015 episode featuring a "Trump 2024" sign resurfaced when Trump officially announced his candidacy. This prediction proved accurate when Trump secured the Republican nomination.
AI Robot Workforce Replacement: The show's depiction of robots replacing human workers became increasingly relevant as companies across sectors implemented AI automation, leading to significant job losses.
Female Presidency Speculation: The "Bart to the Future" episode showing Lisa as the first female president sparked discussions about Vice President Kamala Harris potentially ascending to the presidency, though this remained unrealized in 2024.
Virtual Reality Advances: Episodes depicting VR technology and digital experiences aligned with continued VR/AR development throughout 2024.
Simpsons Predictions 2026: The Zombie Apocalypse
One of the most discussed—and darkest—Simpsons predictions involves a potential zombie apocalypse in 2026. In the 2009 Halloween special Simpson Horror Show XX, Springfield citizens turn into zombies after eating virus-laden hamburgers contaminated with infected beef. The creatures, called "Munchers," overrun the town after 28 days, with only Bart proving immune to the virus.
Given that the world recently experienced the COVID-19 pandemic—which The Simpsons also appeared to predict in the 1993 episode "Marge in Chains" featuring the "Osaka Flu"—this zombie prediction has gained traction on social media. The episode raises questions about food safety standards, laboratory oversight, and the risk of viral contamination—concerns that feel particularly relevant following recent global health crises.
However, it's worth noting that zombie apocalypse scenarios are common in popular culture, and connecting this Halloween-themed comedic episode to real-world 2026 events requires significant speculation. The episode was clearly intended as parody entertainment rather than genuine prophecy.
Why The Simpsons Seems to Predict the Future
Several factors explain The Simpsons' apparent prophetic abilities:
Statistical Probability: With over 750 episodes spanning 35+ years, the sheer volume of content increases the likelihood that some storylines will coincidentally align with future events. This aligns with the "law of truly large numbers," which states that with a large enough sample, any outrageous thing is apt to happen.
Intelligent Satire: The writers' education and expertise allow them to identify emerging trends and extrapolate logical outcomes. Many writers hold advanced degrees in mathematics, science, and computer science, enabling sophisticated social commentary.
Universal Human Nature: Showrunner Matt Selman noted that studying history makes certain predictions inevitable: "If you make enough predictions, then 10% will turn out to be right". The show satirizes recurring patterns of human foolishness that tend to repeat across generations.
Production Lead Time: The show is written and produced approximately 10 months in advance, requiring writers to anticipate upcoming trends and current events. This built-in futurism naturally leads to some accurate projections.
Confirmation Bias: Audiences tend to remember successful predictions while forgetting the far greater number of scenarios that never materialized. False predictions rarely gain the same viral attention as accurate ones.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Did The Simpsons predict no internet on January 16, 2025?
A: No, this was a viral hoax based on an AI-generated video, not a real episode. While sharks have damaged underwater cables in reality, The Simpsons never predicted a specific January 16, 2025 internet outage.
Q: What did The Simpsons predict about India?
A: The Simpsons has not made specific predictions about India. Some fans interpret episodes about global conflicts as referencing India-Pakistan relations, but these are speculative interpretations of satirical content rather than actual India-focused predictions.
Q: What is The Simpsons Season 26 Episode 10 about?
A: "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner" features the Simpson family accidentally traveling to aliens Kang and Kodos' home planet. The aliens plan to eat them but discover the family is toxic from their fast-food diet.
Q: How many seasons of The Simpsons are there?
A: The Simpsons has completed 35 seasons as of 2025, with 793 episodes aired since 1989. Fox renewed the show through Season 40 in April 2025, ensuring it continues through at least 2028.
Q: What are some Simpsons predictions for 2025?
A: Predictions for 2025 include flying cars becoming available, AI replacing human workers, potential economic recession, and environmental disasters. However, these are satirical scenarios rather than literal prophecies, with mixed accuracy rates.
Q: Did The Simpsons predict events in 2024?
A: Yes, some 2024 events aligned with episodes, including Trump's presidential run and AI workforce automation. However, many claimed predictions were misattributed or involved creative interpretation rather than exact matches.
Q: Are Simpsons predictions for 2026 real?
A: The main 2026 "prediction" is a zombie apocalypse from a 2009 Halloween parody episode. This was comedic fiction, not a serious forecast. Most 2026 predictions online involve speculation rather than actual episode content.
Q: Who is the creator of The Simpsons?
A: Matt Groening created The Simpsons in 1987. The cartoonist conceived the Simpson family for animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, naming characters after his own family members.