A writer for The Simpsons explained exactly how the show has managed to predict the future so many times after fans were left stunned with their accuracy.
We all know that art is supposed to imitate life, but The Simpsons has apparently flipped that on its head as the show has featured numerous storylines and references that have somehow later seemed to come true.
From Donald Trump to Greta Thunberg, the Apple Vision Pro to the Titan submersible, viewers have pointed to dozens of events from the show's 35 seasons that have since unfolded in real life.
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One of the most recent examples of the show 'predicting the future' took place last month, when the band Cypress Hill announced they would be performing with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Cast your mind back nearly 30 years - if you can - and you may know that The Simpsons predicted this exact collaboration in a 1996 episode.
In the show, a roadie at a music festival could be seen calling out for one of the performers to own up to who ordered an orchestra to arrive.
He shouted, "Hello bands, who is playing with the London Symphony Orchestra? Come on people somebody ordered a London Symphony Orchestra...possibly while high.
"Cypress Hill, I'm looking in your direction."
The Simpsons' correct prediction yet again left fans stunned, but writer Al Jean has previously claimed there's a pretty simple explanation for the show's accuracy.
Speaking to NME, he said: “One of our writers, the guy whose episode predicted Donald Trump as president, said it best, ‘If you write 700 episodes and you don’t predict anything, then you’re pretty bad. If you throw enough darts, you’re going to get some bullseyes'."
So as much as we might like to believe otherwise, it seems the writers don't have some secret time machine or crystal ball at their disposal.
Jean has still admitted that some of the predictions are eerie, though.
"The 9/11 one is so bizarre," he said. "In the World Trade Center episode, there was a brochure reading $9 a day with an 11 styled up like the towers. That was in ’96, which was crazy, like this insane coincidence. But mostly it’s just educated guesses."
He added: "Stanley Kubrick made the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 and there’s Zoom and iPads in it but that’s because he had futurologists helping him construct what the world might look like in 30 years’ time.”
I guess we'll have to just wait and see which of The Simpsons' storylines are yet to come true!
Topics: The Simpsons, Film and TV, Viral
Emily Brown