The Simpsons failed to predict what was going to happen in the United States, this is the first time!

News culture The Simpsons failed to predict what was going to happen in the United States, this is the first time!

The Simpsons as a crystal ball

Since 1989, The Simpsons have punctuated the daily lives of many viewers around the world: still active today, the series has no less than thirty-six seasons and more than 760 episodes at the time of writing these lines. This is not nothing and if there is one thing that is a little mysterious, it is that the show is also known for predicting the future. For example, The Simpsons revealed well before its time that the Nobel Prize in economics would be awarded to Bengt Holmström, that Disney would buy 20th Century Fox, that there would be connected watches one day, that an epidemic of the Ebola virus would take place, that Greece would be in economic crisis… and many others.

One of the most striking predictions is undoubtedly that concerning Donald Trump nominated for President: we are still talking about an episode released in 2000 in which Lisa Simpson is herself President of the United States, affirming that “President Trump has left a pretty serious budget crisis.” Seventeen years later, he actually won the election, succeeding Barack Obama.

The erroneous prediction

This same episode is just as intriguing as within it, this “President of the USA” version of Lisa Simpson is dressed in a purple corset and a white pearl necklace: it’s exactly the same outfit worn by Kamala Harris a few years ago. When Joe Biden withdrew from the electoral race to make way for Harris, the world remembered this episode of the television series: if he predicted Trump’s victory, why wouldn’t he predict also that of Kamala Harris?

Well, quite simply… because it’s a series and it’s about math and probability. Last month, showrunner and executive producer Matt Salman gave his version of the facts:

Well, the glum 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 to come. If you say enough things, some of them will overlap with reality and that’s the mathematical element. And then, the historical element is that if you make a series based on the study of the past stupidity of humanity, you will surely anticipate the future stupidity of humanity as it descends more stupid. So we don’t really think about making “real” predictions when we write.

Ultimately a very fair answer, even if this week, it was indeed Donald Trump who was re-elected and not Kamala Harris, which therefore proved this famous episode of The Simpsons wrong. “For the first time, The Simpsons were wrong”for example, someone on X wonders while another wonders: “Does this mean the Simpsons episode ‘predictions’ will end since Kamala didn’t win?” We recall that in any case, Harris can still run again in the next elections of 2028, which would (again) prove the legendary television series right…

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