5 Times ‘The Simpsons’ Predicted the Future

The Simpsons is back in the news this week following the tragic deaths of the crew on board the missing Titanic tourist submersible.

The Titan, which launched Sunday with five people aboard, lost contact with the surface less than two hours into its dive. Search-and-rescue teams raced the clock to find the submersible before its 96-hour oxygen supply ran out, but the U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday that debris from the Titan had been located, and the passengers — including father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood — are considered dead after a likely implosion.

Some observers on Twitter drew parallels between the Titan and a 2006 episode of The Simpsons, which saw Homer exploring a shipwreck in a submersible. In "Homer's Paternity Coot" (Season 17, Episode 10), Homer and his long-lost father board matching submersibles and find sunken treasure. But Homer gets lost, his sub gets stuck, and he begins to run out of air. He's later shown waking from a coma, surrounded by his family. (There's a direct connection between The Simpsons and Titan, too; longtime Simpsons producer Mike Reiss visited the wreck of the Titanic in the Titan submersible in 2022. He did not write "Homer's Paternity Coot.")

It's not the first time that the long-running animated series has included scenes that later seem to bear uncanny resemblance to real-life events, years before they happened. Here are five more times The Simpsons appeared to predict the future.

Siegfried and Roy attacked by tigers

On The Simpsons: In the 1993 episode "$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)" (Season 5, Episode 10), Springfield legalizes gambling in an effort to boost the town's economy, and Mister Burns pounces on the opportunity to open a casino. In a brief sketch, we see a stage show titled "The Flamboyant Magic of Gunter and Ernst," its white jumpsuit-clad magicians obvious parodies of Siegfried and Roy. However, the unicycle-riding white tiger in their show remembers how it was taken into captivity and attacks Gunter and Ernst.

In real life: Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn were best known for using white tigers and other big cats in their Las Vegas magic show. In 2003, 10 years after The Simpsons episode aired, a 400-pound tiger mauled Roy during a performance at The Mirage. Roy barely survived, and the show was permanently shuttered.

Donald Trump becomes president

On The Simpsons: In the 2000 episode "Bart to the Future" (Season 11, Episode 17), Bart is shown a vision of himself as a 40-year-old college dropout and wannabe musician. Meanwhile, Lisa Simpson is in the White House, the "first straight female President of the United States." President Lisa mentions to her staff that her administration has to fix the economy after her predecessor — Donald Trump. "As you know, we've inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump," she says.

In real life: The episode aired in 2000, four years before Donald Trump began hosting The Apprentice and 15 years before he announced his candidacy. Trump became president after the 2016 election and served a single term. At the end of his tenure, the economy was indeed worse off, with the federal debt at $21.6 trillion (up from $14.4 trillion).

Michelangelo's David gets censored

On The Simpsons: In the 1990 episode "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" (Season 2, Episode 9), Marge Simpson organizes a protest against The Itchy & Scratchy Show after she sees baby Maggie imitating the cartoon's violent antics. The protest is a success and the cartoon is altered, but Marge is appalled when her fellow protesters decide to refocus their ire on Michelangelo's famous nude sculpture of Biblical hero David.

In real life: Michelangelo's David has been the victim of censorship on multiple occasions, including in 2012, when China Central TV blurred the statue's genitals in a broadcast about the 100th anniversary of the National Museum of China where it was on display, and again in 2016, when residents of St. Petersburg, Russia were asked to vote on whether to clothe a replica of the famous statue after a woman complained, "This giant spoils the city’s historic appearance and warps children's souls." More recently, a school principal in Tallahassee, Florida, was fired after parents complained that sixth-graders were shown pictures of David as part of an art history class.

Disney buys Fox

On The Simpsons: In the 1998 episode "When You Dish Upon a Star" (Season 10, Episode 5) a sign can be seen that reads: "20th Century Fox, a Division of Walt Disney Co." After Homer lands in the secret vacation home of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, he begins to work for them. Ron Howard eventually shows up, and Homer pitches him a movie about a time-traveling killer robot driving instructor. After Homer is suitably punished for spilling Alec and Kim's secrets and leading them on a wild car chase, Ron goes back to the Fox studio lot in Hollywood — where the sign is — to pitch Homer's screenplay.

In real life: On Dec. 14, 2017, 19 years after that episode aired, Disney confirmed that it had agreed to buy 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. The deal took until March 2019 to be finalized, but now 20th Century (they dropped the Fox) is indeed a division of Walt Disney Co. Unfortunately, Homer's time traveling killer robot driving instructor movie has yet to be made.

Lady Gaga's Super Bowl performance

On The Simpsons: In the 2012 episode "Lisa Goes Gaga" (Season 23, Episode 22), Lady Gaga herself makes a stop in Springfield after learning that it's the place with the lowest self esteem on the planet. Determined to cheer everyone up, she graces the town with her presence and a couple of unforgettable performances. In one, she flies above the crowd in a harness, shooting sparklers from her bra.

In real life: In 2017, Lady Gaga performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and started the show by diving into the stadium and floating above the crowd in a harness. It looked eerily similar to The Simpsons performance, minus the flaming bra. Sure, you could argue that Gaga simply used her Simpsons appearance as inspiration for the Super Bowl, but that only further proves the cartoon's endless pop cultural impact.