After being on the air for nearly 30 years and more than 600 episodes, there really aren't
many aspects of life that haven't been touched upon by The Simpsons.
As surreal as their animated adventures may be, from time to time, life imitates art.
We've lost count of the times that bizarre storylines from Springfield actually came
true, but here are just a few occasions when The Simpsons freakishly predicted the future.
President Trump
One of many episodes that showed an alternate-reality future for Springfield's first family, "Bart
to the Future" aired in the year 2000, and we learn Lisa has just been elected President
of the United States.
During her first cabinet meeting, President Simpson mentions a familiar name.
"As you know, we've inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump."
We all know how the future turned out.
It's worth mentioning that this particular episode was written during Donald Trump's
failed presidential run in the year 2000, and the writers themselves saw the possibility
of a Trump presidency as the most ridiculous thing they could imagine for the future…
which can only mean that Lisa Simpson is up next.
And then?
President Kang.
"All hail President Kang!"
Could be worse.
We could be eating Soylent, which is literally named after ground-up people from a sci-fi
movie starring Charlton Heston.
Wait…
"Soylent is food.
While not intended to replace every meal, Soylent can replace any meal."
"Blech!
Oh, what a bleak, horrible future we live in!"
All you can eat
In 1992's "New Kid on the Block," Homer sees a TV commercial for an all-you-can-eat seafood
restaurant called the Frying Dutchman.
Homer proceeds to eat until closing time, and gets kicked out…while still hungry.
He sues the restaurant for false advertising, but Homer and the Sea Captain come to an agreement.
"Come see Bottomless Pete, nature's cruelest mistake.
Come for the freak, stay for the food!"
In 2012, Bill Wisth went to a Wisconsin restaurant called Chuck's Place for its weekly Friday
night fish fry buffet.
After a few trips to the restaurant — and racking up a running tab — he wanted more,
but the restaurant claimed they'd run out.
That's when Wisth refused to pay.
"We asked for more fish and they refused to give us any more fish."
The owner of Chuck's Place claimed Wisth had eaten more than 20 pieces of fish…and was
violating the buffet's "no sharing" policy.
He came back, with a vengeance.
"And he wasn't done.
He came back two days later, with a picket sign."
Wisth planned on picketing every day, but by early 2013, he'd already moved on to other
protests.
But really…
"Did these sound like the actions of a man who had ALL he could eat?"
"No!"
"That could have been me!"
People unknowingly ate gym mats
Over the course of the series, the secrets of Springfield Elementary's lunchroom cost-cutting
have been explored again and again, but even Lunchlady Doris has her limits.
"Where do you want these beef hearts?"
"On the floor."
In the 1995 episode "The PTA Disbands," even Doris objects to using shredded newspaper
and old gym mats as ingredients.
"Posh!
Shredded newspapers add much needed roughage and essential inks.
Besides, they didn't notice the old gym mats."
"There's very little meat in these gym mats."
In 2014, a minor but disgusting scandal developed when the Environmental Working Group released
a report that found a compound called azodicarbonamide in around 500 processed food products, primarily
breads, including Pillsbury Dinner Rolls, your favorite five dollar footlongs, and Wonder
Bread.
So, if you've ever wondered what put the "wonder" in Wonder Bread… it's yoga mats, and yoga
is totally healthy.
The baby translator
By Season Two, Homer had met his long-lost brother Herb, but he leaves Herb in financial
ruin after he bets his whole car manufacturing business on a ridiculous car Homer designs.
Which was called "The Homer," obviously.
"Any questions?"
Left destitute, he moves in with the Simpsons, where he creates a baby translator that turns
an infant's noises into English.
"Maggie.
Maggie!"
"Where did you go?"
"Peekaboo!"
"Oh, there you are.
Very amusing."
The episode originally aired in 1992, and by the year 2004, Japanese tech and toy company
Takara developed a real-life prototype of something very similar, after previously selling
a device that analyzed the sounds of dogs barking.
The prototype analyzed a baby's sounds, facial expressions, and body temperature to alert
parents if the baby was hungry, tired, or needed to be changed.
While the final product never emerged, other companies took the reins and produced other
devices to analyze the fleshy, wet, loud riddles that are infants, ensuring that you'll always
be able to completely emotionally detach from your helpless offspring.
A donut-shaped universe
At the end of "They Saved Lisa's Brain," a 1999 episode in which Lisa and her local MENSA
chapter attempt to rule Springfield with their superior intellect, the smartest guy in the
world makes a cameo: physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking.
And he has some interesting ideas.
"Your theory of a donut-shaped universe is intriguing, Homer.
I may have to steal it."
"Wow."
Technically, the shape of a donut is a torus.
And yes, as it turns out, the universe may actually be shaped like the delicious confection.
Four years after Homer Simpson "proposed" the theory, cosmologists noticed radiation
patterns in space suggesting that the universe was round and tube-like, but "empty" in the
middle.
And that's not the only time Homer's been the smartest man in Springfield.
"I am so smart!
I am so smart!
S-M-R-T!
I mean, S-M-A-R-T!"
The Higgs boson
While first proposed in 1964, it wasn't until 2013 that physicists discovered the Higgs
boson, the field that basically holds atoms together.
In other words, the discovery helps to define the very fabric of existence, and helps to
explain how the universe and matter work.
And once again, Homer was on the cutting edge of science.
In the 1998 episode "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace," Homer attempts to become a scientist
and inventor, and is seen messing around with some formulas on a chalkboard.
His meaningless math actually gets pretty close to the the actual molecular weight of
the Higgs particle, which, out of an infinite possible equations, is pretty impressive.
But more importantly, when is reality going to finally catch up with the toilet chair?
"Believe me, every man in America will want to have one."
"Gang way, gotta poop!"
Lady Gaga
The halftime show of the 2017 Super Bowl made headlines, with Lady Gaga delivering a performance
that was absolutely surreal, featuring high-wire stunts, pyrotechnics, and theatrical costumes.
Having provided her own voice for her 2012 appearance on The Simpsons, Gaga was definitely
familiar with her earlier animated performance, which bore some striking similarities to her
Super Bowl show.
Granted, Gaga's Springfield self was only a slight exaggeration on her normally outlandish
persona…
"It's me, Gaga!
Why is everyone looking at my purple hair full of bluebirds?"
...but this one is pretty spot-on.
The Albuquerque Isotopes
The 2001 episode "Hungry, Hungry Homer" is all about Homer going on a hunger strike to
prevent the local minor league baseball team, the Springfield Isotopes, from secretly moving
to Albuquerque.
"Dancing away my hunger pangs.
Moving my feet so my stomach won't hurt."
In 2002, the minor league Calgary Cannons announced a move to Albuquerque, and the local
paper published a poll asking readers to come up with a new name for the team.
No strangers to pop culture, the name "Isotopes" won with 67 percent of the vote.
While the idea very clearly came from The Simpsons, "Isotopes" is appropriate for a
team moving so close to the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
At least the power plants in New Mexico can't possibly be as bad as in Springfield, right?
"Well, in Southern New Mexico, federal officials have confirmed that a local nuclear power
plant is leaking waste and releasing radiation into the surrounding area."
Nope.
Those suck too.
Stay safe, Isotopes.
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