The Simpsons only got one prediction right: Our stupidity

VICE

"If you’re on the internet, you’ve seen the articles," says Matthew Gault. "YouTube videos, bargain basement listicles, and social media profiles all ring out with the same refrain: The Simpsons predicted this. Donald Trump’s election, the COVID-19 pandemic, 9/11, murder hornets, and even the explosion in Beirut are all fodder for the shittiest parts of the internet’s favorite content mills. After 30 years and almost 700 episodes, The Simpsons has become a source of prophecy. It is, of course, all bullsh*t. When The Simpsons have gotten the future right, it’s only because the show was a razor sharp satire of American life that imagined the worst possible outcome for comedic effect. The Simpsons obviously didn’t have a magical ability to see the future. It’s just that there’s so much of it, people on the internet can splice frames of it together to tell whatever story they want. If it did accidentally predict anything, it’s because our reality is now stupid enough to resemble a cartoon satire of American life."

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• The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean explains how Marge Simpson's response to Trump official Jenna Ellis' diss of her and Kamala Harris came together: "Extremely quickly," he says. "I think it set a record. Jim Brooks (executive producer), we were reading a show, and he said we’re going to get Julie (Kavner) (voice of Marge) to record after the show. And then Jim, Matt Groening, (writer) Matt Selman, and I worked on what she would say. We worked with Julie and we recorded a bunch of takes. This was all the day after the story broke. We were able to repurpose some animation from another show that (animator) David Silverman redirected to use that clip of the house at the end. Literally this is the fastest we’ve responded to anything. We got it out a day after it happened. I’m pleased that it got so much response. I guess nobody’s going to be messing with Marge anymore. (Laughs)"