Matt Selman, showrunner for The Simpsons, reveals details about how season 34 will explain the show's ability to seemingly predict the future. The Simpsons, created by Matt Groening, has been on the air since 1989. The show's prolific run is set to continue with Simpsons season 34 in September, adding to the show's already staggering 731 episodes. Throughout its ongoing run, The Simpsons has won an impressive 34 Emmy Awards and even received an Oscar nomination for the 2012 short film The Longest Daycare.
The series follows the comical exploits of the titular family, comprised of Homer, Marge, and their three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. And while the series has cemented itself as part of the cultural zeitgeist with catchphrases and instantly recognizable characters, The Simpsons has also become known for episodes that eerily predicted future events before they ever occurred. Some predictions include a 1994 episode that features handheld communication devices using autocorrect, a 1995 episode with smartwatches, and even a 1998 episode where Disney owned 20th Century Fox. The Simpsons has even correctly predicted a Nobel Prize winner six years prior to their win and Donald Trump's presidency.
While speaking with Deadline, Selman was asked what was next for The Simpsons, with season 34 only weeks away. While Selman mentioned some guest stars that would be appearing, like Melissa McCarthy and Shang-Chi's Simu Liu, he also mentioned a conceptual episode meant to play into the show's predictive abilities. He didn't offer many details beyond it featuring "lots of crazy stuff" but promised that the episode would explain how the show can predict the future. Check out Selman's comments on The Simpsons season 34 below:
"And we have another crazy conceptual episode that explains how The Simpsons know the future. It’s a conceptual episode with lots of crazy stuff in it, but it does an explanation of how The Simpsons can predict the future."
While many of the things featured on The Simpsons that came true, like smartwatches or autocorrect, can be explained via well-thought-out science fiction, like Star Trek's communicators, introduced in 1966, essentially being cellphones. However, some episodes that featured eerily accurate events are harder to categorize, like the 1993 episode "Marge in Chains," which many say predicted the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it shows an unprecedented flu virus sweeping through Springfield, citizens rioting for a cure, and even murder hornets. And while many will brush the predictions off as coincidences, others embrace the show's future-telling capabilities after an impressive track record of accuracy.
The exact reason The Simpsons can predict the future - or at least the show's joking riff on the idea - will be revealed when season 34 debuts on September 25. And while the reasons given in the show are likely to be comical, seeing the series play into their famous predictions is sure to delight viewers who have been engrossed by the concept. However, with The Simpsons still airing, there may be more accurate predictions yet to be revealed.
Source: Deadline