"The Simpsons" turn 30

D'oh! Why does everything that happens on “The Simpsons” end up happening in real life? The show's creators explain how they've done it over the past 30 years.

Accurately predicting the future


Over the years, The Simpsons have accurately predicted a number of things, including Donald Trump’s presidency, Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl show, and the advent of autocorrect. "The Simpsons" has been running for over 27 years, so it's expected that some themes that come up in the show might occur in real life. But some of the plotlines are strangely close to events that have happened throughout the world. Here’s how the show’s creators explain their insights into the future.


Donald Trump’s presidency


19 years ago, an episode of "The Simpsons" predicted that Donald Trump would one day become U.S. president. And this wasn't the only time the writers have managed to predict the future.


Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl show


In 2012, Lady Gaga performed for the town of Springfield hanging in midair. Five years later, she flew off the Houston NRG Stadium roof in real life to perform her Super Bowl halftime show.


The advent of autocorrect


"The Simpsons" was lampooning Apple's underwhelming Newton — the iPhone's ancient ancestor — that had just been released, and included shoddy handwriting recognition, according to Fast Company. Nitin Ganatra, former director of engineering iOS applications at Apple, told Fast Company that this particular moment on "The Simpsons" served as inspiration to get the iPhone keyboard right.


“I think that if you have a bunch of people who are smart who are trying to predict the future, if you throw enough darts, enough darts hit the dart board. Most of the things I can just say – Trump, actually for example, was talking about running for president in 1999. He wasn't the most ridiculous celebrity to forecast as a president. And we've had a few things like that. And like, Lady Gaga, people said: “Oh, you predicted her Super Bowl show.” That's because we copied her show for our show and then she did that show. So, it's sort of like she stole our show that stole her show. You know, that's how it happens,” Al Jean, Showrunner-Executive Producer of The Simpsons tells Brut at the Tribeca Film Fesitval.


Brut.


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Brut.