Simpsons predictions that could still come true

  • Published
The SimpsonsImage source, Alamy

What do President Trump, Greece's economic crisis, the FIFA corruption scandal and Disney's takeover of Fox have in common?

Give up? They're all things that have been referenced in the Simpsons - years before they took place in real life.

Whether it's clever scripting or just a bonkers coincidence, it's hard to deny the show has a habit of predicting the future.

Here, then, are some other things we should probably watch out for.

Hover cars

Let's start with the more believable.

The 1992 episode Itchy and Scratchy the Movie finishes with a scene 40 years into the future - so, 2032.

In it, a much-aged Homer and Bart are passed by a Star Trek-style hover car as they walk to a cinema. So how likely is this to become reality?

Well, this year alone a number of flying car prototypes have been unveiled - one of which has the backing of Google co-founder Larry Page - so perhaps it's not as far-fetched as it seems.

Media caption,

Are flying cars the future?

The crazy world of 2010

It was 1995 when Lisa's Wedding first aired. It was the first Simpsons episode to be primarily set in the future - in this case the far flung year of 2010.

In it eight-year-old Lisa gets her fortune told - and finds out that in fifteen years time she'll fall in love with a British man, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Hugh Grant.

One of the predictions this episode jokingly makes is that - by this point - Big Ben's clock face will have been swapped for a digital display.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

The Big Ben of the future

It's not happened yet - but perhaps it's the real reason behind these "repairs" we've heard so much about.

The same episode is crammed full of references, some of which - video phones, smart watches, satellite dishes and the longevity of the Rolling Stones - have already come true.

Others - robot butlers, hologram trees and World War III - we're still waiting on.

Goodbye to... goodbye?

Five seasons later the Simpsons returned to the future - this time to the year 2030.

Bart to the Future, which aired in the year 2000, takes the form of a prophetic vision Bart has while visiting a Native American casino.

He's in a band, Nelson owns a nightclub and Lisa is president of the United States, obviously.

Image source, Twitter/thesimpsons

Incidentally - it's this episode that features the infamous "we've inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump" line.

Among the other predictions are the popularity of virtual reality food and a ray gun that delivers news directly to your brain.

And one more thing - the word "goodbye" has gone out of fashion and been permanently replaced by "smell ya later".

Sound far fetched? That's what people said about President Trump.

Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat, external and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat, external