Top 10 Insane Simpsons And South Park Predictions That Actually Happened

10 Simpsons Vs South Park INSANE Predictions That Came True

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Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re taking a look at 10 times The Simpsons and South Park saw the future. For this list, we’ll be highlighting major cultural, political and pop culture topics that both adult animation shows have tackled that eventually became a reality.

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Mindless Gaming: Yard Work Simulator

The Simpsons

When the Simpson family visits Colonel Tex's Traveling Carnival, Bart is drawn to a virtual reality game called Yard Work Simulator. Marge hilariously informs him that he can do real work like this at home. Naturally, real effort doesn’t seem that appealing to Bart. But things have definitely changed since this episode aired in 1998. Modern gaming is full of “simulator” experiences. Through consoles, pcs, and smartphones, players can do seemingly boring chores digitally. There’s even options to perform these tasks in virtual reality. While the games aren’t for everyone, 90s Bart would be in heaven in the 21st century.

Mindless Gaming: Freemium Games

South Park

When was the last time you downloaded a “free” game only to find yourself harassed by advertising or in-app purchases? This is the world of freemium games. “South Park” did a whole episode mocking the entire idea of micro-payments and how they can often be linked to addictive behavior with mobile games. In a bit of irony, the show inadvertently predicted its own future when “South Park: Phone Destroyer” was released three years later. It too was free to download and play, but much like other freemium games, it came with a plethora of “upgrades” you had to pay for.

Food Scandals: Horse Meat

The Simpsons

In 2013, the food industry in real-life Europe was in shambles. It was discovered that various frozen foods, which claimed they contained beef, actually had up to 100% horse meat! Some apparent beef dishes also included various other animals, including pork, which greatly affected those from religions that forbid the consumption of swine. Nearly two decades before, in 1994, “The Simpsons” aired the episode “Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song.” During events, we see Springfield Elementary School has been cost-cutting their food expenditures as Lunchlady Doris is mixing in “Assorted Horse Parts” with extra iron from the stallions’ nether regions. Delicious.

Food Scandals: Chipotle Contamination

South Park

The main plot of this episode centers around Ike Broflovski being tormented by dead celebrities, but a subplot involves Billy Mays advertising a product called “ChipotlAway” - which is able to remove the bloodstains people get in their pants after eating food from Chipotle. Six years after it aired, E-Coli in Chipotle products caused more than 50 people to get sick. The 2015 outbreak meant the chain was forced to close 43 restaurants in Oregon and Washington alone. Unfortunately for the customers affected by the outbreak, no such “Chipotlaway” type quick fix exists in the real world.

Voting Problems: Faulty Voting Machines

The Simpsons

In 2012, people were outraged about a video showing a Pennsylvania citizen attempting to vote for Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential election, only for the electronic voting machine to select Mitt Romney instead. The machine was taken away and fixed before returning to the voting floor. Well, in the 2008 episode “Treehouse of Horror XIX,” the opening segment features this exact issue. Homer tries to vote for Obama, only for the machine to select John McCain. After several tries to get the vote through, Homer attempts to warn officials, only for the machine to consume him and spit him out. Thankfully, that latter part didn’t happen in real life… yet.

Voting Problems: The Power of the Vote

South Park

One of the fundamental precepts of democracy is the right for the people to have their say in who is elected to power. This right is exercised through the act of voting. It’s always been important, but since 2016, the power of the vote has become a much more topical conversation than ever. Back in 2004, “South Park” did a whole episode around Stan’s decision to not vote in a school election. He wasn’t keen on either candidate and felt his vote wouldn’t matter anyway. Given the political climate of the last few years, it seems “South Park” knew back then what we’re all learning now: every vote counts.

Smart Tech: Ultrahouse 3000

The Simpsons

Today, many people have smart speakers in their houses that help them get through the turmoil of modern life. Whether it’s Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, or another brand, these virtual assistants can help remind us of tasks, lock doors, turn on lights, and whatnot. In 2001’s “Treehouse of Horror XII,” the second story, “House of Whacks,” had the Simpsons install an Ultrahouse 3000. With the suave voice of Pierce Brosnan, the helpful device takes care of a lot of the family’s troubles and tasks. However, the tech eventually goes awry when it falls in love with Marge, leading the family to destroy it to save their lives. Hopefully, real life doesn’t take inspiration for the latter part of the story...

Smart Tech: AI in Hollywood

South Park

One of the biggest sticking points in the 2023 Writers and Screen Actor strikes was artificial intelligence being used to replace real-world professionals. The last few years have seen a massive uptick in the use of AI in all aspects of life, including the creative arts. Back in 2004, Cartman’s faux-robot Awesom-O was hired by movie producers when they couldn’t come up with new film ideas on their own. Cartman in a robot suit certainly isn’t AI, but it does surprisingly show how easily Hollywood executives can jump on the bandwagon to use technology over real individuals.

Pop Stars: Lady Gaga’s Halftime Show

The Simpsons

As the title suggests, the 2012 “Lisa Goes Gaga” episode sees pop star Lady Gaga visiting Springfield and winning the young Simpsons’ heart. During her musical performance, the musician wears a bluish-silver outfit and flies over the crowd on a harness. The scene initially came off as a satirical love letter to Gaga’s outrageous and bombastic style. However, it eventually became a reflection of real life. When Lady Gaga performed the halftime show of Super Bowl LI in 2017, the similarities to the Springfield concert were striking. Lady Gaga wore an outfit very similar to the one seen on the animated show. Additionally, she just so happened to hover over the crowd on a harness.

Pop Stars: Miley Cyrus' Fame

South Park

In this 2008 episode, the four boys try to help Britney Spears escape the torment of the paparazzi and general public who are obsessed with taking her photo - even more so after she shoots herself in the head and somehow survives. At the end of the episode, Britney dies surrounded by South Park citizens taking her picture, and soon after, a news anchor reports that Miley Cyrus – who was just 15 when this episode aired and still starring in “Hannah Montana”–will become the next big thing, a la Britney. Considering Miley Cyrus’ controversial phase in the early 2010s, it seems that the folks in the “South Park” writers’ room got it right again.

Censorship: The Censoring of David

The Simpsons

Few marble sculptures are as popular as Michelangelo’s David. In the second season episode “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge,” David goes on a tour throughout the eastern US and stops at Springfield. Some people take umbrage with the statue’s nudity and attempt to censor it. There are people who even went so far as to cover it with a pair of jeans. With this gag, “The Simpsons” was both satirizing the past and predicting the future. Various campaigns have attempted to “cover up” David since the episode aired. Incidents have arisen in 2001, 2014, and 2016. It’s unknown whether more campaigns to conceal the statue’s natural form will pop up in the future.

Censorship: Abolishing Columbus Day

South Park

It’s Columbus Day in South Park and just when the kids expect to have a day off school, they find out it’s been canceled due to a protest started by Randy. From there, it cuts to his efforts to tear down a statue of Columbus in a nearby city. The episode came about just as similar protests began to surface regarding the actions of Christopher Columbus. It offered commentary on the situation, but also predicted that this recontextualizing of history would continue. Further protests about Columbus, and other historical figures, happened years later.

Public Health: COVID-Esque Illness

The Simpsons

As we alluded to earlier, 1993’s “Marge in Chains” had another big reason to terrify the year of real-world 2020. After watching a shopping channel commercial for the “Juice Loosener,” the residents of Springfield go crazy for the device and order it in droves. However, one worker shipping the items in Osaka, Japan, is so fearful of missing a day with the flu that he ends up coughing his disease into the boxes. When it gets to Springfield, the town is soon infected with very visual virus clouds, giving them all Osaka Flu. In real life, 2020 saw COVID-19 sweep across the world with a pandemic, causing many to sadly lose their lives as countries went into lockdown.

Public Health: Ebola in the US

South Park

Airing on October 1st, 2014, this episode was less than two weeks ahead of numerous deaths from an Ebola outbreak in the US. The episode isn’t strictly focused on Ebola, instead suggesting that the fad of gluten-free diets in the US mirrored the rise of ongoing outbreaks of Ebola in Africa at the time – but it’s still unsettling that the first case of Ebola in the US was announced the day before the episode aired, with the first death reported on October 8th. While we don’t know how Parker is able to make such prescient episodes, we do know that you can’t get Ebola from consuming gluten in real life.

NFL Predictions: Washington Wins

The Simpsons

In 1992, three days before Super Bowl XXVI, “The Simpsons” episode “Lisa the Greek” aired. With a title playing on Jimmy the Greek, Lisa has a knack for helping Homer rake in money by betting on American football games. When the Super Bowl approaches, a disheartened Lisa, who realizes her father is using her, says that if Washington wins, she still loves Homer. Amazingly, she was right when the then-named Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills in real-life. But that’s not all. The episode was dubbed during reruns the following year and also in 1994. Each time, Washington was switched with the Dallas Cowboys, who won both Super Bowls!

NFL Predictions: Sports Teams Changing Names

South Park

Although not a prediction, there is a telling throwaway line by Jimbo in the episode about South Park’s flag, where he asks Chef if the Cleveland Indians should change their name for being offensive. That was in 2000, and two decades on, the team announced they would be switching their team name to the “Guardians” because of the former name’s appropriation of Native American culture. However, it wasn’t the only time “South Park” examined this particular topic, featuring a whole episode about the similarly named Washington Redskins football team. In it, the boys are able to get the trademark for the team, while the owner laments over them “culturally appropriating” it. The episode aired in 2014, and, 6 years later, after much mounting pressure, the Redskins would abandon its name.

Legal Weed: Legalized Marijuana in Canada

The Simpsons

“The Simpsons” managed to predict the future and take shots at the American healthcare system in one delightful plot. When Mr. Burns cancels the prescription drug plan, many other companies follow suit. After people realize that they can’t afford medication, they hoof it over to Canada to get what they need. The journey paves the way for Ned to meet his Canadian doppelganger. During the encounter, the Springfield native was offered some legal “reeferino.” While the green stuff wasn’t legal in Canada at the time, it didn’t take too long. Reeferino was officially given the OK across Canada in October 2018. That was nearly fourteen years after the episode aired in January 2005.

Legal Weed: Medicinal Fried Chicken

South Park

As strange as it may seem, those born into this latest generation likely won’t recognize a world where marijuana was predominantly illegal. “South Park” did an entire episode around Randy going to extreme lengths to acquire the recreational drug. This was at a time when only a handful of places in the United States allowed the substance to be sold legally for medicinal purposes. It was, however, a peek into the future. Several years later, many parts of the country would lift regulations and allow marijuana to be purchased openly, without restriction in licensed dispensaries. Randy himself would become a major proprietor himself in later seasons.

Trump: Donald’s Budget Crunch

The Simpsons

Like “Lisa’s Wedding,” “Bart to the Future” depicts, well, the future. While Bart lives as an aspiring rock star, Lisa is President of the United States. She inherits a massive financial problem that was caused by the last president: real estate mogul Donald Trump. This episode was produced during his presidential campaign of 2000 when his victory seemed extremely unlikely. However, it stopped being a joke when Trump was declared the 45th President of the United States. The first episode following the announcement contained a chalkboard gag that read “Being right sucks.” This drawing showed that the writers aren’t always happy about what they predict.

Trump: Garrison Becomes President

South Park

Many people didn’t believe Trump would win the 2016 election, including Parker and Stone, who had to hastily rewrite the end of season 20 to accommodate for the fact he – and therefore Garrison – was the victor. But they already predicted this outcome an entire year earlier, in an episode that aired in September 2015. “South Park” is awash with Canadian immigrants in this season, who have all moved down south to escape from Canada’s own Donald Trump in the Great White North – who’s even built a wall to separate the country from the US. Yes, though they already covered Trump’s potential victory fourteen months prior, even they didn’t realize he’d actually win.

Which of these shows do you prefer? Let us know in the comments below.