Some TV writers have a knack for predicting what’s to come, whether a political scandal, a new technological advancement, or a sports outcome. Series like The Simpsons and The Twilight Zone can be shockingly accurate when forecasting future events.
It can be disturbing and frightening when your favorite TV show depicts something that hasn’t happened yet, but it’s also wildly impressive.
1. The Simpsons Predicted Trump’s Presidency (2000)
The Simpsons is known for predicting the future with alarming accuracy, but this was one of the most profound forecasts. In 2000, an episode showed Donald Trump as the US president, which happened over a decade later, proving The Simpsons writers are fortune tellers.
2. Black Mirror Showed Drone Insects (2016)
In the chilling Black Mirror episode “Hated in the Nation,” autonomous bee drones hunt down specific people and kill them. A few years later, insect drones were developed in the real world, making the creepy episode terrifyingly realistic and possible.
3. Scrubs Found Osama Bin Laden (2006)
In one episode of Scrubs, the hilarious janitor makes an offhand comment about how they should search for Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. Amazingly, in 2011, that was precisely where Bin Laden was located and assassinated, so the janitor is basically a soothsayer.
4. Monty Python Predicted Furries (1969)
Monty Python also has an admirable track record of predicting the future. One of the most hilarious examples is when they predicted the rise of furries, a niche group with interesting personal preferences. We won’t get into the freaky details, but you can watch the sketch “The Mouse Problem.”
5. Friends Created Facebook (2003)
While this one may seem like a stretch, it’s pretty astonishing how Friends presented the idea of a social media network before Facebook existed. In one episode, Ross tells Chandler about a college website where old classmates could post about what they’re up to and connect, just like Zuckerberg’s site!
6. Family Guy Predicted Antonin Scalia Dying (2007)
The Family Guy episode “Meet the Quagmires” has a joke about how Antonin Scalia died on a hunting trip with another politician. Scalia did die years after this episode aired, and coincidentally, he died on a quail-hunting trip following the same politician friend’s scandal.
7. Star Trek Predicted the Moon Landing (1967)
Star Trek predicted the first moon landing orchestrated by NASA. In a 1967 episode, the crew picked up a transmission from NASA that stated that NASA astronauts were getting ready to go on a mission to the moon. This was only two years before the actual moon landing!
8. Parks and Recreation Saying the Cubs Won the World Series (2015)
This very subtle prediction hilariously came true just a few years later. At one point, a few characters in Parks and Recreation are in Chicago a couple of years in the future. One mentions that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, something that hadn’t happened since 1908, and then the Cubs won a year later.
9. Scandal Said It Before Snowden (2018)
Scandal isn’t the only show with a storyline incredibly similar to the events surrounding Edward Snowden, but it is a compelling example of this prediction. In the show, an NSA employee contacts the main character because they have unsettling information about the US government unlawfully spying on citizens. Sounds familiar, right?
10. Mr. Robot Featured an Ashley Madison Hack (2019)
Just a few weeks after the “affair and discreet married dating” site Ashley Madison was hacked and thousands of users’ personal information was leaked, the Mr. Robot season finale aired. The episode featured an Ashley Madison hack, but the writers swear the episode was written and filmed far before the real-life scandal broke.
11. The Simpsons Joke About Horse Meat (1997)
Another time The Simpsons predicted a sinister situation that came true was the European horse meat scandal. In 2013, people discovered that some European frozen burgers contained a shocking percentage of horse meat, similar to a 1997 episode of The Simpsons where the lunch ladies add horse meat to the cafeteria food.
12. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Feature Google Glasses (1997)
Shows like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine feature plenty of futuristic gadgets that seem impossible. However, in a 1997 episode, the show depicted techy glasses very similar to Google Glass, allowing the characters to basically wear a computer on their face. Maybe this fictional gadget inspired Google!
13. The Jetsons Had Flat-Screen TVs (1962)
When you watch The Jetsons nowadays, you won’t even blink at the flat-screen televisions. We’re so accustomed to them. However, a flat TV was a novel concept when the show aired in the 1960s, so this technology was ahead of its time. Perhaps we’ll have flying cars soon, too!
14. The Chris Rock Show Featured OJ’s Book (1997)
Chris Rock once joked about how OJ Simpson should and likely would write a book about the murder and trial. Rock joked that the worst title for said book would be If I Did It. Hilariously, OJ Simpson did eventually release a book about everything titled I Didn’t Kill My Wife…But If I Did, Here’s How I Did It.
15. Arrested Development Predicts the Border Wall (2018)
The morally bankrupt patriarch of the Bluth family in Arrested Development takes a government contract to build a wall. This wall would run along the US-Mexican border to make crossing between countries more difficult. Does any of this sound familiar? Because Trump had the same idea just a few years later.
16. 24 Predicted Obama’s Presidency (2001)
This one might not seem astounding, but it still impressed many people. The show 24 depicted a black US president, something that hadn’t existed yet. A few years later, Barack Obama became president and fulfilled the show’s progressive prophecy.
17. Watchmen Predicted The Covid-19 Pandemic (2019)
The TV adaptation of Watchmen showed many characters wearing masks, similar to how we all wore masks during the height of COVID-19. While the masks in Watchmen were worn for different, complex reasons, the imagery still predicted the future of America.
18. Quantum Leap Saying the Score of Super Bowl XXX (1990)
While Quantum Leap did not accurately predict the winner of Super Bowl XXX, they guessed the score situation successfully during part of the game. At one point, a character watching the game says that the Steelers were three points behind, losing 20-17 to the Cowboys for a bit, but the final score was 27-17.
19. The Twilight Zone Shows AI and Robot Replacements (1959)
The Twilight Zone has eerily predicted the future plenty of times. However, some of the show’s most accurate examples of prescience involve its depiction of artificial intelligence and autonomous robots. The series predicts panic over robots stealing human jobs and shows AI’s uncontrollable and possibly sinister nature.
20. Spooks Predicted the London Subway Bombing (2008)
Spooks depicted a catastrophic terrorist attack on the London subway system, which tragically came true just a few months after the episode aired. The show even predicted precise attack sites and the magnitude of the bombing, making it even more chilling and unbelievable.
21. 30 Rock Called Out Harvey Weinstein (2012)
In more than one episode of 30 Rock, the character Jenna Maroney, a B-list actress, makes comments about rejecting Harvey Weinstein and being intimate with him to get a part in a film. Her remarks are casual and humorous, but they’re not as funny now that we know how true they are.
22. The Lone Gunmen Predicted the 9/11 Conspiracy (2001)
While The Simpsons often gets credit for predicting 9/11 in an episode, The Lone Gunmen also foresaw this tragic event. In the pilot episode, the US government conspires to start a new war by destroying the World Trade Center with a commercial airliner and pinning it on terrorists.
23. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Predicts San Francisco Homelessness (1995)
In the 1990s, the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine made another prediction that would come true. They showed San Francisco as a neglected and struggling place with rampant homelessness. While the real San Fran isn’t quite as bad, homelessness is a growing problem there.
24. The Twilight Zone Shows the Consequences of Global Warming (1961)
In one of our favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone, the sun moves closer to Earth, creating an unbearable and relentless heat wave. People flee the city, fight over water, sweat constantly, and eventually die from the heat exposure. This episode aired far before we understood the severity of global warming.