The Simpsons has been incredibly good at predicting things over the years, and recently we brought you a clip of the time that the long-running animated Fox comedy predicted that Donald Trump would one day win the presidency. The writer of the episode, Dan Greaney, explained why he initially chose Donald Trump when he was writing an episode about Lisa becoming President and having to pick up the slack where Donald Trump left off. Here's what he had to say:
He seems like a Simpsons-esque figure --- he fits right in there, in an over-the-top way. But now... I see that in a much darker way. He seemed kind of lovable in the old days, in a blowhard way.
Donald Trump, in a lot of ways, is easy to turn into a caricature, most notably because of his boisterous personality and his memorable hairdo. Even before the days when he was on The Apprentice, he was a well-known personality in American culture, and having the prescience to know that he would still be around years later is actually kind-of incredible. Despite the fact the aforementioned episode of The Simpsons is 16 years-old, it features a very relevant rather than obscure reference.
Dan Greaney spoke with the Washington Post and noted that the episode was really more about Bart helping Lisa with her Presidency, rather than about Trump, which is true. The episode featured Bart and his family going on vacation, where they ended up at a Native American Casino. While there, Bart was shown a vision of his future, which included Lisa taking over as the first female President of the United States. It was when she started her tenure in office and was talking to members of her cabinet that the Trump reference came in. It's during the conversation that Lisa notes she "inherited a budget crunch" from none other than Donald Trump, and has to figure out where to cut money.
This isn't the first time The Simpsons has correctly predicted an event. Recently, the show also proved it is good at Nobel Prize predictions when Bengt Holmström won the prize, referencing an earlier episode. It has happened numerous other times, too, which goes a long way to explain how The Simpsons manages to stay relevant, despite currently being in its 28th season on Fox.
Dan Greaney didn't actually think Trump would win prior to the election, but he did believe that The Simpsons is about the American collective, and as such anything was possible.
I don't think Trump can win. But the show is a collective, so our collective mind might have a different answer.
Did we mention this show was prescient? You can catch new episodes of The Simpsons on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET, only on Fox. In addition, you can take a look at what is coming up at midseason, here.
