The Simpsons to Provide Explanation of How the Show Predicts the Future in Season 34
The Simpsons is an iconic show, and not just because it's been on the air Since 1989, making it the longest-running American animated series, longest-running American sitcom, and longest-running American scripted primetime television series. The series, which is set to head into its 34th season next month, also has developed a reputation for its uncanny ability to predict the future with an eerie accuracy. You name it, The Simpsons has predicted it including the election of President Donald Trump, the Disney-Fox merger, the pandemic and Murder Hornets, Virgin CEO Richard Branson's space flight, and even a moment that felt eerily ominous after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Now, it turns out that the series is going to address how it is seemingly clairvoyant in an episode of the upcoming season.
"And we have another crazy conceptual episode that explains how The Simpsons knows the future," series showrunner Matt Selman told Deadline. "It's a conceptual episode with lots of crazy stuff in it, but it does an explanation of how The Simpsons can predict the future."
Considering how wild The Simpsons can get, that explanation is sure to be something in terms of the in-universe explanation. As for the real-world explanation, The Simpsons' cast and producers explained a bit about how the series ends up predicting the future back in 2020, attributing it to the show's longevity — and that history repeating itself.
"There are very few cases where The Simpsons predicted something," series writer Bill Oakley explained. "It's mainly just coincidence because the episodes are so old that history repeats itself. Most of these episodes are based on things that happened in the 60s, 70s, or 80s that we knew about."
In addition to an episode "explaining" how the series is able to predict the future, Season 34 of The Simpsons will also feature some other major episodes. Selman explained that he feels like it's the "best 34th season" and outlined just a few of the stories coming, including two "Treehouse of Horror" episodes.
"I'm excited about season 34," Selman said. "It's probably the best 34th season of any show you've ever seen. We have two Halloween episodes this year, two 'Treehouse of Horror' episodes. One is three scary stories like we always do, but very scary and weird. We have an anime parody of Death Note, which I'm so excited about. The full-length episode is a parody of Stephen King's book It with, get ready for it, Crusty as Pennywise."
Season 34 of The Simpsons is set to debut on September 25th.