The SimpsonsShowrunner Breaks Down the Method to the Animated Series Continually Predicting Future Events (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

(L-R) Homer, Marge, Lisa, Santa’s Little Helper, Maggie and Bart return in a still for The Simpsons.Photo:FOX

FOX

The Simpsonshave been right about a lot over the years.

Fans of the show have long witnessed the FOX program’s writers' abilities to predict several major current events. FromDisney buying 20th Century FoxtoDonald Trump’s presidency, and, more recently, Vice PresidentKamala Harris’purple pantsuit outfit,The Simpsonshas beenon a winning streak.

But, the method to their magic isn’t as glamorous or eerie as fans might envision.

“Well, the sourpuss answer I always give that no one likes is that if you study history and math, it would be literally impossible for us not to predict things,” showrunner and executive producer Matt Selman tells PEOPLE exclusively. “If you say enough things, some of them are going to overlap with reality, and then that’s the math element. And then, the history element is if you make a show that is based on studying the past foolishness of humanity, you are surely going to anticipate the future foolishness of humanity as it sinks further into foolishness fair. So we don’t really think about it.”

Noting that the list of things the series has predicted (whichcurrently stands at 34) is “completely unregulated,” Selman — who has worked on the series since 1997, beginning as a writer — says the only thing writers “hate” is when fans “put obviously fake images online and say, we predicted things that we didn’t.”

“It was nicer when the predictions were just predicting real horrible events, not people pretending we predicted horrible events,” he says, adding that it’s “very depressing and dispiriting that people want the magic to be true so bad that they just start” making up scenarios that never appeared on the show.

The Simpsons encounter death on vacation at a high-end resort on the all-new “The Yellow Lotus” episode of The Simpsons airing on Oct 6, 2024.FOX

Now, the long-running animated program is in its 36th season, which premiered on Sept. 29 with an episode it dubbed a “series finale,” sparking confusion amongst viewers who tuned in. Selman raves about the episode’s “bold premise,” saying it “really worked beautifully.”

There are plenty more surprises the new season has in store, though Selman thinks that to “tease” what’s to come could have an adverse effect.

“My worry is if we let anyone know this idea before it aired, the internet would get confused and it would sayThe Simpsonsis actually ending,” he says. “And then, somehow that would manifest. We would’ve predicted our famous predictions — we would’ve predicted our own demise.”

Homer Simpson in The Simpsons.FOX

However, what Selman can share is that there are several special upcoming episodes, including one airing on Sunday, Oct. 6 that will “parody” several popular shows. The series will also return with the 35th edition of its iconic “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween-themed anthology episode, as well as some specials exclusively premiering on Disney+.

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The Simpsonsairs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

source: people.com