According to Twitter, 'The Simpsons' Predicted the 2020 Super Bowl and the Coronavirus
Updated April 20 2020, 2:09 p.m. ET
The teams in this year's Super Bowl and the Coronavirus epidemic are just some of the events The Simpsons has foretold with a great deal of accuracy.
Renowned for its grotesque humor and tongue-in-cheek allusions to current affairs, past The Simpsons episodes have dealt with issues like the rapid changes taking place in the broadcasting landscape, Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime show, and the outbreak of WWIII.
These are some of their predictions for 2020.
'The Simpsons' predicted the finalists playing in this year's Super Bowl — well, kind of.
According to some fans, the episode titled "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" forecasted the teams playing in the Super Bowl 2020 with freakish accuracy. Broadcast on Jan. 31, 1999, the episode captures a Super Bowl game held in Miami. The winning team wears a red-white uniform, the preferred colors of the San Francisco 49ers.
As many argue, the location of the finale and the color of the uniform coincides beautifully with this year's Super Bowl. However, some are less convinced. As Pop Sugar notes, the 49ers changed their trusty attire, appearing in white gold jerseys at the big event. What's more, the 1999 Super Bowl was held in Miami as well, so the location of choice shouldn't be granted too much importance.
Some believe that 'The Simpsons' foretold the outbreak of the coronavirus.
A Season 4 episode titled "Marge in Chains" tackles one of the most-discussed topics of the contemporary era, the outbreak of the coronavirus.
"Marge in Chains" kicks off with a scene taking place at an over-crowded factory in Asia, capturing a worker as he accidentally sneezes on a crate of juices set to be shipped to the U.S. The seemingly marginal incident kicks off a chain reaction, giving way to the deadly epidemic. Instead of the coronavirus, however, the disease is referred to as Osaka Flu.
"The Simpsons scares me. This episode aired 27 years ago in 1993," described one person how they feel about "Marge in Chains" on Twitter.
"From The Simpson 1996 episodes. I swear their producers are from the future," opined another.
'The Simpsons' forecasted Kobe Bryant's death as well, some fans (mistakenly) argue.
According to a few posts circulating on Twitter, "Marge in Chains" alludes to the basketball player's death as well. In a scene, we watch a helicopter go round and round before crashing into a building.
However, as The Daily Dots reveals, the screenshots making the rounds were not taken from The Simpsons. It was, in fact, a 2016 episode of Legends of Chamberlain Heights that depicted the tragic accident. Comedy Central removed "End of Days" on Jan. 27 out of respect for the Bryant family, The Washington Times reports.
"WAIT---WHAT?!!! Kobe's death predicted by THE SIMPSONS!! R.I.P, Kobe. Send my deepest condolence to the Bryant family, his friends, and to the whole Laker's organization," wrote a fan.
"A lot of prediction about Kobe’s death, even cartoons THE SIMPSONS. Now could it be the future has already happened we’re just living in it’s memory? Could this explains why we have dreams and feelings of Deja Vu. Let the souls of the departed find peace [sic]," tweeted another.