'The Simpsons' predicts the future, again: Episode cited as a prophecy of the coronavirus

After a few hundred years, the task of correlating a soothsayer’s predictions to current events becomes difficult. Nostradamus has served the cause of doomsayers well since the 16th century but he’s becoming dated. Therefore, the ascent of 'The Simpsons' as his modern-day heirs was inevitable, with their 20th and 21st century fictional life being more amenable to interpretations of prescience today. Like Nostradamus, the number of things the cartoon TV series has shown in its three-decade-long run that cannot be construed as prophesies far outstrip those that can. But the generalised nature of some scenarios — like a pop star dying of a drug overdose or the spread of virtual reality — lend themselves to ‘accurate’ forecasts. So, it is not surprising that 'The Simpsons' are also now credited with predicting the coronavirus outbreak, though the episode of a viral flu was actually shown there to originate in Japan, not China.

Nostradamus has been given plenty of leeway in terms of facts, so the Simpsons deserve it too. But also like the French astrologer, the series has been uncannily correct on some matters such as Donald Trump’s victory and the discovery of the mass of the Higgs boson. So, apart from the increasing academic examination of the family’s prescience, the psychic powers of the series’ scriptwriters clearly merit closer study.