The Simpsons predict future again as 28-year-old joke becomes reality
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(Credits: Far Out / 20th Century Fox / Matt Groening)
For a show so deeply rooted in popular culture, The Simpsons has often shown a unique psychic ability to look into the future. From its inception in 1989, America’s favourite animated family has predicted everything from the introduction of smart watches to the presidency of Donald Trump. Now, a very specific joke from 1996 has come to fruition.
Nowadays, the animated sitcom is well into its 35th series, but Simpsons fanatics still hail the early series’ as a ‘golden age’. In 1996, the show’s seventh series proved to be a particular favourite, with the episode ‘Homerpalooza’ a definite stand-out. During the course of the episode, Homer worries he is no longer cool, which leads him to joining the bill at a music festival – meant to be a play on Lollapalooza. The episode featured some iconic cameos by alternative rock outfits, notably The Smashing Pumpkins, Peter Frampton, Sonic Youth, and Cypress Hill.
A throwaway gag within the episode came backstage, when a producer arrives with the London Symphony Orchestra, saying, “Somebody ordered the London Symphony Orchestra…possibly while high?” adding, “Cypress Hill, I’m looking in your direction”. Well, 28-years-later, The Simpsons have another premonition to add to their trophy cabinet, as Cypress Hill are set to perform with the 71-piece orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in July.
The West Coast hip-hop pioneers are thrilled about the booking, saying, “It’s a dream come true, a collaboration only The Simpsons could have predicted.” In fact, the marketing surrounding the show makes repeated references to the 1996 Simpsons episode, which suggests that ‘Homerpalooza’ was less of a prediction and more of an inspiration for the show.
The show calls into question just how many of The Simpsons predictions actually formed the inspiration for real events. Would Donald Trump have ever run for president had he not seen himself in that position rendered in yellow? Would Dean Hachamovitch have invented auto-correct had the idea not been floated in an episode of Matt Groening’s magnum opus? Perhaps we will never know for sure, but it does provide a good topic of conversation for a stoned Cypress Hill-esque debate.
On the other hand, The Simpsons has produced upwards of 750 episodes over its long reign, it is almost an inevitability that the bizarre occurrences of Springfield would overlap into the real-world. Who knows what else will become reality, perhaps 2025 will see the advent of steamed hams?
Revisit the classic Simpsons episode below, and see the Cypress Hill joke that became reality.
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