--- title: Experts Discuss All the The Simpsons Super Bowl Predictions description: From several winning teams in the 1990s to the 2017 Lady Gaga halftime show, The Simpsons has an impressive track record of predictions. canonical: https://time.com/5510210/simpsons-super-bowl-predictions/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-03T11:00:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T01:13:11.000Z og:title: Experts on How The Simpsons Got All Those Super Bowl Predictions Right og:description: The show has a pretty impressive track record og:url: https://time.com/5510210/simpsons-super-bowl-predictions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Experts on How The Simpsons Got All Those Super Bowl Predictions Right twitter:description: The show has a pretty impressive track record twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Experts Weigh in on _The Simpsons_' Impressive Record of Predicting the Super Bowl > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: These Are the Best Super Bowl 2019 Commercials [Watch (HLS stream): These Are the Best Super Bowl 2019 Commercials](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IpM4qDrT.m3u8) (3:56)  _Published 2019-02-01. The main show at the 2019 Super Bowl will be on the field, with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots facing off against Jared Goff and his Los Angeles Rams_ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:13 AM UTCPublished: Feb 3, 2019 11:00 AM UTC by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:13 AM UTCPublished: Feb 3, 2019 11:00 AM UTC When it comes to predicting the champions of [Super Bowl 2020](https://time.com/5772622/super-bowl-2020-halftime-show/), one cultural behemoth has had surprising clairvoyance: [_The Simpsons_](http://time.com/4667462/simpsons-predictions-donald-trump-lady-gaga/). Now that [big night](http://time.com/5505825/super-bowl-halftime-show-controversy-2019/) is happening, it’s worth revisiting just how the show managed to do it. We may not have a [Simpsons Super Bowl LIV prediction](http://time.com/5508298/super-bowl-rams-patriots/) to guide us as the [San Francisco 49ers currently face off against the Kansas City Chiefs](http://time.com/5519584/patriots-rams-super-bowl-wrap-up/) in Miami, Fla. But in previous years, Lisa Simpson proved to be an eight-year-old who knew a winning team when she saw one. She was right three years in a row back in the ’90s. And if you throw in one very memorable 2017 halftime show starring a flying Lady Gaga, you could say the show has been right about the [Super Bowl](http://time.com/5515400/best-super-bowl-commercials-2019/) a total of four times. > [](https://twitter.com/YaManJonathan/status/828418696792117248) ## _The Simpsons’_ Predictions of Real-Life Events If you’ve seen America’s longest-running primetime television show during the last three decades, you may have observed that some of _The Simpsons’_ plots have eventually played out in real life. Though it’s best known for its satirical comic sensibility, loads of the show’s fantasy outcomes have actually happened with startling accuracy, to the delight of fans. Among them: FIFA’s 2015 corruption, America’s [2018 Winter Olympics curling victory](http://time.com/5172172/curling-gold-medal-match/), and more than [15 other events](http://time.com/4667462/simpsons-predictions-donald-trump-lady-gaga/). So how did the show’s writers dream up all these future scenarios without a time machine? “Are we supposed to believe the script writers have special powers?” asks statistician Sir David Spiegelhalter, a professor at the Statistical Laboratory at the Center for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge. “These coincidences reflect their creative imagination and luck.” Spiegelhalter says that with a show that has run for this long, the hunches that miss likely far outweigh the ones that hit. “The crucial issue about assessing coincidences that hit the target is to know how many shots have been taken. It’s like watching YouTube videos of holes-in-one. They’re amazing, but we don’t have to watch the zillions of shots that didn’t go in,” he says. After all, the show is television’s longest-running scripted show ever. But something else could have been at work, says John Ortved the author of _The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History_: expertise. During _The Simpsons’_ Super Bowl predictions winning streak from 1992-1994, the writers room was full of well-informed sports fans, with “a lot of Harvard guys” in the mix, says Ortved. “They weren’t dumb. And they liked to gamble, following their boss, Sam Simon,” he tells TIME. Ortved says these “educated guesses” are inevitable. “It would be weird if there wasn’t some crossover,” he says. With that in mind, let’s take a look back at a timeline of all the accurate _Simpsons_ Super Bowl predictions, ahead of Super Bowl 53. ## _The Simpsons’_ 1992 Super Bowl Prediction The victorious three-year-run of _The Simpsons’_ Super Bowl predictions all started on Jan 23, 1992, with the “Lisa the Greek” episode. In the episode, budding sports prophet Lisa and her dad Homer team up for some good old sports gambling. The bet: if the Washington Redskins become the Super Bowl champions in Super Bowl XXVI, then she’ll still love Homer. But if the game goes the other way, she won’t. No pressure. ### The Winner of Super Bowl XXVI: Three days later, it happens. Lucky for the world’s most famous toon family, the Redskins best the Bills, 37-24, and the father and daughter go hiking together.  The Simpsons predict the Super Bowl again. Quarterback Mark Rypien #11 of the Washington Redskins drops back to pass against the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI at the Metrodome on January 26, 1992 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Redskins defeated the Bills 37-24\. (Photo by Gin Ellis/Getty Images) Gin Ellis—NFL ## _The Simpsons’_ 1993 Super Bowl Prediction _The Simpsons’_ Super Bowl episode gets a refresher the following year with some redubbing. This time, Lisa says the Dallas Cowboys will beat the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII.  Pasadena, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys MICHAEL IRVIN celebrates after a touchdown against Buffalo Bills on Jan. 31, 1993 in Super Bowl 27 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. (Photo by Rich Pilling/Sporting News via Getty Images) Sporting News Archive—Sporting News via Getty Images ### The Winner of Super Bowl XXVII: Lisa calls it again. The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills with a score of 52-17\. Well done, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. ## _The Simpsons’_ 1994 Super Bowl Prediction The show re-airs the same episode with all new voiceovers to make it current. This time, Lisa predicts that the Dallas Cowboys will triumph again to surpass the Buffalo Bills.  The Simpsons predict Super Bowl again in 1994\. Here, the Buffalo Bills running back Thurman Thomas (C) eludes Dallas Cowboys defenders during Super Bowl XXVIII. (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) TIMOTHY CLARY—AFP/Getty Images ### The Winner of Super Bowl XXVIII: Right on target, once again. By halftime, the Bills led 13-6, but they couldn’t hold onto their lead, and the Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills again, 30-13\. The Bills put up a good fight but went winless at four of their consecutive Super Bowl appearances. ## _The Simpsons’_ Super Bowl Halftime Show Prediction One prediction that was a little more visual than factual was an episode foretelling the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show. Years before Lady Gaga ever took flight attached to a harness in a glittering Versace ensemble and matching boots, _The Simpsons_ imagined a very similar grand entrance at a smaller venue: a Springfield concert, in the 2012 episode “Lisa Goes Gaga.” ### The 2017 Super Bowl Halftime Show Starring Lady Gaga: Around five years later, it certainly looked a lot like that _Simpsons_ episode when Gaga descended on Houston’s NRG Stadium for the 2017 Super Bowl Halftime show. Minus the pyrotechnic top the show imagined, the aesthetics were familiar: the harness, the silver outfit, the fact that she was airborne and the [drones that hung in the air](http://time.com/4661063/lady-gaga-super-bowl-drones/). The Mother Monster _The Simpsons_ imagined and The Mother Monster for real weren’t _exactly_ identical, but that didn’t stop fans from noticing. > [](https://twitter.com/andy%5Fwedge/status/828603220972929025) Ortved says the prediction is not so surprising, after all. “It doesn’t take [Tiresias](https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/classical-literature-mythology-and-folklore/folklore-and-mythology/tiresias) to guess that Gaga, one of the biggest music stars, might play a Super Bowl halftime show. And then look at the things that ended up being similar: she descended from the air, she sat at a piano, she had choreographed dance moves. All those things make complete sense,” Ortved says.  Singer Lady Gaga performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl LI at NGR Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017\. / AFP PHOTO / Timothy A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) TIMOTHY A. CLARY If you’re planning to place a bet on the 2019 Super Bowl, it might be wise to call a _Simpsons_ writer first. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The world tell you to wait, that waiting is polite and good things would just come but if I waited to be invited in. I never would have stood out. Don't wait to be given power because, here is what they won't tell you, we already have it. [ MUSIC ] I'll take a coke. Is Pepsi okay? Is Pepsi okay? Is Pepsi okay? Pepsi is more than okay, it's. [ MUSIC ] Now it's hot. How many Pringles flavor stack combinations are there? 318, 000, sadly, I'll never know the joy of tasting any for I have no hands to stack with, no mouth to taste with, No soul to feel with. I am at the mercy of a cruel and uncaring. Cool, play Funkytown. I love video games, my friends, my family, and again, video games. It's his way of interacting with his friends when he can't. Physically otherwise do it. It's difficult for me to use both joysticks and the [ UNKNOWN ] at the exact same time. What I like about the adaptive controller is that now everyone can play. One of the biggest fears early on is, how will Owen be viewed by the other kids? He is not different when he plays. No matter how your body is or how fast you are you can play, it's a really good thing to have in this world. [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] Ordering dog food. Ordering dog food. You can bark all you want, I'm not paying for anymore dog food. [ NOISE ] Ordering gravy. Orderings sausages . >> Hey, you better cancel that order. [ SOUND ] I'm not talking to you. [ MUSIC ] [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] And people think I'm nuts. [ MUSIC ] Is there in clench time. I'm a close talker. So I was excited about all new Colgate Total. Now there's no such thing as too close. Yes, there is. No, there's not. Yes, there is. No, there's not. 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