One of the show’s “best predictions” is the presidency of Donald Trump, which the authors joked about in the 2000 series Bart in the Future. However, the scriptwriters did not take the idea out of nowhere – by the end of the 90s, Trump had already been parodied several times in films and music videos, and in 2000 the entrepreneur really took part in the presidential elections. He ran from the Reform Party and won the primary in two states, but then pulled out of the race.
The Simpsons writer Mike Reiss said that in 2000 the creators of the series thought that electing Trump as president was “the dumbest thing America can do”: “And she did it!” His point was confirmed by another show writer Dan Greaney.
The Trump presidency seemed like a logical last step before sinking to the bottom. Then the idea was implemented in the show, because it corresponded to the concept of the gradual madness of America.
Dan Greeney
The Simpsons writerThe 1998 “Predictions” from When You Want to Become Taller than the Stars that Disney would merge with Fox also had cultural implications. In the late 90s, the company already acquired media holdings – for example, in 1996, the media conglomerate bought the largest American television networks ABC and ESPN. In addition, the creators of The Simpsons constantly scoffed at Fox, which owns the show – the joke that the studio would someday become part of Disney was another attack on them.