| abstract
| - Due to its status as a Long Runner, The Simpsons has no shortage of moments like these:
* In one episode, Sideshow Bob said about conservatives: "We're not all Billy No-funs, Johnny Bible-thumpers, or even — God forbid — George Bushes!"
* On the episode where George Bush Sr. moves to Springfield (which premiered in 1996), Homer tricks George Bush, Sr. into answering his door by propping up two cardboard cutouts of George's sons: Jeb Bush, and George Bush Jr. According to the audio commentary on the season 7 DVD set, the writers (and the 1996 audience) had no idea that there was a "George Bush Jr." and figured this was Homer being a moron as usual.
* And in a very early episode, Satan informs Bart that he isn't due in Hell until the Yankees win the World Series. They've won five since that episode, so shouldn't Bart be in Hell by now?
* In the French-Canadian dub of the episode, Satan tells Bart that he's not due until the Nordiques, an NHL hockey team based in Quebec City, won the Stanley Cup. In 1994, the team was bought, moved to Denver and renamed the Colorado Avalanche. Does this mean Bart is immortal now? Or does it mean that eventually Quebec City will reacquire the Nordiques?
* In a 1995 episode, Rainier Wolfcastle was cast as the title character in the Radioactive Man movie. Two years later, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the primary inspiration for Wolfcastle, played Mr. Freeze in Batman and Robin. The fact that the film was awful only makes this funnier; the Agony Booth recap was even able to reference the episode.
* Another episode had a clip from "McBain", where he makes an awful ice pun after smashing through an ice sculpture.
* In the episode "Lemon of Troy", Bart mentions the film Rocky VII: Adrian's Revenge. Then came Rocky Balboa (which technically would be Rocky VI...)
* Homer and Moe have a falling out when Moe steals the recipe for the "Flaming Homer" and markets it himself. The secret ingredient? Cough syrup. Flash forward several years, and we now have Sizurp, a cocktail made by mixing cough syrup with alcohol.
* Another, this time from a Treehouse of Horror Special: After Kang and Kodos have taken over 1930s Springfield, they look over the devastated town and The Inkspots' "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" plays. Sound familiar?
* The writers on The Simpsons have very little faith in American athletic teams, especially in international competition. Especially at the Olympics. In the episode "Boy Meets Curl," when Homer, Marge, Skinner and Agnes become the United States' curling team, and subsequently win (with curling being a demo event, no less), Bob Costas announced that this would be the only medal the United States wins in these games period. This episode aired during said Olympics. The United States would have the highest medal count, with nine gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze medals.
* In a What-If storyline, Lisa has become President and comments that she's the first "straight female President of the United States"; later on, after a scandal comes up, Lenny remarks "Don't blame me, I voted for Chastity Bono!" This whole train of thought either becomes hilarious or harsh now that Chastity Bono has become Chaz Bono.
* The season 11 premiere episode "Beyond Blunderdome" featured Mel Gibson being loved and adored by everyone and Gibson hating it, and Gibson creating a bloody, violent controversial movie that ruins him and alienates his fans. It's like the Simpsons writers are psychic.
* The season 7 episode "Homerpalooza" had Homer trying to explain to a Gen. X-er who Steve Jobs and Apple Computers (now Apple Inc.) were, less than a year before Jobs returned to Apple and helped bring it back on top.
* The plot of the episode "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy," first aired in 1994, is largely revolved around the "Simpson and Son's Revitalizing Tonic," an elixir that boosts one's sex drive. Fast-forward to 1998, and Viagra is introduced to the market.
* In the season 4 episode "The Front", an unnamed cartoon writer becoming disillusioned with his current work is heard to mutter, "To hell with cartoons. I'm gonna do what I always dreamed of doing: I'm going to go write that sitcom about the sassy robot."
* There's also the episode where the Itchy & Scratchy studio run a focus group on what the show should be:
* An odd case is the "Homer at the Bat" episode which involved numerous Major League stars (Boggs, Clemens, Canseco, etc) being hired to play on the company softball team so that Burns can win a bet. A Running Gag in the episode was Burns demanding that Don Mattingly cut his sideburns (Don had no sideburns; Mr. Burns was probably talking about his mustache). Eventually Mattingly is benched even after shaving a good chunk of his hair with Don saying, "I still like him better than Steinbrenner". Two weeks before the episode aired Mattingly would be suspended from the Yankees for failing to cut his mullet in accordance to George Steinbrenner's player policy.
* The Spinoff Showcase episode from season 8 predicts that future seasons of the show will have wacky subplots featuring magic powers, multiple weddings, and Bart meeting long-lost triplets. Okay, the magic powers were relegated to the Halloween episodes (mostly), but the "Bart meeting long-lost triplets" storyline and the multiple ridiculous weddings storylines (one involving Patty coming out of the closet as a lesbian and nearly marrying a man thinking it's a woman and Selma marrying Grampa Simpson) did happen.
* "Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie" is Hilarious in Hindsight for similar reasons.
* As is the last part of the "Gump Roast" song, that had lines about even wackier future storylines (Marge becomes a robot, Moe gets a cell phone, Bart owns a bear, and more crazy weddings). An Imagine Spot on season 16's "The Heartbroke Kid" had Homer imagine what life would be like if Marge was his Robotic Spouse, there was a season 15 episode in which Homer and Bart deal with a bear ("The Fat and the Furriest"), and, as mentioned on the above post about the spinoff episode from season eight, there were two crazy weddings involving Marge's sisters.
* Also from the Spinoff Showcase, the idea that Fox would create spinoffs of one of its its popular animated shows is a lot funnier now that The Cleveland Show has been spun off from Family Guy.
* This tribute to The Cosby Show.
* In "Lisa the Skeptic", Mr. Burns tells Smithers to "use the amnesia ray" to make the town forget that he admitted the power plant accidentally created mutants. Smithers reveals that the amnesia ray is a handgun. Fast forward to X-Men Origins: Wolverine and one bullet to the brain makes the titular main character forget his past (he lives because of his Healing Factor and super hard bones).
* In "The Squirt and the Whale", there is a parody trailer for a film called "Tic–Tac–Toe: X v. O", which was suppose to be a parody of movie licensing. Considering that there are going to be films based off the games Battleship and Ouija, we can't be far off the Tic-Tac-Toe film.
* In "Itchy and Scratchy Land", Homer and Marge go to a 70s nostalgia bar, where Marge points out how the bartender looks like John Travolta. The bartender, who is indeed Travolta, mutters "Yeah, 'looks like'.". Right around the time the episode originally aired, Travolta made his comeback with Pulp Fiction.
* In "myPods and Boomsticks", Bart says that his family shouldn't fear his new friend's family; one of the reasons being their last name is Bin Laden. Similar to the South Park and Family Guy examples down the list, this becomes much funnier after the acts of Seal Team 6.
* Also, in "The Otto Show", one of the goods being sold is a Spinal Tap shirt with the band kicking Mommar Gaddaffi in the butt. Much like the Family Guy and Looney Tunes examples, Gaddaffi was hated by the Egyptian people and thus made his departure and death more satisfying.
* "Holidays Of Future Passed" had the fictional assumption of Michigan being under sharia law. It really is now.
* "Homer To The Max" mentions "Badge Patrol," wherein police officers have badges that shoot lasers. In Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger/ Power Rangers SPD, the morpher is a badge that traps criminals inside two-dimensional prisons upon judging them for their crimes.
* In "Homer's Night Out", Marge kicks Homer out of the house because a picture of him surfaced dancing with a stripper. In the next episode, Marge herself is nearly tempted into leaving homer.
* In "Bart Star," Homer is depressed over Bart leaving the football team. He asks for beer with Skittles in it from Apu, who tells him that such a product only exists in his dreams. Fast forward 15 years, and there is now Skittles-flavored vodka available.
* In "Blame It On Lisa", Barts says that the family going to Brazil means that they've been on every continent until Lisa reminds him that there's still Antarctica. Ten seasons later, they actually go there.
* “The Computer Wore Menace Shoes” evolves around Homer creating a gossip website, which the episode aired in 2000. Thanks to the rise of social media sites like Facebook and blog hosting services, the idea seems more comical now depending on whom one asks.
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