In Case You Were Wondering, No, ‘The Simpsons’ Did Not Predict 9/11

It’s not easy being a fan of The Simpsons, what with having 700-plus episodes worth of references constantly floating around your brain. It also means you’re the buzz cola, I mean, buzzkill who feels obligated to inform people, “No, The Simpsons did not predict Donald Trump would test positive for COVID,” or the Queen’s death, or the Russia-Ukraine war. The Simpsons also did not predict 9/11, but don’t take it from me — here’s former Simpsons showrunner Josh Weinstein ending this bizarre rumor once and for all.

Weinstein, who co-wrote many of the best episodes of the show with Bill Oakley including “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy,” “Sideshow Bob Roberts,” and “Bart vs. Australia,” recently told his Twitter followers that he would answer whether something is a reference. When one wrote, “Anytime conspiracy theories based on the belief that the show predicted the future,” Weinstein replied, “I can tell you the unfortunate 9/11 one was strictly because 9 dollars seemed like the funniest low bus fare and we wanted the World Trade Center buildings in the ad because that’s where the story took place. Totally, totally a coincidence. The Fox/Disney one seems prescient!”

Weinstein is referring to the fantastic season nine episode, “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson,” where Lisa holds up a promotion for a “special super-sitter fare” to New York City, which is famously full of pimps and CHUDs. The bus ride only costs nine bucks, and the $9 in the ad unfortunately appears to the World Trade Center, making it appear as “9 11.” The episode aired four years before the attacks, but the misinformation about this so-called “prediction” continues to this day. Hopefully now that Weinstein has weighed down, it can be flushed down the toilet, like so much Mountain Dew.

Also, if you’re attending SF Sketchfest, the very good and insightful Talking Simpsons podcast is hosting a show all about Simpsons predictions.

(Via Vulture)