For decades, television has been treating audiences of all ages to a wide variety of productions and characters, ranking comfortably among the most consumed entertainment platforms worldwide. People tune in to its TV shows to entertain themselves, be informed about current events, or even learn new things. While TV is made up of many productions based on reality, several others are fictional shows created with the sole purpose of delivering a good story to thrill audiences that turn the project into a hit.
Still, television has proven to be a fairly accurate reflection of society, and, at times, it has featured narratives with predictions of the future that, in one way or another (whether purposely or not), turned out to be true. Indeed, sometimeslife imitates art, and this is how fictional TV series of all genres over the years have managed to predict everything from technological advances unforeseen at the time to political and social events that forever changed history. Let’s take a look at 10 TV shows that managed to do just this.
10Friends (1994-2004)
Friends is the popular sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, released back in 1994 and ran for ten seasons. The show follows a group of six twentysomethings through their lives in New York City and their time spent between their two apartments and their local coffee shop. The show features the group navigating tricky relationships with one another and comical misadventures.
When it comes to iconic sitcoms in television history, it’s impossible not to think ofFriends, David Crane and Marta Kauffman’s sitcom that launched its six leads to stardom back in the 1990s. This NBC hit aired for 10 seasons, following the adventures of six friends in New York City as they try to make their way in life. By the end of its decade-long run,Friendsachieved the kind of success that marked a turning point in television.
A Social Network That Looks a Lot Like Facebook
The show’s ninth season saw the premiere of “The One With the Memorial Service,” an episode in which Ross fakes his death just to see who would attend his funeral. In it, David Schwimmer’s character logs into a website designed to connect former college students, much like the early version of Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook. Oddly enough, this episode premiered in 2003, one year before this revolutionary social network launched.Stream on Max
9Scrubs (2001-2010)
Scrubshit television screens in October 2001, introducing audiences to the employees of Sacred Heart Hospital, whom they followed through nine seasons. ThisTV medical seriesfrom Bill Lawrence stars Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, and Donald Faison, among other actors, and earned critical and audience acclaim before being canceled by ABC in 2010.
The Janitor Revealed Osama bin Laden’s Location
Among the audience’s favorite characters on this show was the janitor, played by Neil Flynn, who spent almost all of his time trying to terrorize J.D. But, as crazy as his behaviors were, the man managed to predict something quite surprising. In the sixth season episode, “His Story IV,” there is a political debate going on in the hospital, and the janitor suggests that the government should look for Bin Laden in Pakistan. Of course, back in 2006, no one knew Bin Laden’s actual whereabouts, but nobody anticipated that, five years later, this bizarre character’s assumptions would actually be confirmed.Stream on Hulu
8Mr. Robot (2015-2019)
Sam Esmail’s drama,Mr. Robot, stars Rami Malek as Elliot, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with mental disorders who is recruited by a group of hacktivists on a mission to bring down corporate America.Mr. Robotpremiered in 2015 and aired for four seasons, concluding in 2019.
A Hack That Exposed Millions of Cheaters
Mr. Robot’s prediction of the future was particularly interesting given that the episode in which it was featured aired just as the event itself was taking place. Ashley Madison, the dating app aimed at married people looking for affairs, made headlines in 2015 for a hack that exposed the information of millions of users.
Intriguingly,Mr. Robot’s first season finale references the hack just a few weeks after it happened. Although many people thought that its writers included the Ashley Madison plot into the show at the very last minute, Esmail confirmed that the episode was written and shot long before the hacking was made public.Stream on Prime Video
730 Rock (2006-2013)
Tina Fey created30 Rock, inspired by her time onSaturday Night Live, and introduced audiences to the behind-the-scenes of a fictional show in which head writer Liz Lemon (Fey) deals with all kinds of characters and situations. This series, which also features Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski, grew to become one of thebest sitcoms in history.
30 Rock’s sixth season made a fairly accurate prediction of a scandal that would come to light just five years later: the one involving the now-convicted producer Harvey Weinstein. In an episode, Krakowski’s Jenna Maroney claims to have been sexually harassed by Weinstein on several occasions. That scene regained prominence when the former producer’s crimes surfaced, and many people thought that, more than a prediction, it was a subtle attempt to raise awareness of the very serious events that were unfolding in the industry at the time.Stream on Hulu
6Thunderbirds (1965-1966)
1965 marked the premiere ofThunderbirds, a sci-fi show that served as a follow-up to shows such asFour Feather FallsandSupercar. This Gerry and Sylvia Anderson series, filmed using supermarionation, follows the heroes of an advanced organization called International Rescue in their mission to keep the planet and space conflict-free.
A New Way to Communicate
Thunderbirdswas a highly innovative series in the 1960s, with special effects that won critical and audience acclaim. But that’s not all: to carry out their jobs, the show’s characters also employed really advanced technology, and in fact, they communicated by video conference long before this was a thing.Stream on Peacock
Related:This 2013 Film Predicted the SAG and WGA Strikes and End of Hollywood
5Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1967-1973)
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-Inmade its way to television as a one-time special in September 1967, but it proved to be such a hit with viewers that it stuck around and became one of the most popular series of the time. Thissketch comedy show, hosted by Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, consisted of several sketches that had people laughing for almost an hour, and managed to run for six seasons, until 1973.
Two Comedians Anticipating a Historical Event
One ofLaugh-In’s regular segments was “News of the Future,” a sketch in which the comedians would inform audiences about news from the future. In an episode from 1969, Rowan led the segment by reporting from 1989, stating that the Berlin Wall had been demolished. Naturally, nobody saw such an event happening anytime soon, so it was just seen as a joke. But time would eventually prove the comedians right: not only was the Berlin Wall destroyed, but it occurred exactly when Rowan predicted it would.Stream on Fubo
Related:Dystopian Movies Are Shockingly Bad at Predicting the Future
4The Jetsons (1962-1963)
In the wake ofThe Flintstones' huge success, Hanna-Barbera createdThe Jetsons, a 1960s animated sitcom set in the 2060s that followed a family of sorts dealing with everyday situations, but in a future surrounded by groundbreaking technology. It aired for three seasons and became one of TV’s most iconic shows.
Gadgets That Were Too Cool for the Time
The Jetsonswas set 100 years in the future, so it featured gadgets and scenarios that, back in the 1960s, no one believed would ever materialize in real life. But, even though we haven’t reached the era of technological advancement in which the show was set, many of the items it featured were actually invented. Among the series' most accurate predictions are flat-screen TVs, talking alarm clocks, smart watches, and robots tasked with household chores.Stream on Max
3Black Mirror (2011-Present)
Black Mirror
2011 marked the premiere ofBlack Mirror, a sci-fi anthology TV series by Charlie Brooker that became one of the decade’s most relevant shows. It currently comprises six seasons, with episodes reflecting on the use of technology and its effect on society, heavily inspired by 1959’sThe Twilight Zone.
Disturbing Predictions That Are Coming True One by One
Black Mirrormade waves at the time of its premiere, leaving audiences quite disturbed with its episodes. And this may be precisely because all the storylines they portray could very well happen in real life. Over the years, the show made somepretty accurate predictions, such as the advance of social networks and the overwhelming influence they would have on society, and the development of innovative devices such as glasses that allow you to record everything you see.Stream on Netflix
2The Simpsons (1989-Present)
The Simpsons
Matt Groening’sThe Simpsonsis probably the show with the most accurate predictions in the history of television. This animated sitcom premiered in 1989, and for 35 years, has been following the crazy adventures of Homer, Marge, and their children — the most peculiar family in Springfield. Although its most recent seasons were not as acclaimed as the earlier ones, the show is still a worldwide audience favorite.
The Most Accurate Show Ever
When it comes toshows predicting the future, it is impossible not to think ofThe Simpsons, whose many, many episodes are riddled with improbable situations that, in one way or another, ended up coming true. One of the most surprising predictions made by this show was the presidency of Donald Trump, back in 2000, when no one believed it could ever happen.
The episode “Bart to the Future” takes the audience to a future in which Lisa becomes President of the United States, inheriting a severe budget crisis from Trump’s administration. That is not the only prophecy of the show that was fulfilled over the years: among the most curious ones is also the discovery of a three-eyed fish in Argentina affected by the waste of a nuclear plant, almost likeThe Simpsons' Blinky.Stream on Disney+
1Star Trek (1966-1969)
Rounding out this list isStar Trek, the 1960s show that kicked off one of the most popular franchises in the industry. This sci-fi series by Gene Roddenberry aired for three seasons, following the crew of the starship USS Enterprise, led by Captain James T. Kirk. Its strong audience reception spurred the development of 10 other TV series and 13 films, among many other productions.
There have been manypredictions made byStar Trekthroughout its several shows, but perhaps the most notable is humanity’s first landing on the moon. In the 1967 episode “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” the Enterprise is thrown back to Earth in the 1960s, and captures a NASA broadcast reviewing the preparations for humankind’s first landing on the moon. Oddly enough, two years after this episode premiered, Apollo 11 made Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin the first men to set foot on the moon, just as the show predicted.
Subsequent productions in the franchise also featured groundbreaking gadgets that were later invented, such as devices that were very similar to Google Glasses and iPads, which were not released for sale until many, many years later.Stream on Paramount+
