The Simpsons has gained a reputation for predicting the future, but it's always been a topical show, too. In fact, there are plenty of jokes and stories that are so connected to the time they were made they probably wouldn't come out in a more modern era.
Naturally, jokes about certain celebrities still being trendy or even still being alive are simply doomed to become confusing or downright uncomfortable when the inevitable does happen. But some simple things, from what the characters are eating for dinner to the way they make a living, could surprisingly be what dates a certain storyline. There have even been times when the show pointed out how the times have changed.
10 Lisa The Vegetarian: Americans Really Don't Eat Lamb Anymore
Lisa's famous journey to becoming a vegetarian was sparked by the family sitting down to a nice lamb supper after playing with a lamb who still had its wool at a petting zoo.
One thing that dates the episode is that lamb meat has become less and less popular on American tables over the years, to the point where it's believed close to half of Americans have never even tried the meat. This is even pointed out in a later episode, "Mypods and Boomsticks," where Bart, after making a friend from Jordan, tries lamb meat and says he should be eating them instead of petting them, ironically forgetting the aforementioned lamb chop dinner.
9 One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish: Fugu Toxins Can Be Treated
After Lisa complains about meatloaf, the family indulges her by going to a sushi restaurant. The initially reluctant Homer is surprisingly pleased by his dish until he learns he ingested a deadly toxin.
The episode treats the toxin as so deadly that Dr.Hibbert doesn't even attempt to treat or even trace it, possibly due to being unfamiliar with it. While it's true that there is no known antidote for fugu poison, a person could be saved by having their stomach pumped while on life support. The first known case of fugu poisoning in the U.S. occurred a few years after the episode aired and the victims survived thanks to being treated in time.
8 Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie: Bart Could Probably Find Some Way To Stream The Movie
After Maggie steals the car while Bart was supposed to be watching her, Bart is punished with not being allowed to see the upcoming Itchy & Scratchy movie.
The idea of Bart not finding some way of watching the film seems ridiculous to modern viewers, after streaming and downloading movies online has become a part of everyday life. A later episode, "Steal This Episode," even has Bart teach Homer how to download movies, something he clearly learned how to do without his family knowing. Even for the '90s, the episode underestimated the existence of home releases; Bart finally gets the see the film forty years later when it's been re-released to theaters.
7 King Size Homer: Remote Work Has Really Taken Off Since This Episode
In this classic episode, Homer decides to gain an unhealthy amount of weight so that he can work from home. While he mostly wants to get out of a mandatory calisthenics program, he certainly anticipates not having to endure a commute to work or workplace shenanigans. After nearly destroying the plant, he learns his lesson, gets liposuction, and returns to work at the plant.
Over the years, telecommuting has gradually become more and more normalized, especially with the rise of technology and apps like Zoom and Slack. Even Homer's desire to order Tab at the computer would become a reality thanks to online delivery services.
6 HOMR: Bart Called Japanese Cartoons "Japanimation" Right Around The 2000s Anime Boom
While at an animation convention, Bart and Lisa enjoy a rare Japanese cartoon involving a wolf robot and a cyborg-crustacean princess. One thing that especially dates the parody is that Bart calls the cartoon "Japanimation," a term that was more popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Japanese animation had long since been dubbed "anime," a French loanword, in the West by the 1990s.
Added to that, the novelty of seeing a Japanese cartoon in the West would have died down by the 2000s, which saw many popular anime series as Saturday morning cartoons and even as late-night television fare. Even Lisa herself is shown to be a Sailor Moon fangirl in later episodes.
5 And Maggie Makes Three: Homer Is Really Lucky Not To Have Been Blacklisted
It's revealed in this flashback episode that Homer once quit his job at the power plant to work at a bowling alley. He even makes a spectacle of his resignation, dragging Mr. Burns through the plant while banging on his head like a drum. When Maggie came along and the family needed more money, he had to beg Mr. Burns for his job back. Mr. Burns, although using the situation to humiliate Homer, gives him his job back.
Over the years, blacklisting and blackballing have become a much more understood threat in the workforce, with many unfortunate workers unable to find work after losing a job. Mr. Burns giving Homer back his job, when he has absolutely no obligation to do so, makes him look like a saint when he could have easily made sure he never worked again, especially after his resignation stunt. A popular meme even highlighted that viewers who felt bad for Homer in the '90s ended up envying his job security when rewatching the story by the 2010s.
4 Brother from the Same Planet: There Really Was A Corey Hotline
While Bart and Homer get involved with the Bigger Brothers Organization in a complicated revenge plot, Lisa ends up getting addicted to a 1-900 hotline where a handsome celebrity named Corey talks to her.
During the 1980s to the early 1990s, it wasn't uncommon to see 1-900 numbers aimed at children and teens, with kids being allowed to "talk" to everything from Santa Claus to real-life celebrities. And while Corey in the episode appears to be a fictional celebrity, there was indeed a real Corey hotline. New laws and regulations have caused 1-900 numbers to fall out of popularity since the turn of the century, especially killing hotlines aimed at kids.
3 Bart of Darkness: Poolmobiles Were Real, Too
When trying to beat the summer heat, Bart and Lisa get a brief break when Otto drives up to the neighborhood with a "poolmobile," a giant, portable pool, which the neighborhood kids can enjoy for one day only.
Modern viewers might think it's a joke, but such a thing really existed. More popularly known as "porta-pools" or "swimmobiles," they usually were aimed at urban areas, in part to decrease people opening up fire hydrants. The trend saw its popularity from the 1960s to the early 1980s, effectively dying out by the mid-1990s.
2 The Secret War of Lisa Simpson: Miltary Schools Are Much Stricter In Their Admissions Process
After getting in trouble too often, Bart is reluctantly sent to military school. Feeling like she needs a challenge, Lisa decides to enroll, too. While modern parents might still threaten misbehaving kids with military school, it's become more of an empty threat since the 1990s.
Not only have military schools become less common, surviving military schools generally behave like private schools and tend to have a rigorous admission process. In other words, most schools wouldn't take an unwilling delinquent like Bart in the first place.
1 Last Tap Dance In Springfield: American Malls Would Eventually Meet Their Decline
After missing out on a camping trip, Bart and Milhouse decide to spend the week living at the mall, remembering Homer's sage advice that "Food, fun and fashion, the mall has it all!"
However, American malls would face the "retail apocalypse" by the 2010s, combined with competition with other rising forms of shopping, eventually giving way to the "dead mall" phenomenon.