The "Proliferation of Online Shopping" (Amazon, eBay) (Episode: "Marge vs. the Monorail", 1993)

The Simpsons has earned quite the reputation for seemingly predicting the future. It’s actually a bit of a meme at this point, with fans pointing out how many things in the real world appear to have been "predicted" by the show, sometimes years in advance. While some of these predictions are purely coincidental or the result of broad satire, others do seem oddly prescient.

The "Proliferation of Online Shopping" (Amazon, eBay) (Episode: "Marge vs. the Monorail", 1993)

• What happened: In this episode, the characters buy items through a mail-order service, which humorously foreshadows the rise of online shopping.
• Reality: The rise of e-commerce in the 2000s and 2010s, particularly through platforms like Amazon, eBay, and later Shopify, completely transformed the retail industry. Online shopping became the dominant method of purchasing goods, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the trend.