The Simpsons creator Matt Groening finally reveals the simple secret behind how the show ‘predicts the future’

Simpsons creator Matt Groening has revealed the secret to exactly how he “predicts the future” through his culture-changing franchise.

Sitting down with US TV host Conan O’Brien for his podcast Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend, the creator of the Simpsons phenomenon was candid about how the show has managed to predict how history has unfolded.

Groening predictions that came true include everything from Disney Acquiring 21^st Century Fox by a clever “Division of Walt Disney Co” sign in Season 10, to Season 19 which showed the invention of Smartwatches and Facetime via a flash-forward involving an adult Lisa and her future fiancée – and even Team USA famously winning Olympic gold in curling during Season 21.

Groening's franchise has made dozens of predictions according to fans (Getty)

Fans have often taken pleasure in pointing out the inventions and events that have eerily come to pass, often attributing the writers with the ability to foresee the future usually reserved for modern-day prophets. However, Groening’s method for “predicting” the future is not all it may seem.

In fact, there’s one straightforward word that explains how the show is able to hit the right notes when it comes to the future, as Groening himself reveals to O’Brien.

O’Brien explained, “I've had people ask me, 'Hey Conan, how is it that you guys—meaning any Simpsons person—how is it you guys were able to predict the future?' And I'll say, 'Are you... you're not being serious?'

The Simpsons creator went on to describe how the questioners are “totally serious.” And how they think that “the wizards” work at The Simpsons as opposed to it's a “volume business.”

Bart was even able to weigh in on future events (Getty)

Groening went into detail of how exactly he achieves this feat of referencing future events that subsequently came true: “You throw out a lot of things. Maybe you make a joke about, yes, the president in the future will be real estate asshole Donald Trump, and it's just a quick laugh in the room, and then later on it's a chilling omen."

However, because of the volume of stories and gags method Groening uses, he insists there are a lot of examples where the predictions are totally wrong, which still achieve laughs and therefore are overlooked.

He said, "Dan Greaney, the writer of that line about Trump being president, was done in like 2002 or something, and then at [the end of the episode] Lisa was president, so we don't get everything right.”