The Simpsons has been on our screens for more than three decades now - but it's still finding ways to surprise us.
From predicting the cost of living crisis in the UK to having Donald Trump as a US president, or even the Covid pandemic, The Simpsons writers quite clearly know something we don't.
In 2023 alone, eagle-eyed viewers spotted that they - more or less - anticipated the ill-fated Titanic sub imploding, the launch of the new Barbie movie and the rebranding of Twitter.
However, it appears that even the biggest of The Simpsons fans - including myself - weren't aware of the subtle joke at the beginning of every episode.
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I must say I feel pretty ashamed to have never noticed.
The recurring joke has been hiding in plain sight in the opening credits and we're not talking about the couch gag.
Before the family of five take their seats, the opening title 'The Simpsons' appears on the screen in the clouds.
Now, according to a book by producer Mike Reiss titled 'Springfield Confidential', the joke is missed by 'millions' of people.
"Since season one, January 1990, each Simpsons episode begins with a joke that is missed by tens of millions of fans in hundreds of millions of viewings," he explained.
"When the title card emerges from the clouds, you see the first half of the family’s name, ‘The Simps’, before the rest of the word.
“Well, ‘Simps’ is short for simpletons – stupid people – like the ones you’re about to see in the show. If you never caught this, don’t feel bad; most of our current staff didn’t know it either.”
I'm definitely feeling like the simp at the moment.
Nevertheless, the writers are clearly a talented group and you might be interested to know all of the eerie predictions they have made for 2024.
Here are a few of the big ones:
Baby Translator - Episode 24, Series 3
In this classic The Simpsons episode, we witness Homer's brother Herb Powell for second time after his life gets ruined thanks to Homer.
To rectify Homer taking away his business, Herb invents the baby translator - which is exactly what it sounds like.
A company called Zoundream claims to have developed a product that somehow uses AI to determine what babies want when they cry.
Virtual Reality Food - Episode 17, Series 11
Although this sounds pretty impossible, Virtual Reality companies, such as AeroBanquets RMX, allow users to explore what it would feel like to dine in the digital world.
In this The Simpsons episode, Homer and Marge are eating virtual fudge through a straw placed on the back of their virtual reality headsets.
AI Robots Takeover - Episode 17, Series 23
In this episode, Homer loses his job after boss Mr Burns replaces all employees at the nuclear power plant with robots.
With the way robots are already working in factories and the advancements of AI, will they continue to take jobs in 2024?
Topics: The Simpsons, TV and Film
Anish Vij