History Main / MillenniumBug

The Millennium Bug is one of the more famous examples of an OverflowError. For the sequel to the Bug itself, watch for the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem Year 2038 problem]] (when the [-UsefulNotes/{{UNIX}}-] system time integer exhausts its [[UsefulNotes/BinaryBitsAndBytes 32 bits]]). Fortunately, by that point, we'll certainly be using 64-bit time;[[note]]And we won't have to worry about THIS issue until the year [[TimeAbyss 292,277,026,596]].[[/note]] however, many embedded systems still use 32-bit time as of now. Due to increasingly rapid change of digital technology, especially on embedded systems, they tend to be replaced for low prices (or in the case of offline museum material, have the time rewinded). And if you're willing to wait ''much'' longer, refer to the Year 10000 problem, as clocks aren't used to handling five digit year numerals.

* God calls [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Bill Gates]], UsefulNotes/BorisYeltsin and UsefulNotes/BillClinton for an urgent message and informs them that the world will end next week and they are to relay a message to their people. Yeltsin goes back to Russia and says there is [[GoodNewsBadNews bad news and terrible news]]: the bad news is there really is a God, and the terrible news is the world will end next week. Clinton holds a press conference in Washington and says there is good news and bad news: the good news is that there really is a God, and the bad news is the world will end next week. Gates returns to Microsoft and holds an employee conference, saying he has good news and great news: the good news is that God knows what a wonderful, important person he is, and the great news is they don't have to worry about fixing the Millennium Bug.

** On that note, the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 was hit by a similar leap year-related bug on March 1, 2010, which would have been February 29 had it been a leap year. Once again, the problem fixed itself the next day when a valid date was returned.

* Briefly referenced in ''Webcomic/{{Avalon}}'' when the usual New Year's Eve party goes out. Like the Real Life Comics example above, it turned out to be just an electrical error rather than the bug.

* A flashback episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' ("11:59", which premiered in 1999) has Janeway's ancestor quip that the bug didn't even turn off a light bulb.
* The ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'' episode "[=Y2K=]" has the characters reminiscing about their experience directly after the millennium, where they lived in the local supermarket, believing themselves to be the only survivors of the aftermath of the millennium bug.
* Referenced in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' during a flashback to 1999, as Jack talks about encountering one that had "18 legs stacked with poison".
* One of the modern-day episodes of ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' reveals that the bug was yet another plot by Ares to get Xena back on his side. With the world in ruins, a hero like her would be needed again, so she'd want to be as strong as possible.

* The ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Enemies: Domestic" featured a "flashback" to 1999,[[note]]Of an event that would have taken place before the show actually debuted[[/note]] when Vance talks about getting the office computers ready for [=Y2K=].
* Referenced in ''[[Series/{{Alias}} Alias]]'' when Sydney and Vaughn go undercover as Russian spies preparing for a mission as [[DeepCoverAgent Deep Cover Agents]] in America. During a party, they make small-talk and reference the [=Y2K=] bug, and are [[YourCostumeNeedsWork subsequently scolded for being too stereotypical]].
* In the first episode of ''Series/OppositeSex'', there's an announcement at a school assembly that the school is now [=Y2K=] compliant. This would have been just a passing reference if the show had debuted in the fall of 1999 as planned; but since it was delayed until the summer of 2000, it became instantly HilariousInHindsight.
* One episode of ''Series/SportsNight'' had Jeremy crash the studio's computer system during a [=Y2K=] compliance test.

* One episode of ''Series/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego'' took this even further when [[EvilGenius Dr. Belljar]] was worrying over this:
-->'''Dr. Belljar:''' Bad news, Carmen. My processors think 1999 will be followed by the year 0!
* An episode of ''Series/Millennium1996'' managed to combine [=Y2K=] and the Columbine incident. Somehow it worked.

* Sid from ''Series/TheCoolKids'' mentions that he came out as gay to [[TheBeard his wife]] on New Years' Eve 1999, when he freaked out over [=Y2K=] and blurted it out.
* Oscar in ''Series/CornerGas'' thinks the Millennium Bug could still happen, despite the show airing from 2004 to 2009 and taking place during those years.
* On a [[WholeEpisodeFlashback [=#TBT=] episode]] of ''Series/LifeInPieces'', the Short family gathers around for a New Year's Eve party while John, like many people, was under the impression that the [=Y2K=] bug would hit at 12:00 AM.
* In the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "[[Recap/ColdCaseS1E18Resolutions Resolutions]]", the VictimOfTheWeek and his friends discuss their fears over the [=Y2K=] bug before he is killed on New Year's Day 2000.
* In 1999, Creator/LeonardNimoy presented "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhEQEG43RU The Y2K Family Survival Guide]]", a documentary/public service announcement/TV special on the bug.

* ''Series/{{FUBAR}}'': Episode 6 the protagonists end up [[LockedInARoom lockd]] in a Cold War-era bunker, with the ventilation system also failing so they only have a few hours to escape before they suffocate. They escape by exploiting the fact that the computer that runs the bunker's systems was not booted up since 1989 and thus was never upgraded to deal with the Millennium Bug, causing it to crash once they set the computer's calendar to December 31, 1999 and have it count down to midnight.

* Referenced by ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' in his unique manner:
--> '''Max:''' "After [=Y2K=], the end of the world had become a cliché."
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', the bug was used as an excuse for the Patriots to implant a secret code into major computing systems around the world.
%%* The game ''Millennium Bugs''.

* The original ''[[VideoGame/BackyardSports Backyard Baseball]]'' also contains a [=Y2K=] bug. Upon beating the game, your name will be entered into the Hall of Fame with a date on the achievement as well, with the date written in a MM/DD/YY format. If an award is obtained and your computer's internal clock is any day past 1999, it will instead read as MM/DD/(Year-1900). So, if you won it on, say, January 15, 2003, it would read as 1/15/103. Curiously, the team photo doesn't suffer from any such bug, correctly displaying the year as "[=20XX=] Team Photo". Even more oddly, the record book ''also'' doesn't have this problem, despite using the ''exact same date format'' as the Hall of Fame!
* The plot of ''VisualNovel/FadingHearts'' features the [=Y2K=] bug having actually wreaked chaos and destruction around the world to the point that the main character is one of many "[=Y2K=] orphans". Despite this, it seems to have had no effect on society or technology, serving more as a HandWave for why the characters don't have any parents.
* ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' 3rdMIX (1999) gave us End of the Century, complete with lines such as, "Some people think the Year 2G is so [scary], let's wait and see/The World will [shut] down, most won't admit".
* ''VideoGame/Fallout76'' has an example that straddles the line between being a Video Game example and a Real Life example. When 2019 rolled around, the nuke silos locked up with a countdown timer of 9,999 hours (over a year) along with other bugs related to the nuclear silos. The nuclear silos normally lock after use and then unlock after a set period of time. However, there was a problem within the programming of the game where it wasn't prepared for the new calendar year, causing the silos to be locked indefinitely. This problem has since been patched out of the game.

* ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Guilty Gear Xrd]]'' reveals that the event that led to the banning of technology as we currently know it (known in-universe as "Black Technology") and the subsequent discovery of magic took place at the end of 1999; the "Dawn of Revival" was the attempt of the Universal Will to enter Earth through our communication technologies, resulting in all electronics malfunctioning and widespread natural disasters followed by a period of societal instability until the global adoption of magic.
* ''VideoGame/HypnospaceOutlaw'' takes place in a simulacra of late 1990s internet, so this eventually comes up as a plot point. A late chapter of the game takes place on New Year's Eve. [[spoiler:The date bug isn't a problem at all, but [[WhamEpisode other dire issues make themselves clear]] on New Year's 2000 nonetheless.]]

* The ending of the arcade version of ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' has the screen display text reading that [[spoiler:[[BigBad Geese Howard]] dies on the date the player beat the game, except that the first two digits are always 19, as showcased in the two playthrough videos from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuO1BhTUdvE&t=14m22s 2008]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFy06uvtaxI&t=14m34s 2013]]]].

* The ending of the arcade version of ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' has the screen display text reading that [[spoiler:[[BigBad Geese Howard]] dies on the date when the player beat the game, except that the first two digits are always 19, as showcased in the two playthrough videos of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuO1BhTUdvE&t=14m22s 2008]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFy06uvtaxI&t=14m34s 2013]]]].

* And yet another one ''[=Y2K=]: Terminal Countdown'', in which a nuclear missile silo threatens to launch, and the only person with the cancellation code is a long dead UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. Oh, and for some reason the silo is completely automated (including [[SelfGuardingPhlebotinum defenses]]) and was built in the middle of the Columbian jungle.

So tonight, we're gonna party like it's nineteen ninety-nine''

-> ''"They say two thousand zero-zero, party over, oops, out of time\\
So tonight we're gonna party like it's nineteen ninety-nine"''

* Music/{{Prince}}'s megahit "1999", quoted above, capitalized on [=Y2K=] eighteen years before it happened. Apparently, Prince wanted people to have ''something'' to dance to if the world came to an end.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E4TreehouseOfHorrorX Treehouse of Horror X]]" has doomsday on New Year's Day 2000, but the bug is actually caused by Homer's inability to ensure everything went smoothly. It's actually portrayed fairly realistically for a few seconds, with Springfield's clock being reset to 1900, but is followed by [[EverythingIsOnline almost everything with a computer chip]] (including traffic lights and even a carton of milk) becoming sentient and attacking humans, eventually leading the world's greatest celebrities to escape and colonize Mars (while all of the world's worst are hurled into the Sun so the gene pool will be free of mediocrity) as Earth descends into nuclear war.

[[folder:WebVideo]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror X" has doomsday on New Year's Day 2000, but the bug is actually caused by Homer's inability to ensure everything went smoothly. It's actually portrayed fairly realistically for a few seconds, with Springfield's clock being reset to 1900, but is followed by [[EverythingIsOnline almost everything with a computer chip]] (including traffic lights and even a carton of milk) becoming sentient and attacking humans, eventually leading the world's greatest celebrities to escape and colonize Mars (while all of the world's worst are hurled into the Sun so the gene pool will be free of mediocrity) as Earth descends into nuclear war.
* The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Da Boom" has the Griffin family getting ready to celebrate New Year's Eve, but Peter groups them all into a shelter he built, believing the [=Y2K=] stories. It turns out to be true, as the bug causes every nuclear missile in the world to launch and destroy civilization.

* This is an ongoing problem with GPS. Receivers need to know the time GPS satellites are on, as they used this to track where they are. However, GPS uses the number of weeks since January 6, 1980 as its date and this is stored as a 10-bit value. So the maximum number of weeks since this epoch can be is 1023, which rolls over roughly every 19.6 years. For a number of technical reasons, the satellites can't be update to fix this. Instead, the GPS receiver software has either know to account for the rollover or be updated to the new epoch. The first time this happened was August 21-22, 1999 and the last time this happened was April 6-7, 2019. The next time its expected to happen is November 20-21, 2038.

* ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace''. IntrepidReporter Buster Kincaid says it's not the first time the world government has hyped up a non-existent threat, like "...those bugs from Sector Y2K in the year 2000."

* A commercial for Polaroid's [=PopShots=] instant camera shows a man running through Times Square seconds before midnight on December 31, 1999, looking for an ATM and passing a reporter announcing that the [=Y2K=] bug still threatens bank disruptions and computer failure. He takes a picture of his balance of $342.63 just before the bug hits and cuts power to the machine. At the end of the commercial, the ATM comes back on and shows that the balance has now become $46,674,942.63. After a second of shock, he takes another picture and walks away with a large grin.

** Of course, despite the doomsday preparations by some characters, the episode does portray [=Y2K=] fairly realistically. The only reason it's even an issue for Dilbert's company at all is because everything is dependent on the one computer that ''isn't'' [=Y2K=] compliant: an exceedingly old, COBOL-running mainframe that, in a move that even the Pointy-Haired Boss himself admits was stupid and short-sighted, didn't get replaced when it should have been. Fixing it was merely a matter of going in and making some minor alterations on certain lines of code.

Supposedly, on January 1, 2000, the world was going to be destroyed by a computer glitch known as the "Millennium Bug" ([[IHaveManyNames also referred to as "[=Y2K=]" or the "Year 2000 problem"]]). This bug involved numerous computer systems [[OverflowError misinterpreting the year 2000 as 1900]], resulting in planes falling out of the sky, satellites going wrong and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking all the]] [[Series/RedDwarf calculators going to silicon heaven]]; the most extreme fears involved an accidental nuclear war, or even machines coming to life and attacking humans like something out of ''Film/TheTerminator''. Most of the actual problems were just cosmetic, such as programs displaying the year after "1999" as [[http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/20.72.html "19100,"]] or desktop internal clocks resetting to 1981 as a crash-preventing exception.

* The children's comic ''ComicBook/TheDandy'' took the concept of the Millennium Bug and anthropomorphized it into a strange insect. The comic had numerous characters interact with it; one story involved a robotic teacher being destroyed by a student handing in a photocopy of the bug as homework.

* [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Guilty Gear Xrd]] reveals that the event that led to the banning of technology as we currently know it (known in-universe as "Black Technology") and the subsequent discovery of magic took place at the end of 1999; the "Dawn of Revival" was the attempt of the Universal Will to enter Earth through our communication technologies, resulting in all electronics malfunctioning and widespread natural disasters followed by a period of societal instability until the global adoption of magic.

* The [[ExcusePlot "plot"]] of ''Fighting Force'' actually plays with this: the MadScientist BigBad is pissed when the clock rolls over on New Year's and ''nothing happens'', so he decides to make something happen by instigating anarchy in the streets by freeing violent convicts from jail.

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei has a sticker on her flute case that says "[=Y2K=]-A'OK" in reference to this given that the film takes place in 2002.