History AccidentallyCorrectWriting / TheSimpsons

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E17BartToTheFuture Bart To The Future]]" is infamous for the prediction about a UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump presidency in the distant future. In reality, they were skewering Trump's attempts at seeking the Reform Party's 2000 presidential election candidacy. By the time episode aired, Trump already ended his campaign. It wasn't till the 2016 election that Trump sought the presidency again and won to the shock of the whole world.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E3WhenFlandersFailed When Flanders Failed]]" reveals that Mr. Burns [[ASinisterClue is left-handed]], even though several episodes before and since have shown him writing with his ''right'' hand. The most likely explanation for this is that [[DependingOnTheArtist whichever artist was drawing Mr. Burns that day forgot about the one episode that confirms he's left handed]]. However, in the early 20th century (i.e. when Mr. Burns grew up), left-handedness was considered improper and lefties were forced to learn to write with their right hand anyways. So Mr. Burns writing with his right hand despite being left-handed is actually accurate for someone of his age.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E3WhenFlandersFailed When Flanders Failed]]" reveals that Mr. Burns [[ASinisterClue is left-handed]], even though several episodes before and since have shown him writing with his right hand, rather than his left. The most likely explanation for this is that [[DependingOnTheArtist whichever artist was drawing Mr. Burns that day forgot the one episode that confirms he's left handed]]. However, in the early 20th century (i.e. when Mr. Burns grew up), left-handedness was considered improper and lefties were forced to learn to write with their right hand anyways. So Mr. Burns writing with his right hand despite being left-handed is actually accurate for someone of his age.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E3WhenFlandersFailed]]" reveals that Mr. Burns [[ASinisterClue is left-handed]], even though several episodes before and since have shown him writing with his right hand, rather than his left. The most likely explanation for this is that [[DependingOnTheArtist whichever artist was drawing Mr. Burns that day forgot the one episode that confirms he's left handed]]. However, in the early 20th century (i.e. when Mr. Burns grew up), left-handedness was considered improper and lefties were forced to learn to write with their right hand anyways. So Mr. Burns writing with his right hand despite being left-handed is actually accurate for someone of his age.

** It has a bit where Lionel Hutz asks the ''Itchy & Scratchy'' legal team if they have a copy of the film that forms the basis for his client's copyright claim, since the only copy his client had was destroyed by accident. This is played as Hutz being his usual desperately incompetent self and asking his opponent to help him out, but he's more right than he seems. The rules of civil discovery do indeed allow one side to request evidence from the opposition if they think they have it, and ignoring these requests can result in fines and sanctions. Hutz's only problem is that he's requesting it in the middle of the trial rather than in the pre-trial phase, which is when evidence is usually gathered; other than that, he would have been entirely within his rights to ask that Roger Meyers go poking around in his studio archives for a copy of the missing film.

* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E1BeyondBlunderdome Beyond Blunderdome]]" (1999), Homer misleads Creator/MelGibson into doing a hyper-violent, InNameOnly remake of ''Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington'' that includes a scene where Smith impales a rival with an American flag. The sequence is presented as being completely over-the-top ridiculous and the movie is implied to ruin Gibson's career irreparably. One year later, the real Gibson released ''Film/ThePatriot'', where his main character (an [[HistoricalBadassUpgrade actionized counterpart]] of a real historical figure) uses an American flag as a pike to bring the [[FoeTossingCharge main villain's horse]] down during the final battle before killing him. And it's supposed to be taken seriously.
* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E17BartToTheFuture Bart to the Future]]" (airdate March 19, 2000), future President Lisa makes a reference to President UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump--who, 16 years later, would indeed be elected the 45th [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStates President of the United States of America]]. At the time of the episode's airing, he had just ended an attempt to win a nomination of a third party, so the idea of his going from failed third-party candidate to elected president was perfect as a humorously far-fetched throwaway joke. The timeline of the episode implied that it'd take him over 20 years to make that transition, but in fact it only took him 17.

* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS17E21TheMonkeySuit The Monkey Suit]]", Bart stars in a stage adaptation of ''Film/Grease2''. Eight years later ''Grease 2'' was adapted into the stage musical, ''Cool Rider''.

* Santa's Little Helper is a two-fold case of this. One is he's a somewhat lazy ex-racer Greyhound. Rather than go with the normal "always energetic and fast" DogStereotype attributed to the breed, he's a "normal" laidback dog. This is actually accurate to Greyhounds, and especially former racing dogs. Aside from when they're on walks, they tend to be very relaxed. Greyhounds were bred for short spurts of running, not being energetic constantly. Two is his introduction in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E1SimpsonsRoastingOnAnOpenFire Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire]]" where he's abandoned by his owner after a long string of losses. Much to the surprise of the writers, this actually ''is'' a common plight of racing dogs, and they were praised by animal rights groups for bringing mainstream attention to it: Creator/MattGroening later explained in an interview that he had no idea this was an issue but was happy they were able to raise awareness of it.

* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E13TwoBadNeighbors Two Bad Neighbors]]", Homer attempts to prank UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush with cardboard cut-outs he identifies as "your sons, George Bush Jr. and Jeb Bush". In the audio commentary for that episode, it's said that the writers had no idea that there really ''is'' a "[[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush George Bush Jr.]]" and the line was supposed to be an example of Homer being stupid. Stupider like a fox, it seems.

---> '''WebVideo/LegalEagle:''' That's actually true! Hearsay and conjecture are kinds of evidence. They're not ''good'' forms of evidence, but technically they are types of evidence. Many of the lawyers I know use that line all the time. It's a staple among lawyers. It's fantastic.

* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E10TheSpringfieldFiles The Springfield Files]]," Milhouse plays an arcade game adaptation of ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'', in which he only gets to move the PlayerCharacter a few steps before he get a GameOver out of nowhere and Milhouse is forced to insert ''40'' quarters in order to keep playing, which he grudgingly accepts. This joke was meant to parody the TroubledProduction for ''Waterworld'', namely the ballooning expenses needed to make the film, but it also accidentally parodies a real feature arcade games had at the time: Arcade games could be made deliberately UnwinnableByDesign via operator settings. The feature, when activated, would put the player in a no-win situation that could only be overcome by using another credit. It's not as extreme as Milhouse's situation, no sane operator would've charged $10 per credit, and these games tried to stay subtle that the player doesn't notice they cannot win without inserting more coins, but the principle is identical.
* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E10MiracleOnEvergreenTerrace Miracle On Evergreen Terrace]]" (1997), [[GameShowAppearance Marge goes on]] ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' to pay back Springfield, [[EpicFail but she ends up with a score of -$5200]], which is so terrible that Creator/AlexTrebek actually asks Marge to pay the show back. It is possible to end up with a negative score in the real show, and some contestants even managed scores as low as Marge, but they obviously are not required to write a check to the producers for the difference.

---> '''WebVideo/LegalEagle:''' That's actually true! Hearsay and conjecture are kinds of evidence. They're not ''good'' forms of evidence, but technically they are types of evidence. Many of the lawyers I know use that line all the time. [[MisaimedFandom It's a staple among lawyers]]. It's fantastic.