Of Course ‘The Simpsons’ Predicted Disney’s Fox Acquisition in 1998
Thousands of years from now, alien archaeologists will come to one inescapable conclusion: The Simpsons dictated humanity’s every advance. The latest evidence is none other than today’s giant Disney-Fox merger, which America’s favorite family jokingly predicted in 1998.
As many had noted once word of Disney’s 21st Century Fox acquisition broke, The Simpsons has another prescient joke to join the ranks of President Trump, FIFA corruption, Siegfried and Roy, and more. Back in 1998, the Hollywood-centric episode “When You Dish Upon a Star” featured a brief cutaway to Ron Howard pitching one of Homer’s ideas to (then) 20th Century Fox, the outside sign of which displays “A DIVISION OF WALT DISNEY CO.”
The episode in question featured a then-married Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger moving to Springfield to get away from the Hollywood lifestyle, so not everything necessarily held up. Both FOX and The Simpsons have taken a few shots at Disney over the years, as executive producer James L. Brooks nicely summed up:
As for the deal itself, Disney doesn’t own the actual FOX broadcasting channel, so don’t worry about The Simpsons suddenly disappearing from the airwaves just yet. Stay tuned for the latest on either in the meantime.
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