Random Best Future-Themed Episodes Of 'The Simpsons' (8 items)

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  (#1) Bart to the Future

  • Mar 19 2000

  After stopping at an Indian casino, Bart encounters the manager who shows him a detailed glimpse of what his life will look like in 30 years (which at the date of the episode’s airing would have been 2030). Naturally, we’re shown Bart as a 40-year-old bum who has just been evicted from his apartment (which he shared with Ralph Wiggum), and Lisa, who's just been elected president of the United States of America. 

  As Bart is forced to crash at the White House, the episode highlights the disparaging differences between the two Simpson siblings. Often referred to as the 'Trump episode of The Simpsons,' it's worth noting that it actually makes a reference at how Lisa has to right all the wrongs that had occurred under the nation's last president, Donald J. Trump. How did they know?
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  (#2) Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie

  • Nov 03 1992

  While “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” isn't technically an episode of The Simpsons that takes place in the future, it does have several flash-forward scenarios regarding Bart's future. Realizing their punishments in the past haven't straightened Bart up, Homer has finally had enough and forbids Bart from ever seeing the new Itchy and Scratchy movie. The punishment is considered too severe by Marge and Lisa, but Homer sticks to his guns and thinks that this discipline finally will teach Bart a lesson and will put him on the road to being a Supreme Court Justice, as opposed to the male stripper Homer feared he would become earlier on in the episode. 

  This episode works because it shows how Homer's parenting finally pays off. All of the flash-forward scenarios play out in Homer's imagination, so they obviously should be taken with a grain of salt, but it does show how Homer wants Bart to succeed in life and is only looking out for his best interests. The episode even ends with father in son in the future finally sitting down in a movie theater and watching the Itchy and Scratchy movie together.  
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  (#3) Lisa's Wedding

  • Mar 19 1995

  Airing in 1995, “Lisa's Wedding” was the first full-blown future-themed episode of The Simpsons and was the first time viewers got a look at what the family would look like if they ever aged. Taking place in 2010, Lisa, who’s now in college, falls in love with a charming-but-snobbish British student named Hugh Parkfield (played perfectly by Hugh Grant). After Hugh proposes, Lisa must come to terms with their two families meeting. As Homer and Bart try to bond with Hugh and his high-society parents, hilarity ensues.

  This episode primarily focuses on Lisa and Hugh's pending nuptials and the bubbling conflict between Hugh and her family. By the time the wedding is set to take place, she's forced to choose between Hugh and the rest of her family.  Since it's the first future-themed episode, it spends a lot of time catching up with as many characters as possible, which is what makes having it centered around a wedding such a logical solution. We see just about every Springfieldian at some point in the episode, even Mr. Burns, who was finally cured of seventeen stab wounds.
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  (#4) Holidays of Future Passed

  • Dec 11 2011

  "Holidays of Future Passed" is based around that family's aversion to Marge's love for Christmas photos. As we flash forward thirty years (via Christmas cards) to see Lisa as a successful working mother who is married to Milhouse, Bart as an absentee father to his two sons (from a failed marriage to Jenda), and Maggie as a rock star who is trying to make it back home for Christmas while pregnant. The episode centers around Lisa's struggles connecting to her daughter Zia, while Bart is trying to get his sons to see him as something beyond a deadbeat father. 

  Out of all the future-themed episodes of The Simpsons, “Holidays of Future Passed” offers arguably the most complete look into the future of the Simpson family. It shows that after all these years they're still always there for each other during their struggles, and that the new generation of Simpsons will learn to do the same.
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  (#5) Barthood

  "Barthood" is The Simpsons' attempt at Richard Linklater's Boyhood, as it follows Bart's life from childhood to adulthood. The episode shows Bart and Homer having a difficult relationship, which makes Bart bond with Grandpa Simpson more than we have ever seen in the show's history. We also are shown the strained bond Bart has with Lisa as he has to live in the shadow of all of her accomplishments. 

  As one of the few future episodes without many twists, "Barthood" is definitely more dramedy than comedy as it's all about Bart’s struggle to find his place within his family. The lack of laughs could be attributed to how closely the episode followed the tone of Linklater's film. Although after hundreds and hundreds of episodes, it's not necessarily a bad thing to have an episode dedicated to character development over gags.

  Original Airing: December 13, 2005
  Season: The Simpsons Season 27
  Episode Number: 9
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  (#6) Mr. Lisa's Opus

  “Mr. Lisa's Opus” is Lisa’s version of the episode “Barthood”, as we follow Lisa's life through her birthdays as she attempts to get into Harvard. We get a handful of the usual plot developments we see in these future themed episodes of The Simpsons: Lisa on an Ivy League path, Homer and Marge's marriage on the rocks, Bart's life going nowhere, and Maggie still not speaking. 

  This episode shows that like most families, the Simpsons will meet their fair share of trials and tribulations as time goes on, but when someone as smart and as caring as Lisa Simpson is around for support, then there isn't anything they can't get through. Lisa's voice is often overshadowed by Homer's or Bart's, but in this episode we hear her loud and clear.

  Original Airing: December 3rd, 2017
  Season: The Simpsons-Season 29
  Episode Number: 8 
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  (#7) Future-Drama

  • Apr 17 2005

  Bart and Lisa stumble upon Professor Frink’s house, where he shows them a glimpse into their future eight years ahead. Bart and Lisa are both getting ready to finish high school, and while Lisa already has a full scholarship to Yale (provided begrudgingly by Mr. Burns), Mr. Burns ends up renagging his scholarship and giving it to Bart.

  This episode provides quite a few shocking updates to some of your favorite characters. Marge and Homer are separated, Lisa is dating Milhouse (who is a jacked-up muscle-head—while still being the same sad Milhouse), and Bart was recently dumped by his girlfriend, Jenda, who coincidentally becomes a recurring character in just about all future-themed episodes moving forward.
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  (#8) Days of Future Future

  • Apr 13 2014

  “Days of the Future Future” is an extremely bizarre future-themed episode of The Simpsons. Homer dies and is constantly cloned throughout the years (thanks to Professor Frink), but said clones keep dying. Eventually, Homer's memory is finally put into a flash drive plugged into a TV. Meanwhile, Lisa is (like in most future themed-episodes) married to Milhouse, who has literally become a zombie, and Bart is still having trouble getting over his ex-wife, Jenda. 

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