# TV episodes and movies which seem to have predicted the future. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344 "2009-08-31T13:22:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/1 "2009-08-31T13:22:45Z")
I caught a rerun of an episode of M_A_S\*H yesterday where the doctors find out a soldier has leukemia, a (then) uncurable cancer. Said solider was played by Patrick Swayze, who is now dying to an incurable cancer. Which other script writers got the future right? ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/2 "2009-08-31T13:48:12Z")
West wing with its final season (even though it is said they were inspired by Obama’s speech at the democratic convention). The movie The Siege (not Steven Segal vehicle; although, with all the pirate things happening…:)) has become irksome after 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/3 "2009-08-31T13:54:02Z")
The March 11th, 2001 pilot episode of _The Lone Gunmen_ anticipated a _whole lot_ of woo-woo with the scenario of a rogue element within the U.S. government faking a terrorist hijacking of a commercial airliner by using remote control technology to try to fly it into the World Trade Center. (In a show where the main conceit is that all of the most woo-woo conscpiracy theories you’ve heard are actually true, no less.) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/4 "2009-08-31T13:58:43Z")
On Doctor Who, the Loch Ness Monster episode (Terror of the Zygons) was broadcast in 1975 although it was set in 1980 (according to a Sarah Jane quote in another episode). During the Loch Ness crisis, the Brigadier gets a call from the Prime Minister. He says, “Yes Madam. Yes, Madam, we will take action, firm and resolute action.” Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/5 "2009-08-31T14:40:56Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I caught a rerun of an episode of M_A_S\*H yesterday where the doctors find out a soldier has leukemia, a (then) uncurable cancer. > > Said solider was played by Patrick Swayze, who is now dying to an incurable cancer. > > Which other script writers got the future right? Demolition Man. CryoCon Prisoners being “Lojacked”…sounds like RFID chip technology to me The Videoconferencing scene? The next step for gotomeeting and webex. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/6 "2009-08-31T17:48:38Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > The March 11th, 2001 pilot episode of _The Lone Gunmen_ anticipated a _whole lot_ of woo-woo with the scenario of a rogue element within the U.S. government faking a terrorist hijacking of a commercial airliner by using remote control technology to try to fly it into the World Trade Center. > > (In a show where the main conceit is that all of the most woo-woo conscpiracy theories you’ve heard are actually true, no less.) I remember seeing that and thinking “That’s a pretty crazy idea. I wonder if they would fall down or not.” ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/7 "2009-08-31T17:57:49Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > The movie The Siege (not Steven Segal vehicle; although, with all the pirate things happening…:)) has become irksome after 9/11. Came in to mention this. I quote the ‘shred the constitution, just a little bit’ speech a lot, and people are surprised it comes from a pre-9/11 movie. I remember the premise of the film sorta scaring me, and the necessity to quote it scaring me a bit more… ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/8 "2009-08-31T18:00:44Z")
An episode of “Laugh-In” (circa 1969) had a skit about news events of the future. Gary Owens, the announcer, read a story about “President Ronald Reagan.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/9 "2009-08-31T19:04:22Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > An episode of “Laugh-In” (circa 1969) had a skit about news events of the future. Gary Owens, the announcer, read a story about “President Ronald Reagan.” And even that wasn’t the first. Stan Freberg released a recording in 1966 parodying the California election campaign with Reagan and his campaign advisor in the personae of the campy Batman and Robin. It ends with Reagan doing a version of _Give My Regards to Broadway_ with the reminder to Lyndon (Johnson, presumably) that “I’ll be there ere long.” ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/10 "2009-08-31T19:11:45Z")
_Max Headroom_. The whole damn thing. Blipverts, anyone? No seizures _yet …_ ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/11 "2009-08-31T19:18:13Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Demolition Man. > > CryoCon Prisoners being “Lojacked”…sounds like RFID chip technology to me > The Videoconferencing scene? The next step for gotomeeting and webex. Not to mention Taco Bell winning the “fast food wars”, if I remember that correctly. Taco Bell is part of Yum! Brands, which owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s, A&W, and KFC, and has been experimenting for the past few years with putting various combinations of them in the same store. Picture Taco Bell as a stand-in for Yum! Brands, and that particular prediction is getting to look pretty accurate. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/12 "2009-08-31T19:19:56Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Stan Freberg released a recording in 1966 parodying the California election campaign with Reagan and his campaign advisor in the personae of the campy Batman and Robin. It ends with Reagan doing a version of _Give My Regards to Broadway_ with the reminder to Lyndon (Johnson, presumably) that “I’ll be there ere long.” Which illustrates that Reagan was already established as an ambitious politician (and was a popular governor of California who met the Constitutional requirements for the presidency by the time the “Laugh-In” gag aired), so it wasn’t that much of a stretch. **Saturday Night Live** parodied marketing of twin-blade razors with an absurd ad for a triple-blade razor. Last time I shopped for cartridges most of them had four or more. SNL also aired a commercial in the '70s for “Doggy Downers” and “Puppy Uppers.” Now as far as I know there are no such treats on the market yet, but I believe there has been a notable increase in the use both of prescription psychoactive drugs for dogs and of pet products with “alternative” ingredients intended to affect mood and behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/13 "2009-09-01T06:40:16Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Which illustrates that Reagan was already established as an ambitious politician (and was a popular governor of California who met the Constitutional requirements for the presidency by the time the “Laugh-In” gag aired), so it wasn’t that much of a stretch. > [ True, but Dan Rowan prefaced the joke with “Dateline: 1988…” Twenty years hence. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/14 "2009-09-01T07:19:07Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > **Saturday Night Live** parodied marketing of twin-blade razors with an absurd ad for a triple-blade razor. Last time I shopped for cartridges most of them had four or more. They also parodied the triple-blade razor with an absurd ad for quadruple thru 14 blade razors in the last few years. We’re up to (I think) 6 blades on one razor right now. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/15 "2009-09-01T09:48:56Z")
- Love Story\* with Ryan O’Neal. Except instead of Ali McGraw it was Farrah Fawcett. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/16 "2009-09-01T13:14:00Z")
The last story in the book [Alternate Kennedys](http://www.amazon.com/Alternate-Kennedys-Mike-Resnick/dp/0812519558) is written from the POV of the brain damaged John Kennedy in the form of a diary, who is being kept in the mansion by “Mother,” “Uncle Teddy” and his doctor. Later Uncle Teddy explains that Mother and the doctor are away and having too much fun to visit him anymore. The last entry is dated December 2008 when the doctor explains that “Uncle Teddy” is “away and busy” and cannot come to see him anymore The story was published in 1994! ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/17 "2009-09-01T15:23:27Z")
I don’t want to hijack this thread into a debate, but I must say that the post 9/11 world is NOTHING at all like The Siege. So much so that I don’t know how you guys could even compare it. Arab-Americans in outdoor razor wire bullpen-style internment camps in New York City??!?!?!? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/18 "2009-09-01T17:29:59Z")
The first time I ever heard of a telephone psychic was in a Saturday Night Live sketch. I think it was Joe Piscopo, though I don’t really remember. A decade or two later, Dionne Warwick was ubiquitous on late-night commercials, promoting the Psychic Friends Network. I was astonished. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/19 "2009-09-01T17:35:11Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I don’t want to hijack this thread into a debate, but I must say that the post 9/11 world is NOTHING at all like The Siege. So much so that I don’t know how you guys could even compare it. > > Arab-Americans in outdoor razor wire bullpen-style internment camps in New York City??!?!?!? Yeah, it’s just trendy to say that it was prophetic. I guess if prophetic means predicting a radical Muslim terrorist attack on NYC SEVEN YEARS after there was a radical Muslim terrorist attack on NYC, then yes, it was prophetic. The rest of it has no relation whatsoever to reality. ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344/20 "2009-09-01T18:02:03Z")
Who was the author who mentioned a President Nixon, after 1960 but before 1968? Philip Dick? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-and-movies-which-seem-to-have-predicted-the-future/508344.md?page=2)