'The Simpsons' May Have Also Predicted the Bedbug Infestation in France

A clip from the episode "Pulpit Friction" has gone viral on TikTok

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Oct 19, 2023

When my parents forbade me from watching The Simpsons as a child, were they really just trying to protect me from spoiling plot points destined to become our future reality?

The infamous clairvoyance of the long-running animated sitcom created by Matt Groening has struck again, with fans believing that Season 24 episode "Pulpit Friction" may have predicted the bedbug infestation that has swept across France and into greater Europe over the past couple of weeks.

TikTok user @curioususer3's hypothesis in short-from video has been viewed over 1.4 million times as of this writing, connecting the pest crisis with the episode, which initially aired in April 2013.

After a crashing incident in an occurrence of The Simpsons' running visual joke referred to as the "couch gag" at the end of the opening credits, the episode sees the family decide to get a new couch. Homer orders one online that ships from Brooklyn, NY, and ends up introducing bedbugs to the whole (notably American) town of Springfield.

The infestation in France has been linked to increasing numbers of travellers, starting just before fashionistas flooded Paris for Fashion Week. But sure, that's close enough! "Pulpit Friction" employed some frogs to solve the bedbug problem, so they may need to be allowed to keep their legs if the country wants a way out of this.

But, of course, as any longtime Toronto renter and/or TTC user will tell you, bedbugs are kind of inevitable.

Check out the TikTok below.
 
@curioususer3 Bed Bugs Have Been Seen Crawling All Over Public Spaces In Paris As France Battles An Epidemic Of Insects. #simpsonspredictions #paris #bedbugs #france #paris2024 #bedbugsparis #bedbugsinfestation ♬ Suspense, horror, piano and music box - takaya
 

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