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"Futuristic" TV shows of the past

firepoint525

firepoint525

This is a topic that I don't believe I have ever seen addressed here, so I will give it a try, and see what everyone remembers. How accurate were the "predictions" of past TV programs set at some point in the future? I can't really think of an example from TV shows, but I will give one from the movies: In Back to the Future II, it was predicted that the Chicago Cubs would win the World Series in 2015. Okay, so they only missed it by a year. Not bad!

An episode of The Jeffersons in which George has a dream, and it was some time in the future (the 1990s) in his dream. He picks up a newspaper, only to see that Amy Carter was president! Okay, that didn't happen, but I don't believe that anyone really expected it to.

The jury is still out on some. The Jetsons was set in 2062; someone look me up 45 years from now, and let's see how well they did!
 
If you really want to consider some futuristic opinions look up episodes of that old B&W 50's gem Science Fiction Theater.

Of course, some predictions don't always work out. For an example of that I would recommend the old Warner Bros. cartoon "One Froggy Evening" circa 1955. It is a classic.
 
The anime robot sagas are all set in a future world. "Voltron: Defender of the Universe" may be a futuristic drama because it's set in a future when large robots fight against evil from beyond space. Hanna-Barbera's "Partridge Family 2200 A.D." series puts the Partridge Family singing group far into the future, while "Valley of the Dinosaurs" may be a futuristic show since it shows a modern family being warped to the stone age. Of course, when they see a modern plane flying above their valley, you can be sure that they're still in the present.
 
I don't remember seeing it myself, but an episode of The Simpsons from at least a decade ago - that takes place in the "future" - mentions President Trump.

I bet it got a big laugh back then. Not so funny in retrospect.
 
LKellerIII said:
I don't remember seeing it myself, but an episode of The Simpsons from at least a decade ago - that takes place in the "future" - mentions President Trump.

I bet it got a big laugh back then. Not so funny in retrospect.
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..and The Simpsons accurately predicted coffee houses on every other corner. Have they been to Denver lately ??? I swear there is a Starbucks a block away from another Starbucks.

A lot of classic TV shows predicted the "future". Jack Webb for example on Dragnet talked about legal pot, legal gay marriage even the acceptance of homosexuality on college campuses. Jack however was against all of it. Meanwhile on at least two episodes of Emergency delt with "religious freedom". In one show I remember Gage and Desoto were called to an apartment fire and the girl didn't want their help for religious reasons.

ALICE was the first show I remember that was about the internet. Mel has a computer installed in his backroom only for Vera to get her hands on it to check movie listings and instead of that she "deleted" Mel's bank account. I know this is a questionable subject since I heard BENSON and even the old Donna Pescow show ANGIE predated ALICE when it comes to the internet but since I didn't watch those shows they could be right but I remember ALICE.

WKRP in Cincinnati talked about the day will come when most of the radio stations are automated, This website is full of that discussion.

The Flintstones in the episode where they visited Bedrock in the future and Fred was asking about TV in the future only to be told that "Payrock Place" was available 24/7 and on all networks. OK we aren't there yet but with so many of the same type of shows like reality stuff I do wonder if we are getting there.
 
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Oh GIMMIE A BREAK was one of the first shows I can remember that discussed homophobia. The chief and another guy were on stakeout. The chief was telling anti-gay jokes and the other guy ( who was gay ) started telling polish jokes even though the chief was polish. They both learned their lesson and stopped their jokes.
 
hamster said:
..and The Simpsons accurately predicted coffee houses on every other corner. Have they been to Denver lately ??? I swear there is a Starbucks a block away from another Starbucks.

WKRP in Cincinnati talked about the day will come when most of the radio stations are automated, This website is full of that discussion.
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At the corner of 4th and Mission in downtown San Francisco, there are TWO Starbucks. I was in Vancouver about 10 years ago, and there were THREE coffee shops one corner - 2 Starbucks and a Canadian chain.

Not a thrilling prediction from WKRP. Most FM stations in the 50s and 60s were either simulcast with their AM counterpart, or automated. "Beautiful Music" stations were generally automated, too
 
There is an episode of Rocko's Modern Life that takes place 20 years in the future, in the year 2017. There's flying cars, and the houses all sat on one single large drainage pipe. They also had teleportation and hats that had radars in them.
 
Even in Jackson, TN Starbucks has a location on the outer edge of the Union University campus and one in Target that are less than a mile apart.
 
LKellerIII said:
At the corner of 4th and Mission in downtown San Francisco, there are TWO Starbucks. I was in Vancouver about 10 years ago, and there were THREE coffee shops one corner - 2 Starbucks and a Canadian chain.

Not a thrilling prediction from WKRP. Most FM stations in the 50s and 60s were either simulcast with their AM counterpart, or automated. "Beautiful Music" stations were generally automated, too
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Yes you are right about WKRP.

One TV show I forgot about where at least one episode predicted something that is true today and that is Movin' On. On one episode Will and Sonny visited a town that had those non-smoking laws, Sonny wasn't too bad but Will smoked cigars. He couldn't find a hotel or a restaurant that allowed him to smoke. That show was from 1974 and few towns and cities had smoking laws unlike today with such laws are all over the place.
 
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