Viral Claim Says The Simpsons Predicted a Global Blackout on November 17: The Episode Names No Year, and the Day Brings Only a U.S. Emergency Alert Test
A claim spreading on social media says the animated series The Simpsons predicted a worldwide blackout on November 17, 2026, and with the date only days away, posts and short videos carrying the theory have spread across platforms. According to Parade on November 13, the episode behind the claim never identifies 2026 as the year, the fictional disaster affects only the town of Springfield rather than the whole planet, and there is no credible evidence of a global blackout on November 17.
The episode being recirculated is It's a Blunderful Life, the seventh episode of Season 35, first aired on November 19, 2023. In it, an elderly Lisa looks back on a power outage that left Springfield in darkness for six days. Homer takes the blame, although Mr. Burns is actually responsible. Lisa's diary references November 17, with a storm approaching, and that detail has been lifted out and turned into a prediction for 2026. Parade notes that the episode gives no year for the outage.
Brazilian fact-checking agency Lupa points out that the timeline does not match the 2026 calendar either: in the episode, Springfield's power returns on Thanksgiving, six days after the outage, whereas Thanksgiving in 2026 falls on November 26, which would put the outage on November 20, not November 17. In other words, the viral version changes the year, the scope and the date relationship at the same time.
Something is scheduled in the United States on November 17, but it has nothing to do with shutting off power. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on September 16 that they will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time on November 17. Radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite providers and wireline video providers will interrupt programming for about one minute to relay a test message in English and Spanish stating that it is only a test and no action is required by the public. No cellphone alerts are planned, and the test will not shut down electricity. If conditions require a delay, the backup date is December 3.
Parade's conclusion is that this particular Simpsons prediction does not hold up. Neither FEMA nor the FCC has announced any power shutdown, and fact-checkers have found no evidence of a global blackout.
Source: Parade
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 资料图：停电期间靠烛光照明的房间（Billjones94摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons），已裁为16:9，非涉事剧集画面。/ File photo: a room lit by candlelight during a power outage (photo by Billjones94, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons), cropped to 16:9; not a frame from the episode.
