Bart to the Future

"Bart to the Future" is the seventeenth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 19, 2000. In the episode, after their picnic in the park is cut short due to a mosquito infestation, the Simpsons stop by at an Indian casino. There, Bart is prevented from entering because of his age. He manages to sneak in but is caught by the guards and sent to the casino manager's office. The Native American manager shows Bart a vision of his future as a washed-up, wannabe rock musician living with Ralph Wiggum, while Lisa has become the President of the United States and tries to get the country out of financial trouble. "Bart to the Future" was the second episode of The Simpsons after "Lisa's Wedding" to be set in the future.

The episode was directed by Michael Marcantel and written by Dan Greaney, who wanted to explore what Bart's life would end up like. Several designs were made by the animators for future Bart, but Greaney did not think they matched the personality of the character and had to give clearer instructions on how he wanted him to look. Reception of "Bart to the Future" by critics has been generally mixed to negative. In 2003, it was named the worst episode of the series by Entertainment Weekly writers who felt the "looking-into-the-future premise" was carried out better in "Lisa's Wedding." Around 8.77 million American homes tuned in to watch the episode during its original airing. In 2008, it was released on DVD along with the rest of the episodes of the eleventh season. The episode attracted renewed attention in the events leading up to the 2016 presidential election, because of a reference to the presidency of Donald Trump.