So you won't be able to catch the total solar eclipse in all its glory on Monday because you don't live along the lunar event's direct path? What a bummer, especially since the next total eclipse in the United States won't take place for another seven years.
However, there's still a way to experience the solar phenomenon even if you aren't in the 10 U.S. states that the eclipse is slated to pass through. Just watch the sky show play out on a few classic TV shows.
Over the years, plenty of television's most beloved series—like, for instance, The Simpsons—have played up the solar event with episodes featuring a total solar eclipse. Characters on a number of shows have stared into the skies of their fictional towns at the exact moment that the moon covers the sun—aka moment of totality. And while tuning into reruns of TV favorites may not be nearly as much of a spectacle as seeing the eclipse firsthand, watching Homer Simpson find his way out of a tricky solar-powered situation with the help of an eclipse can definitely serve as a hilarious and entertaining way to spend the day of the sky event.
Check out a list of a few TV shows that have featured solar eclipse episodes in the past below:
The Simpsons: In a 1993 episode titled, "Marge vs. the Moonrail," a total solar eclipse saved the people of Springfield from what could have been a catastrophic train crash. Operated by none other than the drunken patriarch Homer, the sun's energy causes a solar-powered monorail to go haywire. When the moon covers the sun, riders on the train, including Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy, who guests on the episode, are inevitably saved as the train completely stops in its tracks.
The Fox cartoon also gave viewers a glimpse of the damage looking at a solar eclipse through the naked eye could cause back on a 2009 episode, titled "Gone Maggie Gone." Marge Simpson goes temporarily blind during the episode after looking directly at the eclipsed sun with her naked eyes, which results in her youngest daughter Maggie going missing.
Sailor Moon Crystal: A 2015 episode of the Japanese anime series saw evil-fighting, love-winning Sailor Moon encounter a gang of bad guys called the Dead Moon Circus, who are brought to the town by a solar eclipse and use the solar energy to release the villainous queen Nehelenia from her mirror prison cell. Sailor Moon and her crew are only able to defeat their enemies after tapping into cultural traditions some Asians practice during a total solar eclipse, during which people will bang pots and shoot arrows into the sky in attempts to bring back the sun's light.
E.R.: On the 200th episode of the hospital drama series "When Night Meets Day," which aired in 2003, the doctors are faced with the challenge of saving a number of cult victims who participated in a mass poisoning linked to a total solar eclipse. The episode's eclipse also stirs up some friction felt by all the hospital workers across Dr. Carter's (Noah Wyle) day shift and Dr. Pratt's (Mekhi Phifer) night shift.
Charmed: A solar eclipse's moment of totality during a year 2000 episode, "Magic Hour," of the bewitching series served as a fine moment to bring forth the union of Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Leo (Brian Krause), even though they were cursed to live their lives as a wolf and owl.
CSI: Miami: During a 2007 episode of the detective series titled "Sunblock," protagonist Horatio Caine (David Caruso) is finally able to track down a serial killer, who is known for murdering people specifically at night, after the murderer strikes during a solar eclipse.
Mad Men: During an episode titled "Seven Twenty Three," which aired in 2009, show creators re-created the 1963 solar eclipse, which people in upstate New York were able to see. In true Don Draper (Jon Hamm) fashion, the advertising guru breaks all the rules by watching the eclipse through his regular sunglasses instead of the special eclipse glasses.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Michigan native, Janice Williams is a graduate of Oakland University where she studied journalism and communication. Upon relocating to New ... Read more
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