Parks And Rec Predicts History: Real Town Elects An 18-Year-Old Ben As Mayor

Ben Wyatt Adam Scott parks and rec

Television shows can sometimes predict the future. The Simpsons, in particular, is famous for this -- having predicted Disney buying Fox and Donald Trump as president. That's bound to happen a couple times for a show with 30 seasons, but beloved sitcom Parks and Recreation has seen its own prediction come true with eerie accuracy. An 18-year old named Ben has been elected as the mayor of his town, which the exact same backstory as Parks and Rec character Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott).

Ben Simons, 18, was elected as mayor of Yoncalla, Oregon this week. Simons achieved 41% of the vote, beating out two other (most likely extremely embarrassed) candidates and becoming the town's youngest mayor in its history. Not feeling his age should be a disqualifying factor, Simons told local new station KEZI 9 News that he hopes to do good for the community.

The internet has been quick to give Simons advice, mainly that he should avoid investing in any winter complexes like Ben "Ice Clown" Wyatt of Parks and Rec:

Ben Simons will have to deal with similar jokes for a while, since his situation is remarkably similar to Ben Wyatt's. Long before he arrived in Pawnee, Indiana -- and fell in love with Leslie Knope -- Ben Wyatt ran for mayor of his hometown at the ripe old age of 18. And he won! Ben made national headlines as the youngest mayor in his town's history, and his first order of business was to pour all of the town's money into building a winter complex called Ice Town.

This turned out to be an extremely bad idea that left the town bankrupt, and poor Ben "Ice Clown" Wyatt impeached. Eventually, he worked for the state fixing bankrupt towns to prove that he was financially responsible enough to run for office again someday. Considering that Ben might have become president when the show wrapped, I'd say he did a good job of that.

We'll have to wait and see if Adam Scott or show creator Michael Schur have any words of wisdom for Ben Simons as he takes on the role. Hopefully, Simons is better at TV interviews than Parks' Ben...

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Matt Wood

Matt has lived in New Jersey his entire life, but commutes every day to New York City. He graduated from Rowan University and loves Marvel, Nintendo, and going on long hikes and then greatly wishing he was back indoors. Matt has been covering the entertainment industry for over two years and will fight to his dying breath that Hulk and Black Widow make a good couple.