There are funny TV scenes, and there are emotional TV scenes, but the best of the best are the ones that are just absolutely unforgettable.
Here are some moments from '00s TV (reality and scripted) that left us collecting our jaws from the ground:
1. When Tyra Banks challenged models to portray races that were not their own on America's Next Top Model.
This actually happened not once, but twice: in cycle 4, where some white models posed as Black women; and in cycle 13, when the models' skin was darkened with makeup to make them appear biracial.
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2. When eliminated Survivor contestant Susan Hawk verbally eviscerated Season 1 finalists Richard Hatch and Kelly Wiglesworth, immortalized as the "snakes and rats" speech. (I mean, what a way to help kickoff reality TV.)
"But Kelly, go back to a couple of times Jeff said to you, ‘What goes around, comes around.’ It’s here. You will not get my vote. My vote will go to Richard," she continued. "And I hope that is the one vote that makes you lose the money. If it’s not, so be it. I’ll shake your hand, and I’ll go on from here. But if I were to ever pass you along in life again and you were laying there dying of thirst, I would not give you a drink of water. I would let the vultures take you and do whatever they want with you, with no ill regrets."
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"I plead to the jury tonight to think a little bit about the island that we have been on. This island is pretty much full of only two things: snakes and rats. And in the end of Mother Nature, we have Richard the snake, who knowingly went after prey, and Kelly, who turned into the rat that ran around like the rats do on this island, trying to run from the snake. I feel we owe it to the island’s spirits that we have learned to come to know to let it be in the end the way that Mother Nature intended it to be. For the snake to eat the rat."
3. When Darva Conger truly married a stranger on live TV during the two-hour live spectacle that was Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire because he was supposedly very rich.
The beauty pageant-style competition (complete with a swimwear segment) was slammed as sexist and antiquated, but that didn't stop Darva from going through with her nuptials with Rick Rockwell, which were annulled two months later.
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4. When Dan Scott from One Tree Hill was moments from his long-awaited heart transplant, and A DOG ATE HIS HEART.
"It’s the undisputed champion of out-of-context TV scenes," Mike Schur told the Ringer. "Why is there a dog in the waiting room? Why, when the heart comes tumbling out onto the floor, does literally nobody move? And why, in the name of all that is holy, does [Chad Michael Murray] look at [Paul Johansson] with a look on his face that seems to say, 'I told you so'?"
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5. When Kanye West said "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" on live TV during a Hurricane Katrina telethon.
"I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a Black family, it says they're looting. If you see a white family, it says they're looking for food," he said, later adding, "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" as Mike Myers stands stunned next to him.
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6. When Lorenzo Lamas went the extra mile to point out a contestant's flaws on Are You Hot? by using a laser pointer.
The whole premise of the show was to rate someone based on their "face, body, and sex appeal," but taking a laser pointer to a stranger's body is just next level.
7. When Tom Cruise's seemingly innocuous appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show turned into an enthusiastic proclamation of love.
"Something's happened to you," Winfrey asked the giddy actor, to which he proclaimed, "I'm in love." When she asked if he's ever felt this way before, he responds with the jump and more laughter. "He's gone. You're gone," she says in response.
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8. When the highly-anticipated finale of The Sopranos confused the hell out of every viewer at home and left them talking about it for decades.
Writer, producer, and director David Chase revealed he's surprised that so many people remained invested in the series, telling the Hollywood Reporter, "I didn’t think that Sopranos would live on at all even after doing it and even after it got all these accolades because I thought, ‘In a couple of years, the references won’t work, nobody will know what we’re talking about, the phones will be different, TVs will be different.’ That part of it is true — the technology is different — but apparently, what it’s about still resonates with people. So, I’m just delighted to see that. To think that you’re really reaching a generation 20 years later is astounding."
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9. When Manny's teen pregnancy and subsequent decision to have an abortion on Degrassi: The Next Generation was considered so scandalous the episode was banned in the United States.
There were petitions to see the episode, which wouldn't air in the United States until nearly three years later, when actor Cassie Steele chose it as one of her favorite episodes that would air in a marathon block. "It made me really proud to be part of something like that," said Steele, who got letters from girls around the globe who related to the subject, per the Fader. "It was a really touching and fulfilling experience."
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10. When Corey Clark got disqualified from American Idol, only to later allege he was having a months-long affair with Paula Abdul while filming.
Clark claimed to have "explicit" and "incriminating" evidence of their alleged affair in 2003, some of which came to light in a 2013 defamation lawsuit.
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11. When 8 Simple Rules dealt with John Ritter's character's death as the cast mourned the actor in real life.
“We, as a cast, we really felt like, if it was going to go ahead, we wanted to tell it as a true story, like a family that lost their dad,” on-screen wife Katey Sagal told TODAY of the cast's decision on how to move forward with the series. “And that didn’t feel horrible to us. What would have felt horrible to us was just like, I don’t know, replacing him or brushing it off.”
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“John was the center of that show,” she added. “It wasn’t even about the show. It’s really not about the show. It was about losing this incredible person and way too early.”
12. When Bret Michaels called one of the women competing for his heart on Rock of Love a "buzzkill" for not performing on stage at a strip club.
In a later conversation with her, he seems understanding but says in a confessional, "I'm not asking her to do anything she doesn't want to do, but right now, if I'm being honest, she's being a little bit of a buzzkill."
13. When a buildup of flirtation and chemistry between Meredith Grey and McDreamy came crashing down when his wife walked through the hospital doors at the end of the first season of Grey's Anatomy.
Let's be honest, for those watching the show, there was a collective gasp that could be heard around the country.
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14. When Megan Wants a Millionaire — star of the show, Megan Hauserman, seen below — was canceled after one of the contestants, Ryan Alexander Jenkins, became the prime suspect in a murder investigation of his wife, Jasmine Fiore.
Because of how far he made it in the show's run, they had no choice but to stop airing the remainder of the season after Episode 3, with VH1 explaining, "Given the unfortunate circumstances, VH1 has postponed any future airings. This is a tragic situation, and our thoughts go out to the victim’s family."
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15. And last but most certainly not least, when Game of Thrones gave us "The Red Wedding," which was one of the most jarring and talked about moments in modern TV.
The viscerally violent moment may have been known to those who read the books, but how it was depicted gave the episode staying power, with people talking about it for MONTHS after it aired.
