15 Of The Most Jaw-Dropping Moments In '00s TV History
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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.
FOX / Via giphy.com
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.
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.)
Hawk's speech began by addressing Hatch, noting, "Rich, you’re a very openly arrogant, pompous human being. But I admire your frankness with it. You have worked hard to get where you’re at, and you started working hard way before you came to the island. So, with my work ethic background, I give that credit to you. But on the other hand, your inability to admit your failures without going into a whiny speech makes you a bit of a loser in life."
As for Wiglesworth, she said, "You’re very two-faced and manipulative to get where you’re at anywhere in life. That’s why you fail all the time. So, at that point of the game, I decided then just to go out with my alliance to my family and just to hold my dignity and values in check and hoping that I hadn’t lost too many of them and play the game just as long as possible and hang in there as long as possible."
"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."
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.
4.When Dan Scott from One Tree Hill was moments from his long-awaited heart transplant, and A DOG ATE HIS HEART.
CW
"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'?"
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.
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.
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.
HBO
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."
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.
CTV / Via gfycat.com
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."
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 was revealed to have had charges of misdemeanor battery on four police officers and his sister, and endangering the welfare of a child, which were not discovered in the show's original background check.
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.
11.When 8 Simple Rules dealt with John Ritter's character's death as the cast mourned the actor in real life.
John Ritter died of an aortic dissection in September 2003 at 54 while filming the family sitcom's second season.
“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.”
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.
Bret wanted to see how well the girls could "hang," so he took them to his favorite strip club and challenged them to get on stage. One woman, Beverly, was visibly uncomfortable doing that, but that didn't stop the rocker from forcing her up there, where she froze.
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.
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."
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.
HBO
