16. TIMES SQUARE LIVE: Oct. 22, 1998. The Backstreet Boys shut down Times Square during a "Total Request Live" appearance. The ruckus cemented "TRL's" role as pop culture's home page, with Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears as king and queen of the new scene.

17. JIGGLE IT: Sept. 9, 1999. When Lil' Kim presented a VMA while wearing a pasty, Diana Ross couldn't resist a playful touch. Lucky Ross wasn't there eight years earlier, when Prince performed wearing pants with the rear cut out. A year later, Howard Stern parodied that look by descending from the sky as "Fartman."

18. TIPSY: Oct. 1, 2000. Thinking about "Jackass" Johnny Knoxville getting tipped over in the port-a-potty still makes you hold your nose. Knoxville specialized in painful on-camera tricks, and "Jackass" quickly became MTV's most popular show. Unfortunately for MTV — or maybe fortunately if there's no such thing as bad publicity — many stunts were copied by viewers.

19. MARIAH'S MELTDOWN: July 19, 2001. No one knew quite how to react when Carey made a surprise appearance on "TRL" pushing an ice cream cart filled with popsicles. A nervous Carson Daly kept trying to cut to a commercial, but Carey wouldn't stop talking. She said she had a gift for him — then took off her oversized T-shirt to reveal a tight tank top and skimpy shorts. A week later Carey was checked into a hospital for "extreme exhaustion."

20. $#&%!: March 5, 2002: Sharrrr-rronnnn! The first bleeped-out swear word on "The Osbournes" premiere was followed by 58 others. For a while, the foggy-headed rocker, his type-A wife and self-involved kids became America's first family, if only for the sheer weirdness of their life. They quickly wore thin — and were responsible for a rash of dull has-beens who thought their lives would make great television — but not before Sharon got her own talk show, daughter Kelly a recording contract and son Jack a stint in rehab.

21. DOGGING EMINEM: Aug. 29, 2002: The rap star was in no mood to hear Triumph the Insult Comic Dog chew over his feud with Moby. So when approached by the puppet on the VMAs, Eminem delivered a sucker punch and then flew into a rage backstage. "He was really furious," said MTV executive vice president Dave Sirulnick, "which was startling because here was this guy who built his career on dissing and dishing. And this was a puppet."

22. ASHTON PUNKS JUSTIN: March 17, 2003. "Candid Camera" with an edge, the debut of Kutcher's series "Punk'd" had a crew posing as the "Tax Enforcement Agency" seizing Justin Timberlake's possessions after saying he owed $900,000 in back taxes. The title is now ensconced in the popular lexicon.