Feel old yet? Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top television shows that had their series finales in 2004.
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00:00 "He's just so comfortable and safe."
00:03 "Are you dating a man or a minivan?"
00:04 Welcome to Miz Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top television shows
00:09 that had their series finales in 2004.
00:13 "For 11 years you've heard me say, 'I'm listening.'
00:16 Well, you were listening too."
00:19 Number 10. The Practice
00:22 "Every man and woman gets his day in court."
00:25 "I understand. This guy's pure scum, isn't he?"
00:29 "He's a human being."
00:32 The great television writer David E. Kelly conceived of The Practice as an antithesis
00:37 to the hit legal show from the '80s and '90s, L.A. Law. While that series portrayed the legal
00:42 system in a glamorized fashion, Kelly took The Practice in the very opposite direction.
00:47 "On a personal level, it's one thing for a corporation to engage in systemic
00:52 discovery abuse, but for an attorney, these are real people."
00:57 The series was much grittier, and characters often found themselves fighting a battle of
01:02 legal ethics versus their own personal morals. The show ran for eight successful seasons,
01:07 and took home the Emmy Award for Best Drama Series two years in a row in 1998 and 1999.
01:14 "It's not enough to insist on fidelity or honesty or fair dealing.
01:19 A good leader has to practice it."
01:23 Number 9. Johnny Bravo
01:25 "SUNLIGHT! Check the packs. Man, I'm pretty."
01:31 Whoa, mama. Johnny Bravo is at number nine on our list. The funny and pop culture
01:38 reference-filled animated show ran for four seasons on the Cartoon Network, and featured
01:43 the eponymous Johnny Bravo's continuous failures to live up to his self-proclaimed "ladies' man"
01:48 image.
01:49 "I've, uh, never been in a woman's apartment before. I mean, I've been in them. I mean,
01:55 I'm not scared. Hey, look! Flowers!"
01:57 Although it was his continuing failures with the ladies that often made for the biggest laughs,
02:03 Bravo's macho and misogynistic attitude might be a little cringe-inducing these days,
02:07 but at least his attitude and his game rarely worked in his favor,
02:12 and he usually got his much-deserved comeuppance.
02:15 "Hey, pepper spray. Don't they use that for…"
02:17 Number 8. Hollywood Squares
02:22 "If you're going away, you don't have time to wash them.
02:25 What does Heloise advise you to do with your dirty dishes?"
02:29 "Toss 'em out!"
02:30 Hollywood Squares has had many iterations over the decades,
02:34 from the 1965 pilot to the final series, hosted by Tom Bergeron. That ran from 1998 to 2004.
02:42 But regardless of the year or the host, one thing remained the same — a large 3x3 stack of cubes
02:49 populated by celebrities answering questions, with the contestants deciding if those answers
02:54 are correct or not.
02:55 "No, I know this! Trust me! This is rowing the Atlantic."
03:01 "Unagreed."
03:02 The tic-tac-toe premise gave this show a low barrier of entry for viewers,
03:09 and the simple questions set up the celebs for plenty of easy jokes and laughs.
03:13 In a 2013 list, TV Guide called Hollywood Squares the seventh-greatest game show of all time.
03:19 "Pirating some music."
03:20 "No, I was watching my DVD. Sorry, it just came out."
03:22 "Oh, your own DVD."
03:24 "Hilarious. Oh my God. Hilarious."
03:27 Number 7. The Drew Carey Show
03:36 LeBron James put Cleveland on the sports map in the mid-aughts when he was drafted by his
03:42 hometown team, the Cavaliers. But Drew Carey fans already knew that Cleveland rocked years
03:48 prior to James' entry into the NBA. And that opening credit sequence, with the big dance
03:53 number, is a great example of what The Drew Carey Show was all about. While it was framed
03:59 as a typical sitcom, Carey and the gang had a lot of fun playing within that framework and
04:03 creating something truly original and hysterically different.
04:07 "I have a bottle of Rothschild 67 back at my place, and I was wondering if you'd…"
04:12 "Paul, stop the camera. Sir, what are you doing?"
04:15 "Connery. Sean Connery."
04:18 Along with dance numbers, they also did live and semi-improvised shows. And you might also
04:24 remember the April Fools episode, in which mistakes were purposely inserted into the
04:29 episode for fans to find.
04:30 "This Wednesday is April Fool's Day, and to celebrate, Drew's having a contest called
04:34 'What's Wrong With This Episode?'"
04:36 Number 6. Rugrats
04:38 "Tommy, it's the next yard. You're only a baby. A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do."
04:47 Premiering in 1991, for a while it looked like Rugrats wouldn't make it to 1995,
04:52 let alone chug along all the way to 2004. After its initial run of 65 episodes ended in 1994,
05:00 there was no guarantee of more.
05:02 "Ahh! Angelica, you made him cry!" "Hey, you know what they say, if the truth works."
05:10 However, over the course of the next couple of years, the reruns on Nickelodeon continued to
05:15 gain in popularity, and this led to a new bunch of episodes being produced, starting in 1996.
05:21 And that's when The Rugrats really blew up with over 100 more episodes,
05:26 airing over the next eight years, as well as three theatrical movies which have grossed
05:31 almost $300 million combined.
05:33 "So this is the world?" "I miss my old room."
05:36 "This wall baby dear just ain't the same. This world is something strange."
05:40 "Baby, I'm cold." "I need a change."
05:42 "This world is something new to me."
05:45 Number 5. Lizzie McGuire
05:47 "McGuire? Lizzie?" "Oh, that's me!"
05:54 If you were a young person, or had a young person in your life that was watching the
05:58 Disney Channel in the early aughts, there's very little chance you don't remember Lizzie McGuire.
06:04 The show was a huge hit for the network from 2001 to 2004,
06:08 and upped star Hilary Duff's celebrity profile a few notches as well.
06:12 Nominated for two Emmys and a Writers Guild of America award, Lizzie McGuire presented a fun and
06:24 endearing cast of characters, and episodes that were, as one review wrote, "clever, funny, and
06:30 pretty sincere." There may have only been two seasons produced, but with a total of 65 episodes,
06:36 there was plenty of Lizzie to enjoy.
06:39 "Scotto, promise me that we'll always stay close to each other, even in high school."
06:42 "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."
06:44 Number 4. Angel
06:46 "I can't just wedge myself into your life back in Sunnydale. It wouldn't be good for either of us.
06:50 Not to mention the fact that you just started college. And what about slang? I mean,
06:54 if you had me to worry about, you might not be as focused."
06:56 While we all remember and honor the ending of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 2003, we shouldn't
07:01 forget that just one year later, one of the best spin-offs in television history also came to an
07:06 end. Angel began just two years after The Vampire Slayer, when Joss Whedon took Buffy's dark and
07:12 tormented vampire-with-a-human-soul love interest, Angel, and sent him to Los Angeles.
07:17 "Well, I like the place. Not much with the view,
07:20 but it's got a nice Batcave sort of an air to it."
07:23 As a private investigator, he and his associates help the helpless and fight the demonic forces
07:29 at play in the city. The series might have initially been viewed as a second-rate
07:33 offshoot of the O.G. Buffy, but the smart writing and darker tone eventually helped it stand out,
07:38 with both fans and critics, as a worthy series in its own right.
07:42 "There's a hole in the world.
07:44 Feels like we ought to have known."
07:48 Number 3. Sex and the City
07:51 Sex and the City helped make HBO a must-have channel in the late '90s and early aughts.
07:56 "There always has to be obstacles in Act 2 before you can live happily ever after in Act 3.
08:01 But what happens when the obstacles aren't there? Does that mean there's something missing?"
08:06 It made the cosmopolitan Many a ladies' drink of choice, and it had women everywhere contemplating
08:12 whether they were a Carrie, a Miranda, a Charlotte, or a Samantha. Then, after six seasons,
08:18 a plethora of award nominations and wins, critical and cultural acclaim,
08:23 just like that, in 2004, the series had its big finale.
08:27 "But the most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all
08:31 is the one you have with yourself."
08:34 Over the course of the next six years, the adventures of four friends continued in two
08:39 feature films. And then, finally, in 2021, the gang, minus Samantha, returned to HBO in a sequel series.
08:47 "No, no, no, no, she didn't die."
08:48 "Oh, no!"
08:49 "No, I'm so sorry, no. I just meant she's not with us. She's in London."
08:54 Number 2. Frasier
08:56 "Now that Chapter 2 of your life is in full swing, would you mind if I ask you something?"
08:59 "No, go right ahead."
09:00 "Are you happy?"
09:01 "You got a question?"
09:05 "Yes, I'm thinking."
09:07 After nine seasons on Cheers and 11 seasons on the Frasier spin-off, Kelsey Grammer's 20-year run
09:13 as Dr. Frasier Crane finally came to an end, until the Frasier revival spin-off hit Paramount+ in 2023.
09:20 And while the revival has received lukewarm reviews,
09:23 the original series is one of the most honored sitcoms in the history of television.
09:28 "Are you happy?"
09:28 "You know, in the greater scheme of things, yes, I'd say I am."
09:36 Its five consecutive Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys is tied for the record,
09:41 and its 37 total wins is second only to Game of Thrones.
09:45 How many of you are now hankering for a serving of tossed salad and scrambled eggs?
09:50 "Hey baby, I hear the blues are calling, tossed salads and scrambled eggs. Quite stylish."
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10:11 Number 1. Friends. Could number one on our list be any more obvious?
10:18 "I mean, I've never looked at you that way before."
10:20 "Well, start looking."
10:23 It's Friends. Do we really need to say any more? As one of the most popular television shows of
10:32 all time, we probably don't. But we will.
10:35 "You wanna return this couch?"
10:39 "It's cut in half."
10:40 While the critics took a little time to come around to the show, right from the jump,
10:45 Friends was a hit with audiences, from the Rachel Hare cart to Joey's "How You Doin'?"
10:51 The series infiltrated pop culture on a level that few ever have.
10:55 "Hey, how you doin'?"
10:57 It made mega-celebrities of its six stars, and continues to find new fans via repeats
11:07 every year, even though it's been two decades since the Central Perk Gang closed the door
11:12 on 495 Grove Street. Which of these shows do you miss the most? Let us know in the comments.
11:19 "This is harder than I thought it would be."
11:20 "It's gonna be okay."
11:22 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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