30 Most Significant Moments in Film and TV History
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Movie and TV audiences in 2021 think they have seen it all, which means filmmakers and showrunners have to conjure up ever more creative ways to wow audiences — especially when there are hundreds of other channels and streaming services to take away their attention. Every old trick in the book was once new, and each time a show or movie conquered new terrain, audiences sat up and took notice.
It takes skill, vision and bravery to wow audiences. That's why we ranked these significant moments in film and TV history based on how much they changed the way we think about our screen entertainment and the world beyond it.
30. The First Helicopter Shot
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Name of movie: “The Sound of Music”
Date released: April 1, 1965
Actors involved: Julie Andrews
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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“The Sound of Music” starts out not with a song but quiet shots of the Alps. The camera hovers over beautiful snow-capped mountains and down into lower elevations. Gradually, the sounds of civilization are heard, including church bells, and the camera zooms into a meadow, where Maria (Julie Andrews) spins and commences her song.
The shot was taken from a helicopter and had to be perfectly timed. Nothing like this had been attempted before, but in the days when television was keeping people home, director Robert Wise ensured that they had a reason to return to the big screen.
29. Crossing Holy Lines
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Name of movie: “The Godfather”
Date released: March 24, 1972
Actors involved: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Sofia Coppola
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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The infamous “baptism scene” of the original “Godfather” was originally supposed to run uninterrupted, but director Francis Ford Coppola and editor Aram Avakian came up with the ingenious notion to intercut the christening of Michael Corleone’s (Al Pacino) son Anthony with shots of Michael’s soldiers executing the heads of the other Five Families, effectively consolidating Michael’s hold on power.
It’s a marriage of the holy and the unholy, and it remains one of the great moments of cinema. (Fun fact: Coppola’s daughter Sofia, then an infant, stood in for baby Anthony.)
28. One of the First Unbroken Tracking Shots
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Name of movie: “Goodfellas”
Date released: Sept. 19, 1990
Actors involved: Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Martin Scorsese’s sweeping story of a mob soldier regularly ranks among critics’ picks of the best films not only of the ’90s but ever. Scorsese and director of photography Michael Ballhaus staged an unbroken tracking shot showing Henry (Ray Liotta) and girlfriend Karen (Lorraine Bracco) entering the Copacabana through the side door, then walking through the kitchen to the host stand, where they are immediately escorted to a table placed in front of the stage.
The Steadicam shot lasts for three minutes and serves not only as testament to Henry’s power as a mobster but to Scorsese’s singular vision.
27. Saying ‘Damn’ in a Film
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Name of movie: “Gone With the Wind”
Date released: Jan. 17, 1940
Actors involved: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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It’s hard for 2021 viewers to watch “Gone With the Wind” without cringing at its racial insensitivities, but the fact remains it’s one of the greatest films ever made. The film is also noteworthy for breaking a barrier when Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), entreated by Scarlet O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) to not leave her behind, retorts, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
Saying “damn” in a film at that time was shocking, but necessary, as the classic line is limp without the word. It was among the first of many, many “bad words” in movies ever since.
26. The First ‘Shocking’ Reveal
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Name of movie: “Phantom of the Opera”
Date released: Nov. 15, 1925
Actors involved: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Lon Chaney was called the “man of a thousand faces,” but the one he wore most famously was that of the Phantom of the Opera in the silent-era version of the story. In the film’s most breathtaking scene, actress Mary Philbin, as Christine Daaé, sneaks up behind the Phantom to remove his mask, revealing a horrific visage.
Legend has it that the moment was so shocking for its day that some audience members screamed and even fainted at the sight of the Phantom.
25. Another ‘Shocking’ Reveal That Warranted Secrecy
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Name of movie: “The Empire Strikes Back”
Date released: May 21, 1980
Actors involved: Mark Hamill, David Prowse, James Earl Jones
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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The moment Darth Vader reveals himself to be Luke Skywalker’s father is absolute perfection — and Mark Hamill’s agonizing performance at the news remains heartbreaking 40 years later. “Star Wars” creator George Lucas was so concerned the crucial plot detail would leak (and this was pre-internet, mind you, when nothing is a secret anymore) that he actually had Darth Vader actor David Prowse say “Obi-Wan killed your father” on the set.
Only Hamill, Vader voice James Earl Jones and director Irvin Kershner were in the know about the truth. The rest of us had to find out in the theater.
24. The Finale of All Finales
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Name of TV show: "Six Feet Under"
Date aired: Aug. 21, 2005 (finale)
Actors involved: Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Rachel Griffiths, Lauren Ambrose, Frances Conroy
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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A show about a family of undertakers would naturally have to deal with deaths of all kinds, including for its main characters. Series lead Nate (Peter Krause) actually died with two more episodes still to air, but that was nothing compared to what show creator Alan Ball had in mind for the finale.
As Claire (Lauren Ambrose) commences her cross-country car trip, the finale flash-forwards to show how and when each of the main characters would meet their mortal ends. It was somehow both unsettling and eerily poetic.
23. Mixing Politics and Hollywood
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Name of TV show: Diff’rent Strokes
Date aired: March 19, 1983
Actors involved: Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, Nancy Reagan
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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First lady Nancy Reagan had a simple message for America’s youth: “Just say no” to drugs. She pounded the message at every opportunity, and the former actress even managed to earn herself a cameo on “Diff’rent Strokes” to deliver the same anti-drug message to primetime audiences.
Mrs. Reagan should have stuck around the set a bit longer, as “Diff’rent Strokes” costar Todd Bridges struggled with addiction for years both during and after the show aired.
22. The First ‘Watercooler’ Television Show
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Name of TV show: “Twin Peaks”
Date aired: April 8, 1990 (premiere)
Actors involved: Kyle MacLachlan, Sherilyn Fenn, Lara Flynn Boyle
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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David Lynch had already made some rather strange films during his career, so it was little surprise that his small-screen show “Twin Peaks” was equally bizarre. But audiences couldn’t get enough of the fictional town in the Pacific Northwest and its quirky FBI agent (Kyle MacLachlan) in town to solve a murder.
The show was a phenomenon, quickly becoming one of the first “watercooler” shows people discussed at the office the next day.
21. A New Definition for ‘Event TV’
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Name of TV show: “Dallas”
Date aired: Nov. 21, 1980
Actors involved: Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) had been shot on a season-ending cliffhanger episode of “Dallas” in 1979, and fan theories of all kinds sprang up for who might have been responsible. CBS milked the publicity for all it was worth and teased that the answer to “Who shot J.R.?” would be answered on Nov. 21, 1980 — a new definition of “event TV.”
An astounding 350 million viewers around the world turned the dial to CBS for the revelation that Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby) had pulled the trigger.
20. Paving the Way for Nudity and Violence
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Name of movie: “Psycho”
Date released: Sept. 8, 1960
Actors involved: Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Alfred Hitchcock was notorious for undermining audiences’ expectations with his thrillers, but never before had he gone as far into uncharted waters as in “Psycho.” Halfway through the film, the supposed hero Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, takes a shower, only to be immediately stabbed to death by “Mother.”
Clever editing and modesty patches worn by Leigh helped get around the censors, but even after Marion’s murder came revelations of Norman Bates’ (Anthony Perkins) being not only a murderer but a cross-dresser to boot. Take that, censors!
The 45-second shower scene has been dubbed the most famous scene in cinematic history, paving the way for on-screen violence for decades to come.
19. The Ending That Changed All Endings
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Name of TV show: “The Sopranos”
Date aired: June 10, 2007
Actors involved: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Robert Iler, Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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After six seasons of murder and mayhem, “ç” creator David Chase decided it might be nice to have mafia don Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his family sit down for a nice dinner at a diner. Tony munches on onion rings as “Don’t Stop Believin’” plays on the jukebox. Daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) enters the diner, Tony looks up and … black. For 10 excruciating seconds, nothing but a black screen. Then came the credits. What?
The show’s ending was polarizing, with fan speculation running from Tony being “whacked” to them simply enjoying their meal and going home unseen. Whatever the case, Chase effectively redefined the “rules” of fiction.
18. The First Time an Entire TV Season Is Released at All at Once
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Name of TV show: "House of Cards"
Date aired: February 1, 2013 (season 1)
Actors involved: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Netflix had been around for a decade already, what with its DVD rental plans and streaming service, but by 2012, the company upped its game significantly by getting into the original content game with shows like “Lilyhammer.”
However, it truly broke out the following year when the company dropped all 13 episodes of the political thriller “House of Cards” at once. Audiences lapped it up, and a new era of releasing entire seasons of a show all at the same time was born.
17. When Monica Proposes to Chandler
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Name of TV show: “Friends”
Date aired: May 18, 2000
Actors involved: Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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"Friends" was the show of the early oughts, with a whopping 52 million folks tuning in for the series finale. But one episode that really had an impact was "The One With the Proposal." In this episode, Monica (Courtney Cox) decides to propose to Chandler (Matthew Perry), a defining moment for women and how they see marriage.
In fact, in the show's recent reunion, several women viewers were interviewed, saying that they loved that episode for showing a woman take charge of what she wants in her life.
16. The Scene That Revolutionized Female Sexuality
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Name of movie: “When Harry Met Sally”
Date released: July 21, 1989
Actors involved: Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Even in the late-’80s, female orgasms were talked about only in hushed tones, if at all — especially in popular culture. Screenwriter Nora Ephron exploded that taboo with the famous diner scene in “When Harry Met Sally,” in which Meg Ryan “demonstrates” how easy it is for a woman to fake an orgasm.
She moans, screams “yes, yes!” and bangs her hand on the table, drawing several looks from fellow diners. One of them, an older woman, says to her waiter, “I’ll have what she’s having.” It’s an ingenious moment, more so because she was played by director Rob Reiner’s own mother, Estelle.
15. The First Interracial Kiss to Occur on a Major TV Network
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Name of TV show: “Star Trek”
Date aired: November 22, 1968
Actors involved: William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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In the episode “Plato's Stepchildren,” aliens force crew members of the Enterprise to perform for their amusement. At one point, the aliens use their mind powers to force Kirk and Uhuru to kiss passionately, the first interracial kiss to occur on a major television network.
Because this was the civil rights era, the kiss was seen as controversial but also a powerful rebuke to prejudice — very much in line with “Trek” creator Gene Rodenberry’s vision of a future free of such hatred.
14. Taking Special Effects to the Next Level
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Name of movie: “Alien”
Date released: May 25, 1979
Actors involved: John Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Yaphet Kotto, Ian Holm
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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In the age before computers made it possible for filmmakers to realize almost any vision in their heads, it was up to puppet masters and model makers to bring fantasy to life — gory or otherwise. The seminal sci-fi horror “Alien” features the still-shocking moment when the baby creature emerges from the chest of poor Kane (John Hurt).
Director Ridley Scott didn’t tell the cast precisely how the special effect would happen, producing genuine reactions from the cast as the creature is “born” in bloody style. The scene is a testament to the power of practical special effects.
13. Ellen Publicly Announces That She’s Gay
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Name of TV show: Ellen
Date aired: April 30, 1997
Actors involved: Ellen DeGeneres, Laura Dern, Melissa Etheridge
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Ellen DeGeneres was already publicly out as a lesbian, but her eponynous TV avatar wasn’t quite ready to make the same announcement. Determined to make a stand, DeGeneres and her staff wrote “The Puppy Episode,” in which fictional Ellen finally announces she’s gay.
Advertisers balked, conservative pundits howled, and the show lasted barely another season. DeGeneres later claimed she didn’t work for years, but her brave stand was monumental for both gay characters and actors.
12. The Introduction of Technicolor
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Name of movie: “The Wizard of Oz”
Date released: Aug. 25, 1939
Actors involved: Judy Garland
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Color cinema was still in its infancy in the late 1930s, and the kinks were being worked out as Hollywood went along. Producers took a huge gamble with an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s “Oz” stories, which starts out with Dorothy (Judy Garland) living in a black-and-white Kansas.
However, when her house lands in Oz, Dorothy steps out her front door into a Technicolor wonderland. Moviemaking has never been the same.
11. A New Look at Gender Roles
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Name of TV show: “I Love Lucy”
Date aired: September 15, 1952
Actors involved: Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, Desi Arnez, William Frawley
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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They say to walk a mile in someone’s shoes to understand them. The classic “I Love Lucy” episode “Job Switching” had Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) spending the day working at a candy factory while husbands Ricky (Desi Arnez) and Fred (William Frawley) stayed home caring for the homestead.
Needless to say, things don’t work out on either front, and the two couples get a newfound appreciation of how their spouses spend their days — and it was an early way in which television took on gender roles.
10. Animation Debuts on Primetime TV
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Name of TV show: “The Flintstones”
Date aired: Sept. 30, 1960 (premiere)
Actors involved: Alan Reed, Jean Vander Pyl, Harvey Korman, Mel Blanc
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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We take it for granted that animation is a staple of primetime television, but someone had to be first. Those animated someones were “The Flintstones,” who burst into America’s living rooms in 1960.
The “stone age family” broke another barrier as it showed Fred and Wilma actually sharing a bed, which was quite against television orthodoxy of the time (remember “Leave It to Beaver?”).
9. A TV Show Dedicated to Single Mothers
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Name of TV show: “Murphy Brown”
Date aired: Nov. 14, 1988 (premiere)
Actors involved: Candice Bergen
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Candice Bergen starred as the titular writer, who was over 40 and decided to have a child on her own. Her “lifestyle choice” caught the attention of none other than Vice President Dan Quayle, who on May 19, 1992, lambasted the fictitious writer for opting to be a single parent.
The dust-up only drew more eyeballs to the groundbreaking program. And it didn’t help Quayle, who was headed for defeat in the November election alongside his boss, George H.W. Bush.
8. The Largest Ever Television Audience
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Name of TV show: M*A*S*H
Date aired: Feb. 28, 1983 (finale)
Actors involved: Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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After 11 seasons on the air, M*A*S*H was due to close up its medical tent for good. Anticipation for the finale was enormous, with audiences tearfully ready to say goodbye to Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) and the rest of his cronies. An astounding 106 million people tuned in for the sendoff, the largest ever television audience for any program.
Though the audience record was finally topped by the 2010 Super Bowl, the M*A*S*H finale remains the champ for a fictional TV episode.
7. Talking About AIDS Becomes Mainstream
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Name of TV show: “The Real World”
Date aired: June 30, 1994 (premiere)
Actors involved: Pedro Zamora
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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At a time when AIDS was still a major concern in the gay community, Pedro Zamora became the first HIV-positive openly gay man to appear on the reality TV show “The Real World.”
Zamora was able to speak openly about the AIDS crisis and his experience with HIV, something that hadn’t been done before in such a public space.
6. Too Many Firsts to Count
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Name of movie: “Citizen Kane”
Date released: Sept. 5, 1941
Actors involved: Orson Welles
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Golden boy Orson Welles was given as much money and artistic freedom as he wanted to make his first film, which was a loosely disguised portrait of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Welles revolutionized a great many cinematic devices, including deep focus, filming from low angles and even filming some scenes in almost total darkness, making faces indecipherable in a “visual” medium.
Welles changed cinema with one artistic stroke, and “Citizen Kane” is typically lauded as the best film ever made.
5. Introducing the ‘Bad Guy’ as the Lead Character of a TV Show
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Name of TV show: “The Shield”
Date aired: March 12, 2002 (premiere)
Actors involved: Michael Chiklis, Reed Diamond, Walton Goggins
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Michael Chiklis endeared himself to audiences on “The Commish” as a straight-and-narrow lawman, but he strayed rather far in his starring role as Vic Mackey, a cop of questionable morals, on “The Shield.” In the first episode, we know that Mackey is dirty, and another cop named Terry Crowley (Reed Diamond) has been sent undercover to collect evidence against him.
In the final moments of the premiere, Mackey assassinates Crowley, completely upending expectations. “The Shield” was one of the first shows to make the “bad guy” the main character, setting the stage for “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” to follow.
4. Animation Gets Weird in the Best Way
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Name of TV show: The Simpsons
Date aired: Dec. 17, 1989 (premiere)
Actors involved: Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith, Harry Shearer
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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If “The Flintstones” were a loving primetime family, then “The Simpsons” were their bizarro-world counterparts. The Bundys had already put the “fun” in dysfunctional in the 1980s, but somehow, it was cute when Bart used words like “hell” and “damn” in primetime (how innocent we all were).
Because they were animated, the Simpsons could get away with almost anything, including father Homer constantly choking out Bart — something Fred Flinstone would never do to little Pebbles. Thirty-two seasons later, “The Simpsons” is still making us laugh.
3. Bringing the Race Conversation to the Forefront
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Name of TV show: “Roots”
Date aired: Jan. 23-30, 1977
Actors involved: LeVar Burton, John Amos, Ben Vereen, Louis Gossett Jr.
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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ABC spent nearly $7 million to bring Alex Haley’s novel “Roots” to fruition, airing it as an eight-part miniseries in the winter of 1977. The series traces the historical ancestry of one family from its African roots, through slavery and all the way down to the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.
“Roots” pulled no punches in demonstrating the evils of slavery and showing how early American history was inextricably linked with the institution. “Roots” was a new kind of television.
2. The ‘Red Wedding’ Episode
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Name of TV show: “Game of Thrones”
Date aired: June 2, 2013
Actors involved: Richard Madden, Michelle Fairley, Robin Atkin Downes and many more
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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As a viewer, it was best not to get too attached to any one “Game of Thrones” character, as they were dispatched with an alarming regularity. But nothing compared to season 3’s “Red Wedding,” a bloodbath that briskly consigned several series regulars to the graveyard.
Among those who met a grisly demise were Robb and Catelyn Stark, Lord Gregor Forrester, Grey Wind and Sir Wendel Manderly. “Game of Thrones” was known for its amazing production values, but it also broke new ground when it came to killing off nearly any character without warning.
1. First ‘Passionate’ Gay Kiss on Primetime TV
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Name of TV show: “Dawson’s Creek”
Date aired: May 24, 200
Actors involved: Kerr Smith, Adam Kaufman
Why This Moment Was So Significant
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Characters of the same sex had kissed on screen before, but it wasn’t necessarily a gay couple doing the kissing.
In the “Dawson’s Creek” episode “True Love,” Jack and Ethan have the first “passionate” gay male kiss on primetime television, setting the stage for many to come.