Lil Kim, Britney Spears, and Mariah Carey all enjoying the photo booth at TRL in 2001.
As any real New Yorker will tell you, Times Square sucks. There are only two reasons to go: one, to see a Broadway show. Two, if you’re a famous musician, you have to go talk to Carson Daly at the MTV studios. Those are the only reasons to go!
Total Request Live, if you kids don’t know, was a show on MTV where people requested the best music videos of the day. It was on right after school, and it was an exciting way to start your evening as a latchkey kid while finishing your math homework. It was always a joy to see who showed up.
Pamela Anderson of Baywatch fame and another leaked sex tape talks to Jay Leno in 2002.
After her divorce from Tommy Lee, Pamela Anderson took a breather from show biz to spend more time with her kids. Who would have thought she wouldn’t accept Borat’s offer to marry her. That’s free childcare!
Here’s what Pamela had to say about it: “I needed to take a break. Nothing I attempted to do while the boys were growing could get my full attention. I did a lot of short runs. And always wanted to be at home. I wouldn’t miss a baseball game. My kids schedules were in my contracts.”
First day of filming the American version of The Office in 2004.
One of the funniest sitcoms of the 2000s came from the cringe-worthy British original. Yes, they probably knew the show would be a hit, but how could anyone in the cast know how long the journey would last?
The goal was to mimic office life. Rather than focus on trying to be likable, the cast decided to be as honest as possible. Jenna Fischer said that she purposefully tried to be as boring as possible when auditioning for Pam. The show is anything but!
Forbes Magazine knocks it out of the park by claiming in 2007 that Nokia will be the most popular cell phone.
Move over, Zach Morris phone! there’s a new game in town. It’s the flip phone. Yes, cell phones were getting cooler, smaller, and faster by the year. Forbes called it: Apple has nothing on Nokia phones.
Cut to 10 years later. Apple is valued at a trillion dollars thanks to releasing a new phone every other day or so that makes the phone you just bought obsolete. Good work, Forbes. I miss my BlackBerry too.
Brad and Angelina adopt an entire mini-van worth of children, 2008.
If you’ve got the money and time, you should try to foster a child or even just sign up for a Big Brother/Big Sister program. The movie star duo took things a step further by adopting a whole bunch of kids together.
I also applied to be a beneficiary of the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie family, but sadly, my application was lost in the mail (I threw the letter over their fence). Good for this power couple for trying to help the world, one child at a time.
Missy Elliott sports a huge trash bag outfit years before it was cool.
I’m not sure it was ever cool. My grandma used to wear one every time it rained in lieu of a poncho. I don’t think that’s what Missy was doing in this photo. The Grammy-winning rapper made interesting fashion choices throughout her storied career.
Why would a person do this? Because she’s shy, of course: “To me, the outfit was a way to mask my shyness behind all the chaos of the look. Although I am shy, I was never afraid to be a provocative woman. The outfit was a symbol of power. I loved the idea of feeling like a hip-hop Michelin woman. I knew I could have on a blow-up suit and still have people talking. It was bold and different. I’ve always seen myself as an innovator and a creative unlike any other.”