'TRL's' greatest contributions to Western civilization

By Todd Martens, Stephanie Lysaght and Patrick Kevin Day, Times Staff Writers

In November, after 10 years on the air, MTV's one-time juggernaut of a show, "Total Request Live" is switching off the lights. The world has seen a lot of change in the last years of the 20th century and the dawn of the 21st century. We've experienced presidential elections, wars, celebrity breakdowns and the dominance of the Internet. But if any single agent of change has carried a steady pulse through the tumult, it's the show that became so ubiquitous that it shortened its name to just three letters, "TRL."

In celebration of 10 years of being a dominant force in pop culture, we present to you the greatest contributions MTV's "Total Request Live" has made to our national consciousness.

"TRL" is dead. Long live "TRL"!