1991: Two months after being arrested for public indecency, Paul Reubens trotted out his alter ego Pee-wee Herman and opened with a question: "Heard any good jokes lately?"
1992: Howard Stern arrived onstage lowered from the ceiling as a sleazy superhero called Fartman. You don't want to see this outfit from the back.
1993: RuPaul: "You used to wear gowns, but now you're wearing diapers." Milton Berle: "Oh, we're going to ad lib? I'll check my brain and we'll start even."
1994: "Just think, nobody thought this would last," said Michael Jackson before kissing bride Lisa Marie Presley. Turned out it didn't last.
1998: When your boyfriend is Marilyn Manson, you have to go that extra mile to attract attention. Rose McGowan did just that.
2001: Britney. A python. PETA didn't like it.
2002: Suffice it to say that Eminem was not a good sport when approached by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
2003: Manufactured outrage 101, courtesy of Madonna: duet with Britney and Christina, kiss 'em both, stand back and wait for the moral guardians to take offense.
2009: Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift, and a new pop-culture catchphrase entered the lexicon: "Imma let you finish … "
2010: Fortunately, Britney's python wasn't around to gulp down Lady Gaga's meat dress.
Face it: at MTV's Video Music Awards, we don’t really remember who wins. This show is all about water-cooler moments, not acceptance speeches – it's about Andrew Dice Clay drawing a lifetime ban for being crude in '89, or Diana Ross grabbing Lil Kim's boob onstage 10 years later. So here are a few quintessential VMA moments.
