John Tesh and Mary Heart were all smiles in presenting the show’s 2,000th episode. As well they might have been — it was indeed a “milestone in syndicated television history”, a signal event for a program that began eight years earlier as a syndicated new program devoted to film, music and television. Entertainment Tonight brought to screen what People magazine did in print, focusing on the people in the business more than the business itself.

On this day, Entertainment Tonight aired its 2,000th episode, a retrospective over the stories the show brought in the past years.

Entertainment Tonight spawned the launch of similar shows abroad — in 2005 UK and Canada became the latest ones to get their own versions — and at home, with shows like Access Hollywood, Extra, TMZ, and the news segment of a whole network, E!, now treading the same ground. Despite the competition, the show remains one of the top 10 highest-rated syndicated programs.