The year in television was a wild ride of highs and lows. It brought both the need to flip off “Big Brother,” and the desire to tune into “Survivor.” New shows debuted, old favorites said good-bye, and there was a sole survivor, but in 2000 love conquered all.

Several new shows forged their way onto the small screen, but FOX had two of the best in its fall lineup. The sci-fi thriller “Dark Angel” starring Jessica Alba showed promise at a time when “The X-Files” began to outwear its welcome. “Ally McBeal” creator David E. Kelley’s compelling high school drama “Boston Public” also showed the early signs of a breakout hit.

NBC also had a standout new show with “Ed.” The romantic -comedy is a heartwarming story of a big-city lawyer who returns home to win over the girl of his dreams. Ed (Tom Cavanagh) buys a bowling alley and starts running his practice from it. It sounds corny, but the show is a winner and NBC recently moved it to Wednesday nights as the lead in for its White House drama, “The West Wing.”

CBS’s new fall shows are already afterthoughts, but the network scored this summer with the reality-based “Survivor.” “Survivor” brought one of this year’s best TV moments with the pompous Richard Hatch enduring 39 days on a tropical island and besting Kelly Wiglesworth and 14 others.

CBS attempted to duplicate “Survivor’s” success with “Big Brother,” but the dull concept of taping 10 uninteresting people’s daily routines was a recipe for failure.

MTV appealed to the masses’ masochistic side with its hilarious and unbelievable show “Jackass.” Johnny Knoxville and crew in any half-hour show will do what it takes to get a laugh or injure one another.

NBC’s “Will & Grace” deserves mention for all of the laughs and outrageous moments it provided throughout the year as does FOX’s “Malcolm in the Middle” and “The Simpsons.” These shows were consistently funny, but didn’t have any one standout moment. On the flip side, ABC’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” is obviously overexposed since it airs four times a week, and its decline in popularity has already begun.

Some shows spiced things up by adding a controversial celebrity to the cast. “Ally McBeal” took in the troubled Robert Downey, Jr., who gave Calista Flockhart a new on-air beau and the show a new lease on life.

Michael J. Fox bid adieu to “Spin City,” leaving his spot to another Hollywood bad boy, Charlie Sheen. Fox’s departure from the show was classy and a mention of his old “Family Ties” character, Alex P. Keaton, at the end of the show was a nice payoff.

Love reigned supreme, though, in 2000, with several long awaited couples finally getting together.

“Beverly Hills 90210” said farewell and left with a bang. Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) finally got back together with Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) and David Silver (Brian Austin Green) and Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) finally tied the knot.

The long teased romance between Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce) and Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves) on NBC’s “Frasier” finally came to fruition with Niles sweeping Daphne away in an RV before she could marry another.

Drew Carey finally won over the woman he’s pined for his entire life, his best friend Kate (Christa Miller), on his self-titled show.

However, the standout moment of the year was the engagement of Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) to Monica Geller (Courtney Cox Arquette) on “Friends.” The beautiful candle lit proposal with both characters on their knees was a touching moment.

The year in television was both negative and positive. Old favorites showed signs of fizzling out while newcomers showed early signs of taking over. The year featured many standout moments as well as some very forgettable ones, but overall the good outweighed the bad.