The 10 best Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve shout-outs in movies and TV

There are some constants to New Year's Eve: champagne, silly hats and horns, the prospect of a New Year's kiss — but one thing that never disappoints is Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, a holiday tradition that first began in 1972. Ryan Seacrest has hosted the special from Times Square since 2005, but the tradition of watching the ball drop after a slew of musical performances has become so enduring that it's popped up in pop culture everywhere from Friends to Forrest Gump. Before you ring in the new year, here are our 10 favorite NYRE callouts in movies and TV over the years.

The Geller siblings brought us some memorable moments over Friends' 10 seasons on NBC, but none more so than their New Year's Eve dance routine in season 6. When Janine (Elle Macpherson) was going to featured as a partygoer on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, she invited Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Monica (Courteney Cox), and Ross (David Schwimmer). Desperate to get on camera, Monica and Ross resurrected a quirky, weirdly intimate dance number from their high school days. Needless to say, it didn't earn them the screen time they desired — though it did give fans great insight into the idiosyncrasies of their competitive childhood.

Dick Clark joined another broadcasting legend, Oprah Winfrey, on her eponymous talk show in 1997 to chat about his New Year's Eve traditions. She made an unwittingly hilarious comment when, after two female audience members complimented Clark for being single women's dates on New Year's Eve, Winfrey replied, "You're right, as a single woman, 'cause I remember all my years in Baltimore — that's what you do. You turn Dick on to help you through the night."

As the "official candies of the new millennium," the Red and Yellow M&Ms take a meeting with Dick Clark, asking him to be the host for the New Year's bash in Times Square to ring in the year 2000. After watching the candies bicker, Clark declines, saying, "I don't think so, guys. I was the host of the first millennium. Thanks anyway, uh...candies." The winking commercial also threw in a nod to Clark's ever-present youthfulness, with the Red M&M remarking, "He does look young for his age!"

Real footage from Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve made its way into this episode of the NBC sitcom, in which filmmaker Paul (Paul Reiser) got called on to shoot the ball drop in Times Square while Jamie (Helen Hunt) attended the mayor's ball. We saw footage from the festivities as a voice-over announced, "Good evening, I'm Dale Bender filling in for an ailing Dick Clark. Beautiful night here in Times Square. The police estimate the crowd to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000 people, all gathered here tonight to ring in the new year, 1996, together." We eventually saw Paul in Times Square, on hand to film the proceedings for the Explorer Channel.

Throughout Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks' title character finds himself present at various historic moments, meeting presidents, serving in the Vietnam War, and more. It wouldn't be U.S. history without a little Dick Clark, and when Forrest celebrates New Year's 1972 with Lieutenant Dan (Gary Sinise) in a New York City bar, footage from the iconic special plays on a TV that Forrest is watching.

In this dramedy about a secretary whose life changes after her dog dies, Peggy (Molly Shannon) enjoys a glass of wine in the kitchen on New Year's Eve as New Year's Rockin' Eve footage plays on television. Feeling a little buzzed, Peggy decides to wake her niece, Lissie, from bed and bring her downstairs to watch the final moments of the ball drop and ring in the new year together.

Following the success of 1992's White Men Can't Jump, Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes teamed up again in this tale of a New York City transit cop, Charlie (Harrelson), who decides to steal a trainload of subway fares — and the foster brother, John (Snipes), who tries to protect him. We see some behind-the-scenes footage of New Year's Rockin' Eve near the film's conclusion. The footage is seen playing back in a control booth on TV monitors in Times Square, and the crowd starts to count down to the new year just as John and Charlie emerge from a subway tunnel that's drenched in confetti. As the crowd yells "Happy New Year!" the two men embrace, declaring, "We did it!" As they hug, John realizes Charlie is secretly packing some of the cash under his jacket.

The entirety of this film takes place over the holiday season, meaning we get a prime shot of Dick Clark's annual festivities. Ox (Peter Boyle), Saul (Jack Warden), Elsie (Glynis Johns), and Midge (Micole Mercurio) are enjoying their New Year's Eve while eating bowls of ice cream on the couch. Elsie states, "New Year's Eve hasn't been the same since Guy Lombardo died," just before we see footage of New Year's Rockin' Eve play on the television. As they banter, Jack (Bill Pullman) hangs up the phone in the adjacent room and says, "Pop, we got the Van Allen estate." Just after, it's (falsely) revealed that Lucy (Sandra Bullock) is pregnant.

Bad Santa has Christmas on lockdown, but Bad Teacher gets to celebrate New Year's Eve. While most of these top moments feature Dick Clark himself, this nod includes a shot of Ryan Seacrest. Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz) is alone on New Year's Eve, slumped over on her couch, eating a corndog dipped in mustard. She watches TV and we see a glimpse of Seacrest hosting the festivities in Times Square.

This drama stars Renée Zellweger as Ellen, a career-driven woman who finds herself re-evaluating her parents' lives when she's forced to care for her mother Kate (Meryl Streep), who has cancer. Ellen and her family gather in the living room with champagne as Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve counts down to the new year in the background. Ellen muses, "Wouldn't it be a lot easier if we could just admit to our failures — the things that we f---ed up on?" She goes on to talk about all her failures over the past year, and her brother Brian (Tom Everett Scott) follows suit, letting their ailing mother know that he got a job and doesn't want to go back to school. Happy for him, the scene closes with Kate looking on as the TV screen flashes "Happy New Year 1998" during the Dick Clark broadcast.