Everyone nowadays watched the same American movies, laughs at the same American gags, marvels at the same American special effects. What, above all, the closing decade of the century will be remembered for, in a film-historical context, is the consecration of the American cinema. In the specific sense intended by Francis Fukayama when he wrote of the End of History - his theory that, since everyone wants the same thing, and can only acquire it by endorsing the same liberal, free-market system, there can no longer be any justifiable cause for the global ideological conflicts of old - it's not too fanciful to refer to the End of Film History Hollywood, in short, has won. (C4)1998 WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?Its genius is its simplicity. (ITV)1998 THE ROYLE FAMILYA complete reinvention of the sitcom (BBC2) BV. (BBC1)1996 THIS LIFEBrilliant and daring sex, drugs and affidavits drama. (BBC2)1996 HILLSBOROUGHJimmy McGovern's remarkable drama-documentary.

(ITV)1997 BRASS EYECurrent-affairs spoof, at times astonishingly funny. (BBC2)1995 THE DEATH OF YUGOSLAVIAA landmark in documentary-making (BBC2)1995 PANORAMA - THE DIANA INTERVIEWGobsmacking stuff. (BBC2)1994 MIDDLEMARCHInspired the mid-1990s glut of costume dramas. I'm Alan Partridge, Harry Enfield and Chums, The Fast Show, Shooting Stars, Men Behaving Badly, Father Ted and Brass Eye reinforced the point, as did One Foot in the Grave, which seems to have been going on since time began, rather than 1990.On a final sombre note, let us not forget that this was also the decade when, for Jill Dando, television stardom proved fatal.NINETIES TV1992 GBHLunacies of the far left in a 1980s "northern city" (C4)1993 THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW Cleverest US comedy. And fair's fair, television rose majestically to the occasion when it had to. In their very different ways, the Gulf war and the death of Diana made formidable logistical demands that were dealt with not just capably, but brilliantly.But never mind the Royal Family.

With The Royle Family, not to mention The Mrs Merton Show, Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash proved that Americans do not have a monopoly on wonderfully inventive comedy. Tears were shed as two old warhorses, World in Action and News at Ten, were killed off, although in hindsight it is remarkable that News at Ten was allowed to cock up the ITV schedules for so long. The point is that the quality pendulum never swings so violently as in the realm of light entertainment. But without debating the qualitative merits of Noel's House Party, Don't Forget Your Toothbrush and The Big Breakfast, it is fair to say that they all made a significant impact on the television landscape, a landscape that has not, as far as I can see, been much enhanced by Channel 5.Channel 5 News, though, at least brought some freshness to what has, on the whole, been a pretty tired decade for news and current affairs in terms of presentation, if not content. Phone a friend, if you like.Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? is surely the light-entertainment phenomenon of the 1990s, and just what its acclaimed presenter, Chris Tarrant, needed to bury memories of the excruciating Man O Man. And Rupert Murdoch will also look back on the 1990s with considerable satisfaction.