As with everything these two do, ToeJam & Earl is throwing a ‘90s-style telethon which will feature ‘90s actors Macaulay Culkin and Freddie Prinze Jr. like it’s some sort of weird ‘90s time warp. Because ‘90s.
Before we launch into the utter madness that is a telethon during the internet age, a brief explanation for the uninitiated. ToeJam & Earl is a video game franchise from the ‘90s (in case that wasn’t ABUNDANTLY clear already) originally on the Sega Genesis. It featured two alien rappers--ToeJam and Earl--who are trying to find their way back into space after crash landing on Earth.
And for some reason, Earth is represented by a progressively more bizarre series of platforms instead of a single mostly blue sphere.
After the third game, ToeJam & Earl: Mission To Earth, released on Xbox in 2002 to generally unfavorable reviews, we thought the franchise was well and truly dead. We were wrong.
In 2015, the fourth entry into the ToeJam & Earl saga was announced. Titled Back in the Groove, the game would basically be a reboot of the original Sega Genesis title. After a successful Kickstarter and several years of development, the game was finally released in March of 2019.
Nobody really asked for a ToeJam & Earl reboot, but you just can’t keep these alien rappers down, it seems.
All caught up? Great. Because now ToeJam & Earl are holding a telethon to advertise the upcoming release of Back in the Groove’s multiplayer and endless mode update. Oh, and Macaulay Culkin will be there. He’s the game’s executive producer. Which sounds pretty crazy, we know, but that’s 2019 for you.
Since it is 2019, the “telethon” is more like a 4-hour livestream on YouTube, Twitch, and Mixer. The telethon starts May 26th at 3 PM EST and will feature not only Mr. Culkin, but also Freddie Prinze Jr., Twitch streamer Sonja Reid (aka OMGItsFirefoxx), and Disney’s Genieve Goings.
We’re not exactly sure how you “call in”, but it’s a livestream so we’re sure a number will be provided or they'll just take suggestions from the chat. While our four hosts showcase the new multiplayer mode for Back in the Groove, there will be some strange events happening. We don’t know what they are, but they’ll involve a dunk tank, a swimming pool full of Corn Nuts, and "something involving live ducks."
So yeah. Tune in on May 26th to find out just what Macaulay Culkin will do with a bunch of live ducks. And for some ToeJam & Earl gameplay, but that seems entirely secondary at this point.