ToeJam & Earl's Super Funky Telethon was a live event that occurred on May 26, 2019 to promote ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove. Hosted by Alex Corea, it was simultaneously broadcast on Twitch, YouTube, and Mixer and featured "stunts, games, and guests".
Plot[]
Alex Corea introduces himself and sponsors G FUEL and Corptron before introducing Big Earl and an absent Macaulay Culkin. In a cutaway, Culkin wakes on his couch to a phone call from Greg Johnson, then steals a bicycle from Devon Sawa in order to ride to the studio.
After the title break, Corea specifies that this is an "honest to goodness telethon" to celebrate all things ToeJam & Earl, and that the telethon is for a very important cause-- to get ToeJam and Big Earl safely back to Funkotron-- and introduces the phone bank, with a "Funkometer" at "Wiener", tracking the number of "Funkobucks" that are needed for the duo's trip home. Corea then introduces the first set of guests, Zack Pearlman, Leo Camacho, and Caketrap, and they begin to play ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove for eleven minutes before the Funkometer levels up to "Dufus" and the hosts receive a "Present Drop" of a "Duck".
After plugging Duck Game, Corea introduces the next game, "Soggy Bobbers". Dressed as ducks, Camacho and Pearlman bob for large dinner rolls placed into two tubs of lake water, with Camacho winning the challenge. A recorded message from Steven "Boogie2988" Williams then plays, in which he tells ToeJam and Earl to get off the planet.
After the skit, Pearlman and Camacho return to playing the video game for the next seventeen minutes, before they are once more interrupted with another Funkometer check followed by an "infomercial" skit. Corea and Pearlman return to the kitchen greenscreen, demonstrating that the case of the Back in the Groove game can slice a tomato, can be wiped on spilled beverages, and can break glassware. The skit is then interrupted by the Funkometer reaching the "Poindexter" level, which results in a present drop of "Mousetrap".
Corea, Pearlman, and Camacho then proceed to play a game of "Extreme Mousetrap", which is essentially the game of Mousetrap but with the players having a mousetrap snapped on their hands multiple times. After this game, a recorded message from Hidetaka "SWERY" Suehiro plays.
After the break, Corea introduces the next set of guests, Sonja "OMGitsfirefoxx" Reid and Nick Robinson. Culkin is still absent, having had his stolen bike stolen but now being transported via piggyback ride from Jon Lee Brody who believes him to be Jonathan Taylor Thomas. In his absence, Corea introduces Christopher "Kirbopher" Niosi, and the guests play the game in-progress, dying at level 5. The next Funkometer level is unlocked, and the guests receive a "Wardrobe Randomizer" present drop.
The guests and host all spin the wheel; Reid is then directed into a Hot Dog outfit, Niosi into a Rabbit costume, and Robinson into an inflatable blueberry suit. Corea gets "Steve", which ends up being a Slenderman-style morph suit that does not fit him. Niosi then leaves and a short video of a wikipedia:Goomba reminiscing about ToeJam and Earl plays.
Corea introduces two new guests, Denetra Blackshear and Kian Naderi, and start a new round of the video game, reaching level 4 before they are interrupted by the next present drop, the "Earlbstacal Course". After describing the hazards of the course designed for Big Earl, Corea welcomes Fred Rosser to the stage, then the countdown begins. Earl immediately trips and falls over the Tire Run, flops over and breaks the Speed Jenga table, destroys the Limbo Bar setup, then hops into a five-foot swimming pool full of Corn Nuts before being body slammed by Rosser.
Corea dismisses the guests on the couch before attempting to announce Culkin to the stage, but instead he is joined by Greg Johnson and Matt Conn, who then provide an update on upcoming sales of ToeJam & Earl merchandise, an upcoming cookbook ToeJam & Earl's Funky Fresh Foods of Funkotron[1], custom controllers[2][3][4][5], a reprint of the vinyl version of the Back in the Groove soundtrack, an exclusive Genesis-style game case[6], and the upcoming version 1.4 patch to Back in the Groove. Conn then plugs a new game, Neighborhood Watch[7]. The three then review submissions to a ToeJam & Earl art contest held via Twitter.
The action then once more cuts away to Culkin, who has worn out his piggyback-ride host. Culkin then steals his wallet and hails a taxi.
An intermission occurs, with a music video from the band Nice Legs, slam poetry from Joe Hendry, and a skit of Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes playing online multiplayer with Culkin. The scene then cuts out to editor and Nice Legs band member Mark Lentz, who then completes the Omega-Culkin skit with a sock puppet ending.
Meanwhile, back in the studio, a despondent Corea is elated upon hearing screeching tires as Culkin arrives to the studio with a lift from Cody Walker. Also introduced to the set are Freddie Prinze Jr. and, once again, Fred Rosser. Culkin and Prinze proceed to pick up the game in process, and Culkin walks Prinze through playing the game as the two relate their long video game rivalries. They are eventually interrupted by the next present drop as the Funkometer reaches "Bro" and the next present drop occurs, a "Rain Cloud".
The guests don ponchos and prepare a "shock roulette" toy. Prinze acts as referee while Corea, Culkin, Rosser, and Griffin (a member of the production crew) all grab the four handles, playing on behalf of four fans who have purchased a copy of Back in the Groove. Griffin, Rosser, and Culkin are all eliminated, and Corea's fan wins a prize. A video intermission from "Mantis" then plays.
Returning to the couch, Prinze is absent, to be replaced by a now formally-introduced Jon Lee Brody, and they go over questions asked over Twitter. Brody and Culkin then pick the game back up, while Culkin talks about how he got involved with the game and his history playing the original Sega Genesis game. After some time, the klaxon sounds to alert the guests that a new present drop has arrived: "Wonder Why" balls. Six filled chocolate balls are placed on a rotating wheel, and the guests must guess what creamy filling has been placed into each one. Gina Tron arrives as a "pinch biter", replacing Brody. Culkin's ball contains minced garlic, Rosser's ball contains mayonnaise, and Tron's ball is the "good one", caramel. Corea gets vegan tuna, but does not guess correctly and has to then take a second ball filled with wasabi. At the shout of "one more left", Corea takes a bite out of the last ball, which turns out to be filled with bleu cheese.
An intermission video plays, then Tonez the Prince and Cody Wright join Corea, Culkin, and Rosser on stage. Wright plays bass guitar as Tonez and Culkin continue playing the video game. Tonez has an emotional moment, thanking the audience, before he is interrupted by Corea to explain that they are just short of enough Funkobucks to get to the next present drop. Corea tries to think of a solution to fundraise more, and comes up with a plan for Wright to play a bass line while Tonez raps with lyrics solicited via Twitter; this gets them over the line to the "Rapmaster" level and the next present drop, "G FUEL".
Corea thanks the sponsors of the production, and mentions that when they began working with him, Culkin had asked if there was any way to work a tomato fight into the show. He then introduces the dunk tank, filled with 500 gallons of G FUEL, and introduces the opponent-- Corea himself. Both take turns sitting in the seat of the dunk tank, while the other throws tomatoes at the launch button from twenty feet away. Culkin successfully gives Corea a dunking, but Corea misses his three throws and a man in a yeti mask, later exposed to be Brody, presses the button for him.
After this, a video from a collection of celebrities and YouTube personalities, including Kyle Massey, David Hayter, and Ross K. Foad play.
Returning back to the studio, Corea sits alone, and introduces the last guest, Genevive Goings, and the two pick up the game as it was left off as the Funkometer surpasses the goal and Goings sings a "congratulations" song as the final present drop is received: a piece of paper with "The End".
Corea then discusses how they will be sending ToeJam & Earl back home: by attaching a physical Switch copy of Back in the Groove to a weather balloon, where it will reach "about 80,000 feet". The stream concludes with a remote camera streaming ToeJam & Earl as the balloon flies into the air, set to the soundtrack of the original game.
Outside the studio, Culkin laments that the aliens went to Funkotron without him. He then whistles, hailing Brody for another piggyback ride.
Reception[]
As of September 2020, the Super Funky Telethon has received 660 views on YouTube. View counts on Mixer are no longer available due to the closure of that service in July 2020.
Jennifer Unkle of Scanline Media noted on Twitter that the Super Funky Telethon was a party for "abusive men in the gaming industry"[8], including Matt Conn (stepped down from MidBoss after allegations of verbal and sexual abuse of employees[9]), Nick Robinson (fired from Polygon after a string of sexual harassment allegations[10]), and Chris Niosi (who had been revealed to have been emotionally abusing colleagues, family, and partners for over a decade.[11]). Conn and Robinson's appearances on the Telethon would also be referenced by Ana Valens writing for Daily Dot as "a reminder that accusing someone of predatory behavior won’t necessarily prevent them from returning to power."[12]
Links[]
References[]
- ↑ This would become a Kickstarter campaign much later, in late 2020.
- ↑ Toe Jam & Earl: Back in the Groove - Xbox One S - Custom Controllers - Controller Chaos. Archived from the original on 2020-07-25.
- ↑ Toe Jam & Earl: Back in the Groove - PlayStation 4 - Custom Controllers - Controller Chaos. Archived from the original on 2020-07-25.
- ↑ Toe Jam & Earl: Back in the Groove - Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons - Controller Chaos. Archived from the original on 2020-07-25.
- ↑ Toe Jam & Earl: Back in the Groove - Nintendo Switch Pro - Custom Controllers - Controller Chaos. Archived from the original on 2020-07-25.
- ↑ ToeJam & Earl Collectible Retro Case Funkothon Exclusive – Limited Run Games. Archived from the original on 2020-07-25.
- ↑ This would become Demons Ate My Neighbors!, by Conn's later studio Tuned Out Games
- ↑ Unkle, Jennifer (May 26, 2019). "Real cool that abusive men in the gaming industry can just get together for live streams and parties with celebrities, even after they get outed as awful."
- ↑ Chan, Stephanie (March 16, 2018). "MidBoss and GaymerX CEO exits after allegations of misconduct". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- ↑ Plunkett, Luke (August 10, 2017). "Polygon Parts Ways With Nick Robinson Following Twitter Claims". Kotaku. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- ↑ McFerren, Damian (July 26, 2019). "Fire Emblem Voice Actor Gets Credit Removed Following Admissions Of Abuse". Nintendo Life. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- ↑ Valens, Ana (May 31, 2019). "Nick Robinson and Matt Conn faced sexual harassment allegations. Why are they still in games?". Daily Dot. Retrieved September 9, 2020.