Might Be Good

A Brief Rundown of Films in the Ear Bud Film Franchise

Ear Bud

Following his parents’ divorce, Toby moves to a new town. He struggles to make friends, so his mom gives him a 4-pack of HyperGear True Wireless Earbuds; that way, he can listen to music and tune the world out whenever he wants. Only, it turns out the earbuds possess a magical ability to shoot hoops. And since there’s no rule that earbuds can’t form a basketball team with a boy, Toby and his 8 magical buds join a local youth pickup basketball tournament and win. Does this help Toby make friends? Not really. People mostly just think he’s some sort of witch-child, honestly, what with all the weird earbuds dancing around him and somehow making jump shots.

Ear Bud 2: Glue-Tooth Connectivity

When Toby’s new stepdad, a dental surgeon, suffers a breakdown, Toby thinks his wishes have been answered. Finally, his mom will ditch this loser and get back together with his father! But then he sees his mother crying and realizes what he must do: enlist his magical HyperGear True Wireless Earbuds to keep the dental clinic in business while his stepdad gets treatment. After all, there’s no rule that says some earbuds can’t perform dental surgery, right?

Ear Bud 3: The (Charging) Case Against Toby

Actually, it turns out there is a rule against earbuds performing dental surgery, even if said earbuds are magical. Moreover, there’s a rule against a child running a dental practice, or anyone who’s not an actual dentist, really. As such, the 3rd Ear Bud film follows the trial against Toby. Things don’t start well, to say the least. The prosecution’s case is airtight, and what’s more, his magical earbuds refuse to come out of their charging case. If he wants to avoid major jail time, Toby will need their help.

Ear Bud 4: Micro-phone Home

In the summer between 8th and 9th grade, the HyperGear True Wireless Earbuds reveal something to Toby: they’re not magical; they’re from another planet. And now they need to go home. Using their internal microphones and his adolescent intuition, Toby will have to orchestrate the landing of their mothership before government agents catch up to them and take the earbuds into one of their secret labs for testing.

Ear Bud 5: Good Runtime

Released direct to streaming 20 years after the last installment, the plot ostensibly involves the earbuds returning from space to help Toby, now grown up, run a marathon, but actually it’s just two straight hours of cameos.