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Back in ye olden times (a.k.a. the late 1990s), American youths used to race home from school, turn on the television and settle in to hang out with Carson Daly for an hour of Total Request Live, MTV's generation-defining music-video countdown show that ran for 18 seasons and helped make global superstars out of Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Eminem, Blink-182, Christina Aguilera, NSYNC and the like.
But while most kiddos were forced to watch those musical icons from home, young New Yorkers were able to experience it IRL, flooding the streets outside of MTV's Times Square studio every weekday to scream and shout their love directly at AJ McLean (or insert your chosen Backstreet-er here). And today in NYC, that throwback thrill is coming back for one day only.
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Rumor has it that a nostalgia-inducing TRL reunion is being filmed in front of a live audience today, October 1, from 2pm to 6pm at MTV Studios in Times Square (located at 1515 Broadway inside One Astor Plaza). The special will celebrate the legacy of the iconic MTV show with surprise celebrity guests, live musical performances, original TRL VJs (along with Daly, Hilarie Burton, La La Anthony, Dave Holmes, Vanessa Lachey, Damien Fahey and Quddus all helmed the mic over the years) and plenty of throwback TRL energy.
And members of the iconic boy band NSYNC will allegedly be among those surprise guests—well, most of them, at least. NSYNC-er Lance Bass confirmed that "4 of us will be there! Come on out!" in a comment on a fan's Instagram Reel discussing the event, though the performer didn't specify which four of the five would be in attendance. It's likely, though, that it will be Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, J.C. Chasez and Joey Fatone, with their famous fifth counterpart—Justin "It's Going to Ruin the Tour!" Timberlake—sitting this one out.
Historically, Timberlake—who left the group in April 2002 to find solo stardom with global hits like "SexyBack," "Cry Me a River," "What Goes Around... Comes Around," "Can't Stop the Feeling!" and more—has been less eager than his bandmates about returning to his NSYNC glory days, though that aversion has seemingly softened in recent years. Timberlake was joined by Bass, Chasez, Fatone and Kirkpatrick for a surprise live performance during his "One Night Only" concert at The Wiltern in Los Angeles in March 2024, marking the band's first stage appearance together since the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. So we're not entirely ruling out a Timberlake cameo during today's TRL hullabaloo.
Regardless of which millennial icons end up showing up to MTV Studios this afternoon, we're pretty excited about this nostalgic trip down TRL-memory lane. And if we just happen to take a long, leisurely lunch through Times Square today—and pause to screech at middle-aged former boy banders along the way—our boss will just have to deal with it.