Bill Hanstock

Over the past decade, Alexandre Desplat has quickly made a name for himself as one of the best and biggest film composers currently working in Hollywood. A quick look at his curriculum vitae will prove just how versatile he is, having been at the musical helm of numerous franchise movies ... More »

It’s not much of a surprise that The Big Bang Theory is a massive hit in Canada and Australia, or that NCIS cumulatively boasts a bigger audience than any American TV show in the world. Both shows are ratings juggernauts in the States, and given the world’s historic love for ... More »

Did you watch Magic Mike XXL and think, Hmm, whatever happened to Alex Pettyfer's naked bod? Well, "The Kid" (as he was known in the first film) is finally dishing on why he was left out of the sequel. Appearing on Bret Easton Ellis's podcast Monday, Pettyfer told quite the ... More »

Remember when the phrase "accounting chicanery" was fabulously used last week in a Bones-related lawsuit against Fox? Well, there's more to that story now, as THR reports that another of the show's EPs (Kathy Reichs), along with its stars (Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz), have shot off a similar suit ... More »

After Batman Begins, it seems that every major character has to get a gritty origin story. Now it seems that even holidays are getting gritty origin story reboots, as National Geographic is airing a more realistic retelling of the origins of Thanksgiving this weekend called Saints and Strangers. (Don't expect ... More »

Here’s more evidence of why we should never refer to a Muppet performer only as “the voice of” their character.  During last year’s Keep Christmas With You concert collaboration between Sesame Street and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the choir people spoke to the puppeteers about just how crazy their job is, with all the running and scooting and rolling and it sounds exhausting.  They even got some footage from backstage.  Check it out:

The Keep Christmas With You concert is now available on DVD!

Thanks to Tough Pigs reader TV’s Neil for the alert!  Click here to hold Bert like a football on the Tough Pigs forum!

by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com

For centuries, we have used various art forms to admire the perfection of the male form. From the statue of David to photos of Robert Mapplethorpe, rippling abs and athletic physiques have always been the aesthetic ideal. Television is the dominant medium of our time, and artists like Shonda Rhimes, ... More »

Back in the late ’80s/early ’90s, a few different Muppet attractions were in the works, including MuppetVision 3D (which was made) and a spoof of The Great Movie Ride (which was not).  One of these attractions that never saw the light of day was The Great Gonzo’s Pandemonium Pizza Parlor, which would’ve been a fully-functional Muppet-themed restaurant, filled with Muppet references, Swedish Chef in the kitchen, and animatronic rats delivering your food.

Now there’s a rumor that a different Muppet restaurant may be making its way to Walt Disney World.

According to WDW News Today, the Toy Story-themed restaurant Pizza Planet in Hollywood Studios will be closing on January 11, 2016, to reopen later in the year.  And replacing it?  Possibly a new Muppet-themed eatery!

Whether this will be an updated Great Gonzo’s Pandemonium Pizza Parlor or something completely new is to be seen.  And whether or not the Muppet restaurant will be happening at all is yet to be seen.

Stay tuned for more details and rumors as we hear them!

Click here to stop for a slice on the ToughPigs forum!

by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com

Kurt Sutter has given his show The Bastard Executioner the ax after one season. Sutter publicly announced the show's demise by taking out a full-page ad in The Hollywood Reporter. He wrote, "The audience has spoken and unfortunately the word is, 'meh.'" "It's fantastic to get a good review [or] an award, ... More »

Community is gone, and now Joel McHale's clip show The Soup is following suit. THR reports that E! is ending the show 12 years after McHale helmed a reboot in 2004. (Its earlier iteration began with Greg Kinnear as the host of Talk Soup back in 1991.) “Joel took the show ... More »

Cyclops of the X-Men has made some questionable decisions over the years. Here are the top five worst things he's done.

From the looks of this gag reel, the Ant-Man set was just a day in the life of a frat house where sometimes Michael Douglas shows up ready with a fist-bump. Cue random dancing that mostly just features Paul Rudd and Company pelvic-thrusting: in front of a bus, with a pile ... More »

Hannibal, what an improbable life you led. After airing three glorious, macabre, sensual seasons on, of all places, NBC, the series ended on a literal cliff-hanger. During its run, the show found new life online in the form of slash fiction, where viewers would reimagine the protagonists Will Graham and ... More »

There are no figures in the comics world more controversial than Frank Miller. But you'd also be hard-pressed to find one who's more influential. The 58-year-old writer and artist has been pushing buttons and boundaries since his groundbreaking run on Marvel Comics' Daredevil in the 1980s — a run that is ... More »

David Fincher is known for his meticulous ordering of nearly every element of his filmmaking, but who knew that he had a soft spot in his heart for kitchen appliances? As revealed by this charming supercut from Dutch film magazine De Filmkrant, Fincher has incorporated the noble refrigerator into much ... More »

R. Kelly whirls around, straining to look out his car’s rear window. “You see that?” asks the R&B star, sitting in the middle row of a black SUV cruising down Manhattan’s West Side. On this sparkling afternoon in early fall, he’s just noticed a young woman driving a red sedan ... More »

Wicked City, ABC’s 1980s drama about a murderous couple (Erika Christensen and Ed “Chuck Bass” Westwick), has gotten the ax, EW reports. When the show first premiered, reviewers agreed that it was “wicked lousy” and called it “offensive, predictable and awful,” like most of Chuck Bass’s actions on Gossip Girl. Wicked City’s ... More »

During one of Hamilton's pre-show performances, dubbed "Ham4Ham," Lin-Manuel Miranda brought out the flawless Lea Salonga, who you may know from Broadway and you know, the voices of Disney's Jasmine and Mulan. So what else could we expect Salonga to sing besides one of Disney's best duets — "A Whole New ... More »

Joel Hodgson, creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and its finest host (come at me, Mike fans!), launched a Kickstarter today to resurrect the beloved cult show. Having started on Minneapolis's local cable-access channel KTMA, MST3K was finally canceled in 1999 after a 12-year run that included stints on Comedy Central ... More »

Leah Remini, the queen of Queens, has written a barn-burner. Her book Troublemaker, which came out Tuesday, is a tell-all from inside the Church of Scientology, an experience that cost her millions of dollars and years of anguish, and eventually resulted in her getting labeled an "SP" — a Suppressive ... More »

In the Gossip Girl finale in 2012, the writers jumped five years into the future to visit Dan and Serena’s wedding. Blair looked on with her son, Henry; newspaper mogul Nate was planning a run for New York City mayor; Eric and Jenny were there, being awkward and forgotten about; ... More »

Lest you think Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton is just some New York City obsession that Beyoncé can't wait to copy on tour, the AP reports that, according to Atlantic Records, Hamilton's cast recording is the highest-debuting Broadway musical since 1961's Camelot, starring Julie Andrews and Richard Burton. The album, released on October ... More »

Yeah, we said it. Deal with it, fans of the Beethoven franchise. Who cares if they are a pain in the ass; cats rule, dogs drool. Uggie's cool, though; we miss him every day. ... More »

Over the course of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's six seasons, Jazz (DJ Jazzy Jeff, a.k.a. Jeffrey Townes) developed a very intimate relationship with the Banks family's front lawn. Starting with the show’s second episode, when he was introduced as one of Will’s best friends, Jazz being thrown out became a ... More »

Famed for its movie-accurate collectibles, the Hong Kong-based company has revealed the remarkably life-like unmasked head sculpt for its Ant-Man figure.

To celebrate Ciara’s 30th birthday, Beyoncé, the most perfect human being to ever live, dressed up as Storm from the X-Men. (Jeff Dye was the Punisher, which is also kinda cool.) Just look at the perfection. Look at it! ... More »

Matthew McConaughey isn't too keen on joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe ... yet. Variety reports that Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 director James Gunn wanted him in the film as their new villain, and he turned them down the offer, but as early as May this year, the ... More »

You've got to hand it to Wicked City. The show certainly paid for the rights to use lot of '80s songs. Just a bunch of 'em, really crammed in there. That's about all you have to give it credit for, though, because everything else in ABC's new serial-killer drama is ... More »