As heard everywhere across the internet on April 2nd: GOTCHA!!!
Okay, so maybe we didn’t getcha, but that doesn’t seem to be the point of April Fools Day anymore. Long gone are the pranks and tomfoolery of previous years, and now we just get to take the day as an excuse to recreate our little website as something completely bizarre and hilarious.
This year, we rode the coattails of the recent freshman season of The Muppets to turn ToughPigs into Up Late with ToughPigs, a fan site dedicated to everyone’s favorite fictional late night talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy. We filled the site with articles and newsbits all about the show, the stars, and the behind-the-scenes antics.
Before we get to the content, big thanks go out to our writers Matthew Soberman, Matt Wilkie, Anthony Strand, and Julia Gaskill for reporting back from the alternate dimension in which Up Late with Miss Piggy is a real show. If you liked their April Fools Day articles, you can find a lot more by each of them here on ToughPigs.
Also, huge thanks to our artist-in-residence Chris “Smig” Smigliano, who created our new banner (seen above) and the new artwork on our sidebar buttons (larger, more visible versions seen below).
Yep, glasses-less Scooter is still creepy, even in illustrated form.
In case you missed the extravaganza, or if you want to read them all over again, we’ve archived the articles, which you can read below.
Intro:
Features:
- “Up Late” Has Become “UP GREAT!” – A review of the first season of Up Late with Miss Piggy
- What If Celebrities Had the Up Late Logo as Their Lips? – Pretty much self explanatory
- Quiz: Which Job Would You Have on Up Late? – Find out if you belong in the band, in the writer’s room, or as a reception monster
- The Muppets: Where Are They Now? – Find out where the old Muppet characters ended up in the Up Late world
- Definitive Ranking of the Blonde, Thin, White Female Up Late Guests – Seeing patters on the couch
- The Camera Question – What’s up with the other cameras on Up Late?
- Gonzo the Daredevil Writer – Did you know that one of Up Late‘s writers is also a stunt man??
- That Enigmatic Penguin – Miss Piggy gets into trouble for smuggling adorable animals into the country
- Up Late with Fozzie Bear – A Spotlight – How does Fozzie stack up in the world of late night TV sidekicks?
News:
- More “Up Late” Merchandise On the Way! – Mugs and knives and trucks and more!
- #UnveilTheTail Trends Again! – The hashtag goes viral, just not in the way we expected
- Up Late with Miss Piggy Season 1 Coming to DVD – Yep, the whole thing… on 58 discs
- BREAKING: Up Late Wins Major Late Night Award! – Congrats to the Up Late team!
- BREAKING: Miss Piggy Forced to Forfeit Desko After Awards Assault – Oh… never mind
- What’s the Deal with the Up Late Twitter Feed? – Something fishy is going on in the Marketing Department
- Piggy Water® Faces Ban in Denmark – Sad news for Danish Muppet fans
- Color Me Mine to Drop Up Late Sponsorship – Thanks to an overeager Up Late crew member
- RUMOR: Clive Cahuenga to Appear on Up Late – Everyone’s favorite singing civil servant!
- Miss Piggy to Donate Original Satin Gloves to Smithsonian – Piggy donates her gloves, whether the Smithsonian wants them or not
I do believe that we have created more Up Late with Miss Piggy content than anyone else in the world, including the producers of The Muppets.
If you enjoyed this year’s April Fools Day gag, you should check out the other pranks we’ve pulled in past years! Click here to read about them all!
Thanks for reading, Muppet fans! We look forward to tricking you again next year!
Click here to stay up late on the ToughPigs forum!
by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
