The Girls Gone Wild franchise has filed for bankruptcy.

Founder Joe Francis (pictured) has put the franchise into bankruptcy to protect it from the long arms of casino mogul Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts (WYNN). Wynn was none too happy after a wild weekend in 2007 in which Francis allegedly ran up a $2 million debt at Wynn's Las Vegas resort.

The disagreement between the two escalated into a slander suit that Wynn filed -- and won -- against Francis. A judge last April awarded $7.5 million to Wynn and his resort, Bloomberg reported.

Instead of targeting Francis for collection, Wynn's lawyers began looking at the Girls Gone Wild assets, The Wall Street Journal reports.  

Remember when you were "family" as soon as you walked into an Olive Garden? Remember when the restaurants' exterior and interior were laden with every bit of faux-Italian kitsch under the Tuscan sun? Yeah, that's over.

Welcome to The O.G. In an attempt to turn around the flagging performance of its Olive Garden chain, parent company Darden International (DRI) is tearing down the stone-and-wood archways that have been in place since 2000 and sprucing up the logo.

After installing new Olive Garden President Dave George in January, cutting quarterly expectations for both its Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains and suggesting to The Associated Press that fewer Olive Gardens will open in the next year, a struggling Darden is getting ready to gut its Italian dining cornerstone down to the bottlomless breadsticks.

 

We have met the enemy, and he is not us.

Because the Greek chorus of casual-dining establishments shrieking blame for slumping sales apparently wasn't loud enough, Chili's and parent company Brinker International (EAT) have joined the fray. On Wednesday, the restaurant and its ownership group cut expectations for 2013 like a serrated knife hacking fat from a parmesan-crusted steak. The company now says earnings per share will be on the low end of the $2.30-to-$2.45 range and that sales would grow at a near-stagnant 1% pace.

Why? Brinker fingered the lapsed Social Security payroll tax cut, rising gas prices and delayed federal tax refunds for its dour quarterly outlook.  

McDonald's (MCD) is cutting Chicken Selects and apple walnut salad from its menu. Does that leave anything for health-conscious diners looking for a quick meal?

Judging from the outcry on Twitter, the answer seems to be no.

"McDonald's discontinued Chicken Selects. . . My life is officially over," wrote one dismayed customer on the social-media site. "I guess I'll never be eating McDonald's ever again just (because) they are no longer making Chicken Selects," another customer wrote.

The company touts its Chicken Selects as "premium finger food for picky people." They were made from chicken breast filets and ran about 380 calories for a three-piece serving. 

Fans of the AMC (AMCX) series "Breaking Bad" appear to be working their way through the five stages of grief on the blogosphere, as TV's methamphetamine melodrama prepares for its fifth and final season. But among the fans who will apparently miss the program most are lawmakers in New Mexico, where the series is filmed.

The state's House recently passed a measure known as the "Breaking Bad" bill, which would increase tax incentives for TV and movie companies that film in New Mexico.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the bill would require TV productions to film at least six episodes in New Mexico, make a good faith effort to hire New Mexicans on those productions and contribute to local job training programs in order to receive a 30% tax rebate.

 

If it seems like you can't get out of bed without the cost of gas, food or services going up, now comes news that the going rate for lost baby teeth has also spiked.

The Tooth Fairy last year left an average of $2.42 per lost tooth, a jump of 15.2% from 2011, according to a poll from insurance company Delta Dental. That rise comes after the Tooth Fairy hit on tough times in 2011, when the per-tooth gift declined. 

The higher rates for lost baby teeth might not be all bad news, however. Dental Dental says its "Original Tooth Fairy Poll" actually correlates to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX), with the poll and the stock index moving in tandem in nine of the last 10 years. 

Last year, the S&P 500 jumped 13.4%, almost matching the Tooth Fairy's 15.2% gain, the poll says. 

 

Would you rather walk around looking down at a smartphone in your hand or with a set of "augmented-reality" eyeglasses wrapped around your head? 

If you're Google (GOOG) co-founder Sergey Brin, the answer is obvious. Smartphones are "emasculating," he said in a TED talk on Wednesday that was meant to promote his company's new Google glasses, according to the conference's blog.

"Is this what you’re meant to do with your body?” he said, referring to how people hunch over their smartphones. TED, or the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference, is known for featuring speakers with innovative, sometimes world-changing ideas such as conservationist Jane Goodall and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who wants to make school lunches healthier.

 

Updated 2:30 p.m. ET

Shares of Groupon (GRPN) plunged 21% in afternoon trading Thursday following the daily-deal site's latest earnings disappointment as investors continue to doubt CEO Andrew Mason's strategy. Worse, it appears the company's board is also concerned enough to be considering his ouster.

The Chicago company reported a net loss in the latest quarter of $81.1 million, or 12 cents a share, from $65.4 million, or a 12-cent loss, a year earlier. Revenue rose 29.7% to $638.3 million. Wall Street expectations were for a loss of 2 cents on sales on sales of $640 million. Not surprisingly, Groupon also issued disappointing earnings guidance.

Mason, the founder who has run Groupon since its inception in 2008, seems to be living on a different planet than his investors.