Flixens: Movies, DVDs, TV, comic books and pop culture for women. The boys shouldn't have all the fun.

The producers of "America's Next Top Model" know its off-screen drama shows no signs of stopping. They want viewers to know that its on-screen drama doesn't either. The CW's Chief Operating Officer issued a statement to the fledgling network's affiliates Thursday, assuring local stations that the ongoing writers strike, while unfortunate, would not affect the production schedule or air dates of the reality-competition's fall season.

After more than two months spent battling for custody in the Bahamas, Larry Birkhead is finally heading home. And he's bringing his daughter with him. In a typically closed-door hearing in Nassau Wednesday, a Bahamian judge has given the legally-embattled photographer the greenlight to take his Dannielynn out of the island nation, though stopping short of granting the biological father full custody of the girl. Despite various legal roadblocks set up by Virgie Arthur, who herself is seeking a share in custody of the seven-month-old girl, the judge has cleared the way for the Birkhead party of two to leave the country as early as this weekend. While, per Bahamian law, none of the parties involved in Wednesday's proceeding were allowed to speak on what transpired inside the courtroom, upon leaving the hearing, Birkhead hinted that he was not long for the island.

Joe Francis' life has gone from sexually-charged to sexual charges. In the midst of serving a 35-day jail sentence on contempt of court charges and fresh off of being slapped with multiple counts of bribery and tax evasion, the legally outwitted "Girls Gone Wild" creator has been slapped with yet another misdemeanor, this time for one count of sexual battery. The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office filed the charges Wednesday, stemming from an incident that took place at a Hollywood party on Jan. 10 in which Francis allegedly helped himself to a handful of an unaccommodating partygoer. According to the 18-year-old female victim, Francis approached her at the chi-chi birthday party and touched her breasts, buttocks and inner thighs despite her making repeated protests for him to stop.

Avril Lavigne was the best damn thing on the charts this week. Literally. The Canadian pop-punker debuted atop the Billboard 200 for a second consecutive time as her latest, The Best Damn Thing, sold 286,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to newly released Nielsen SoundScan numbers. Nine Inch Nails' high-concept sci-fi album "Year Zero" opened at number two, moving 186,000 copies, while former "American Idol" contestant Bucky Covington opened at number four, selling 61,000 of his self-titled country debut. Here's a rundown of the Top 10: 1. "The Best Damn Thing," Avril Lavigne 2. "Year Zero," Nine Inch Nails 3. "Now That's What I Call Music! 24," various 4. "Bucky Covington," Bucky Covington 5. "Waking Up Laughing," Martina McBride 6. "Konvicted," Akon 7. "Daughtry," Daughtry 8. "Let It Go," Tim McGraw 9. "Some Hearts," Carrie Underwood 10. "Timbaland Presents Shock Value," Timbaland

After one season, four public feuds, a few hundred thousand viewers and countless headlines, Rosie O'Donnell is calling it a day on daytime. The larger-than-life "View" cohost announced on Wednesday morning's show that her first season as moderator of the femme-fueled coffee klatsch would also be her last, with her tenure scheduled to end in mid June. "This has been an amazing experience and one I wouldn't have traded for the world," O'Donnell said. "Working with Barbara, Joy and Elisabeth has been one of the highlights of my careers, but my needs for the future just didn't dovetail with what ABC was able to offer me." ABC seconded her reasons for decamping the chatfest, confirming that the feud-sparking host's departure was not due to her high-profile wars of words with the likes of Donald Trump, Kelly Ripa, Bill O'Reilly and the whole of the Chinese-American population but rather to the parties' inability to come to an agreement on a contract for an additional year.

From now on, Vanessa Minnillo's interaction with boy-banders will be restricted solely to her personal, not professional, life. The veteran MTV personality, and better half to Nick Lachey, has announced that she has opted to leave her position as host of "Total Request Live" this summer after four years of manning the daily countdown. "I chose not to re-sign," she told TV Guide.com, before further elaborating on her motives for jumping the teen ship to People. "I had my four year there like high school or college. I'm ready for the next chapter--what it is, I have no idea. [But] I don't want to be 48 saying, 'Hey kids, now it's Sean Preston Spears' video.'" The 26-year-old former Miss Teen USA joined the cable net fray in 2003, where in addition to cohosting "TRL," she has manned several specials for the network.

Any plans to send Willie Nelson to jail for drug possession have gone to pot. The herb-happy country crooner has been spared serving time in the slammer after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession Tuesday in Louisiana. Nelson and members of his posse were issued citations in September after state troopers boarded his tour bus and sniffed out his stash of marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms. In exchange for their guilty pleas, Nelson and tour manager David Anderson each paid a $1,024 fine and were placed on probation for six months by state Judge Paul deMahy.

Despite what she achieved with her bottom half, Heather Mills' top half never quite caught up. A week after judges recommended ballet lessons to boost her form, the charity fundraiser and soon to be ex-Mrs. McCartney was eliminated from "Dancing with the Stars" Tuesday night. It looked as if the good will Mills had built up Stateside had finally run its course, considering the 39-year-old Brit was not among the lowest scorers Monday. Instead, bottom-feeders John Ratzenberger and Billy Ray Cyrus lived to dance another day. While Mills, who has worn a prosthesis since losing her left leg in a motorcycle accident in 1993, couldn't manage all the steps for what judge Len Goodman would call "a proper jive" (or rumba, Paso Doble, samba, etc.), she more than held her own throughout the past six weeks, winning praise for her "great passion and fire."

So much for the splitsville stories. Further cementing her happily coupled status, Angelina Jolie has filed a petition to officially change her newly adopted son's last name to Jolie-Pitt, giving him the same surname as Maddox, Zahara and Shiloh. Jolie filed the papers Apr. 16 in Santa Monica Superior Court. When all is signed and stamped, the three-year-old's name will be Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt. Jolie welcomed him to the fold last month, signing up as a single mom because the child's native Vietnam does not allow unwedded couples to adopt. But while she presented herself as a singleton for legal purposes, the move also fueled rumors of possible trouble in Brangelina land.

According to Sony, all is quiet on the web-strewn front. Moving to nip rumors of rampant 'Spider-Man 3' piracy in the bud, Sony Pictures Entertainment said in a statement Tuesday that, contrary to reports that bootleg copies of the surefire summer blockbuster are for sale on the streets of China, the studio's investigation has turned up "no case of the film being pirated to date." "Similar hoaxes and false alarms have occurred prior to the release of other major films," the statement continued. "We have uncovered examples of 'Spider-Man 2' being sold in 'Spider-Man 3' boxes in China. But thus far we can find no instance where 'Spider-Man 3' has appeared on DVD." No copies have turned up on the Internet, either, the studio said. "This incident underscores one of the problems with piracy--people who buy illegal movies often get ripped off themselves."

"The Simpsons" are getting taken for a ride. Universal Studios confirmed Tuesday it was creating a new attraction based on the dysfunctional cartoon family at its theme parks in Orlando and Hollywood. The ride, which Universal described as "a hysterical, almost unimaginable adventure," will take over the locations formerly occupied by Back to the Future: The Ride at both parks. It is expected to open in spring 2008.

Alec Baldwin is burning bridges at a rapid clip these days. The Golden Globe winner parted ways with Creative Artists Agency and longtime agents Matt DelPiano and Michael Rosenfeld on Monday, according to a CAA spokesman. While no official reason for the split was given, Baldwin's publicist, Matthew Hiltzik, told E! Online that the actor made the move "strictly for personal reasons. It has absolutely nothing to do with his extremely talented agents who've done great work with Alec." CAA, which moved from Beverly Hills to larger quarters in Century City in January, also reps Baldwin's estranged ex-wife, Kim Basinger. The tabloid-worthy side of their years-long custody battle was rekindled last week when a recording of an irate, profanity-laced voicemail Baldwin left for their 11-year-old daughter was leaked to the press.

Veteran funnyman Chevy Chase admits in an upcoming biography that his mother and stepfather physically abused him when he was a kid growing up in New York. The "Caddyshack" star, who first hit the big time in 1975 on "Saturday Night Live," told author Rena Fruchter that he lived in "deathly fear" of his unstable mom, Cathalene, and her second husband, John Cederquist, according to the New York Post. Cathalene, a concert pianist who suffered from depression and panic attacks, would brutally beat Chase seemingly at the drop of a hat and mete out punishments that ranged from locking him in a closet to waking him up in the middle of the night to slap him "continually and hard, across the face," the actor said.

If it bleeds, it does indeed lead. NBC's evening newscast shot up to its best ratings in more than a month, despite of and arguably because of its release and broadcast of the Virginia Tech shooter's videotaped ramblings. For the week ended Friday, the "NBC Nightly News" averaged 8.6 million viewers, up 5 percent from the previous ratings period, per Nielsen Media Research. It edged ABC's "World News Tonight" (8.5 million) and outdistanced the "CBS Evening News" (6.6 million). In cable, Fox News and CNN saw their numbers surge on Apr. 16, the day Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho stalked his campus, killing 33 people, including himself. Last week's most watched programs, per Nielsen Media Research: 1. "American Idol" (W), 28.9M 2. "American Idol (Tu), 26.5M 3. "House," 22.4M 4. "Grey's Anatomy," 21.1M 5. "Dancing with Stars" (M), 18.9M

Whitney Houston's officially done being Bobby Brown's missus. The R&B couple's divorce was made final in Orange County, California, on Tuesday, just six months after Houston first filed for the split. As it is, all terms of the duo's separation had been worked out well in advance of their mutual emancipation, with Superior Court Judge Franz Miller giving the judicial seal of approval last month and granting Houston full legal and physical custody of the couple's 14-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina. Houston, who was present in court for Miller's ruling last month, agreed at the time to give Brown a "reasonable right of visitation" to the child, though she opted not to request child support from her estranged hubby, a smart move considering his well-documented aversion to such payments. The 43-year-old Houston first filed for legal separation from Brown in September; a month later, she submitted a petition for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers doesn't need royal treatment--just the standard variety. The actor, who currently stars as Henry VIII in Showtime's "The Tudors," has checked himself into an undisclosed rehab facility to seek treatment for alcohol abuse, his rep Meredith O'Sullivan said Tuesday. "After a nonstop succession of filming, Jonathan Rhys Meyers has entered an alcohol-treatment program," O'Sullivan said in a statement. "He felt a break was needed to maintain his recovery."

Now that America is done mourning Sanjaya's departure and dissecting Simon's eye movements, "American Idol" is ready to move past controversy and begin the business of giving back. Tonight marks the first of the two-night fundraising extravaganza "Idol Gives Back," which will feature, as per usual, the six remaining contestants battling it out to remain another week, and culminate in a special two-hour results show Wednesday, which will feature celebs from both sides of the Atlantic looking to raise awareness and funds for American and African charities. "You will actually see who could benefit when you vote on 'American Idol' this week, so it's not about keeping some stupid singer in the competition, it's a bit more important than that this week," Simon Cowell said. The acerbic judge went on to describe the purpose of the night as "opening your eyes to things that you didn't know existed."

Like it or not, Eddie Murphy is one step closer to having another Dreamgirl to his credit. Ex-girlfriend Melanie Brown announced Tuesday that she has given her newborn daughter Murphy's surname, further upping the ante in the former couple's ongoing paternity spat. In a statement, Brown explained the genesis of Angel Iris Murphy Brown's moniker: "Angel, as she was my little angel through my pregnancy. Iris, as it's my grandma's name. Murphy, because he's the dad. And Brown, because I'm the mum!" (Guess that means the Candice Bergen link is merely a happy coincidence.) The announcement comes nearly a month after the child's Apr. 3 birth and almost two weeks after Brown listed Murphy as the father on the child's birth certificate. The actor's publicist, Arnold Robinson, reiterated Tuesday that "we do not comment on Mr. Murphy's personal life."

Sylvester Stallone is one round closer to ending his bout with authorities Down Under. According to his lawyer, the aging action star has turned over his medical records to Aussie customs officials following recent charges for importing 48 vials of banned human growth hormone. In February, Stallone, 60, jetted to Australia to promote Rocky Balboa. When her arrived at the airport for the three-day tour, customs officials muscled into his luggage and discovered the vials of injectable hormone. Aussie law prohibits the importation of natural and manufactured growth hormones without a permit, which resulted in a charge of importing a prohibited import. If convicted, Stallone could face a fine of almost $92,000. Following Tuesday??????s court appearance by Chicken, the case has been adjourned until May 15 to allow officials to examine the medical records.

Like father, like son. Not to disparage Romeo's dancing skills or anything. The actor-rapper and son of hip-hop mogul Master P said that's headed to the University of Southern California this fall to play basketball for the Trojans, according to a rep for Romeo's online label, UrbanDigital Records. Romeo, whose real name is Percy Romeo Miller and who used to go by the moniker Lil' Romeo, was an All-American point guard for Beverly Hills High School and, at 6-foot-1, has designs on playing in the NBA. "I love basketball, I've been doing that since I was two years-old," the former star of Romeo! on Nickelodeon told MTV Radio. "I've been doing it since before the music and acting--I try to make it so I am able to do all of them. If it gets to that point, I won't give up acting or rapping at all. I love it, my fans love it. I'm gonna be dedicated to them."