The Front Page: February 29, 2008

By Randee Dawn

There are things that just stick around longer than you expect them to. Guests. Boyfriends. Chinese food. And, in the case of today, months. Happy Leap Year!

Unfortunately, based on today's THR pages, some things have overstayed their welcome rather than just lasting longer than expected. Farewell to the independence of New Line, you not-quite-middle-aged purveyor of the horrific and the grandiose. Georg Szalai and Borys Kit wrote the obit on the firm run by exiting pair Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne (or our own Gerry Byrne, as I keep thinking every time I see Lynne's photo), which will be absorbed into Time Warner's Warner Bros. Pictures, though it will have separate development and production, marketing and distribution operations. The article was even topped off with the headline "Bewkes nukes New Line." Owch. Brett Ratner commented on some of the fallout: "They are family, and it's like seeing your family fall apart. Bob is the greatest entrepreneur in this business. Now (studio heads) are all CEOs who have been hired by headhunters or taken a job. Bob is the guy who bought the first pencil for New Line Cinema."

Next, NBC has been ambivalent about the staying power of "Scrubs," so ABC has offered to taken up its residency. Hey, if you don't make your guests feel welcome, they're going to go to another party. According to James Hibberd (who is fast becoming our newest, busiest writer), ABC is in negotiations to pick up 18 episodes of the series (which is already produced through ABC Studios). Hibberd also notes, "ABC president of entertainment Steve McPherson has a history with 'Scrubs,' having developed the comedy during his tenure overseeing the studio when it was known as Touchstone Television. McPherson also has been vocal about his intent to pick up the show should NBC drop it."

Maybe NBC should be focusing more on the shows folks really want to stick around, and take a page from the intrepid "Friday Night Lights" fans. Yep, they're back again: Lexie has has sent an update email to Front Page, noting that 6,250 mini-footballs are now "en route to NBC and should arrive on Friday for Ben Silverman's enjoyment."

And there they are on the left, the "first shipment." Apparently, Lexie and her Nightlighters are going to be sending another 7,500, so I hope Silverman has a lot of extra room in his office. She does note that it's not just about footballs: They've raised $1,708 for charity and $560 to buy first season DVD sets for troops overseas.

"All this, and we're still not finished," she writes.

Not sure if that's a threat or a promise. Or both.

Hey, if it works ....

Finally, J.K. Rowling is getting out her broom in the hopes of sweeping away some uninvited authors who've put together "The Harry Potter Lexicon," which according to our clips section is a "400 page reference book based on (a fan's) popular Web site)." She's served court papers in the hopes of preventing the publication, saying she'd feel "exploited" if it publishes. Where to start? No. 1, Cliffs Notes is hardly going out of business, and they've been "exploiting" works in a similar way for decades. No. 2, "exploited"? Hello, Harry Potter Tiffany lamps?