Howard Stern has dropped his lawsuit over the origins of ABC’s much-maligned reality show “Are You Hot?”

The radio jock’s lawyer, Martin Singer, filed a request for dismissal of the suit on Tuesday (Aug. 5) in Los Angeles. (You can see the document on TheSmokingGun.com.)

Stern sued ABC, producer Telepictures and others involved with the show in March, claiming “Are You Hot?” was a “blatant rip-off” of a segment on his radio show called “The Evaluators.” The regular bit has Stern and his cronies examining a woman’s body and telling her whether she could, for example, pose for Playboy.

The suit pointed out that Scott Einziger, an executive producer of the show with “Bachelor” creator Mike Fleiss, used to work on Stern’s E! show. Former Stern sidekick Jackie Martling worked as a consultant on “Are You Hot?”

Locklear signs with NBC

NBC hasn’t given up its quest to find a series vehicle for Heather Locklear.

The network and the actress have signed a development deal that will try to find another comedy project for her, according to reports in the Hollywood trade papers.

Locklear starred in the pilot “Once Around the Park” for NBC this spring. The show, in which she played a divorced mother of two kids, developed some positive buzz during pilot season but wasn’t picked up.

NBC also considered adding her to the casts of second-year comedy “Good Morning, Miami” and “A.U.S.A.,” which might have survived had Locklear signed on. The former “Spin City” and “Melrose Place” star also appeared on two episodes of “Scrubs” last fall.

MTV picks up

Tom Green’s show

It’s not certain yet whether “The New Tom Green Show” will be around long enough to become old, but it’s at least moving in that direction.

MTV is picking up the late-night show for an additional 13 weeks, which will extend Green’s second go-round with the network through most of the rest of the year. New episodes began airing this week.

“We are thrilled to be able to continue production on the ‘The New Tom Green Show,”‘ says John Miller, head of series development for MTV. “We’re excited to give Tom another 65 hours to entertain the audience with his signature brand of unique comedy.”

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For his part, Green says he’s “having a great time doing the show and am very happy to continue my relationship with MTV.”

“The New Tom Green Show” sticks a little closer to the standard late-night talk-show format than Green’s previous MTV series did. Green still does some cringe-inducing pre-taped bits, but he also wears a suit and talks to his guests in a more or less normal way.

The show, which airs at midnight ET weekdays, has drawn respectable ratings for MTV.

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‘TOP MODEL’ MAKES ‘HALF & HALF’ CAMEO

Adrianne Curry, who overcame past modeling failures, a flat Chicago accent and a refusal to pull her hair out of her face to become “America’s Next Top Model” will make her sitcom debut on UPN’s “Half & Half.”

Curry, who arrived on “Top Model” as a 20-year-old waitress from Joliet, Illinois, will stretch her acting chops to play a character named Roberta, also a waitress. She will appear in two episodes, the show’s season premiere on Monday, Sept. 15, as well as the sophomore comedy’s second episode, airing one week later.

After arriving on UPN’s popular dramality series as something of a diamond in the rough (host and executive producer Tyra Banks barely noticed her in the opening rounds), Adrianne’s surprisingly photogenic beauty and willingness to say and do anything on camera won fans. In the show’s finale, Adrianne outlasted first clinical researcher Elyse and finally Shannon, an 18-year-old student from Ohio.

Adrianne won a Revlon modeling contract, a deal to be managed by Wilhemina Models and a guaranteed appearance in Marie Claire magazine.

UPN has already picked up “America’s Next Top Model” for a second season.

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AP-NY-08-07-03 1553EDT

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