The biggest news out of Hollywood this past year wasn't the writers' strike. Who needs writers when the town has Paris, Nicole, Lindsay, and Britney? If anything, 2007 was the year of girls gone wild in Tinseltown.

The reigning queen of the bad girls was undoubtedly Paris Hilton. Not since O.J. Simpson had L.A. seen a media circus like the one in June when she was sent sobbing back to her jail cell to finish off her sentence.

Paris' story had all the elements of a great classic. Well, maybe that's pushing it. It was more like a true Hollywood story.

There was the beautiful though despised -- ahem - "misunderstood" protagonist. There were her rich and influential parents. There was a modern-day version of a hanging judge, who sent Paris to jail not once, but twice for the same sentence.

There was also a county sheriff who almost sprung Paris from jail within a couple of days, only to be overruled by the aforementioned hanging judge and castigated by the townsfolk, better known these days as American public opinion.

The saga finally came to a merciful end 23 days after Paris first entered a Lynnwood, Calif., jail for breaking her probation conditions following a drunk driving conviction.

Fashion shows couldn't have beaten the production value on the night she walked out. Flanked by photographers on both sides, showered in the glare of bright flashes, and dressed in a soft green Petro Zillia linen-blend jacket, Paris left jail in style.

And who can forget the strut that made show horses whinny with envy.

At the end of it all, Paris said she had learned her lesson and wanted to be taken more seriously, concentrate on charity work, be a better role model, that sort of thing.

Lately, she's been doing charitable work with bartenders and the beautiful people at her old L.A. haunts. It turns out it is a simple life after all.

Nicole's wrong turn

Speaking of her "Simple Life" -- co-star and on-again-off-again friend Nicole Ritchie followed her to jail a few weeks later. The year before, Ritchie was caught driving the wrong way on an exit ramp in Burbank.

The influence of drugs may have had a little something to do with the wrong path her life had suddenly taken.

But when Ritchie went to jail this past summer, she didn't receive the same type of media fanfare as Paris. Her punishment wasn't as harsh, either. Nicole was in and out of jail in one hour and 22 minutes, giving her enough time to make it to Hyde before they started charging a cover.

Slumming with Lindsay

Hyde's one of the favorite nightclubs of her gal-pal Lindsay Lohan. Like Nicole, her friendship with Paris has been rather tenuous, though it may be considered just on-again-off after Paris and friends snidely noted that Lohan's so poor she's only worth $7 million.

It's doubtful Lohan's former personal assistant will want to slum it with Lindsay after a run-in with the "Mean Girls" star in July. Just hours after the assistant quit, Lohan allegedly chased her down a Santa Monica highway. Not a smart thing to do considering she was already facing DUI charges for bashing her car into a curb a few weeks earlier.

But Lohan's judgment doesn't appear to have been much better than her driving. She let the assistant lead her to a police station, where police arrested Lohan for drinking and driving. The actress was just about to get a good night's sleep, when police say they found cocaine in her pockets.

Prosecutors let her off the hook for the drugs, but Lohan was handed a day in jail -- she was in and out in 84 minutes -- and probation. She also entered Promises, the revolving-door-drug-rehab-centre-of-choice for Hollywood's young and restless, including Britney Spears.

Mother of all bad girl mothers

The last year wasn't kind to Britney, the mother of all bad girl mothers. It started off with the pop star walking into a hair salon and shaving her head. The ubiquitous paparazzi, of course, were all over it and the images were splattered on the web within minutes.

The hair-razing event took place just weeks after photographers caught the pop sensation sans panties as she exited a car to hang out with Paris and friends.

The young mom's incessant partying and increasingly strange behaviour provided more than enough fodder for late night talk shows to last until her next scandal. But CBS funny man Craig Ferguson sent a buzz through the industry by refusing to laugh along.

Britney's meltdown apparently coincided with the 15th anniversary of his sobriety and he refused to poke fun of her. In a 10-minute monologue where he discussed his battle with alcoholism, Ferguson said others were free to make all the jokes they wanted. But he noted that too often there is "an edit button missing somewhere" in the industry.

Ferguson had to forgo months of future comedy material as Britney continued to make headlines. Most of them centred on her in-and-out-of-rehab-visits and her on-going child custody battles with ex-hubby Kevin Federline. There were also rumors of a pregnancy, talk of another quickie wedding, and more run-ins with the paparazzi.

One of Britney's more embarrassing moments, however, happened onstage rather than behind the scenes.

Her much anticipated "comeback" during the MTV Video Music Awards became an international joke. It was like watching a train wreck, said the critics. They were disappointed that Britney had lost her lip-synching talents, dance moves, and, OMG! her once-taut body. Apparently, popstars are supposed to be immune from weight gain after giving birth to a couple of kids.

A new year may offer some hope for Hollywood's bad girls. But if anyone thinks some good resolutions are all Britney and friends need to have a better 2008 than 2007, the last few weeks may offer some insight.

Just recently, there have been allegations that Britney shoplifted a lighter from a convenience store. That was right after she supposedly threatened Paris with news of another sex tape.

Tape or no tape, Paris won't likely stay out of the spotlight. There's already word that her feud with Lohan may spark up again. The latest reports indicate Paris and Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos are back together. But he's also been seen with Lohan in recent weeks.

That could be cause for combustion. Remember that in 2006 Lohan alleged Paris hit her with a glass. Hilton denied the accusation, though Lohan insisted the attack took place and was completely unprovoked.

The alleged attack may have come out of the blue back then, but Paris may have a better reason to be wary of Lohan this time. Late last month, Niarchos was spotted with Lindsay at an intimate restaurant.

Provocative, indeed.