FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, August 25, 2004

HOSPITALIZED: Rodney Dangerfield, 82, admitted to UCLA Medical Center Tuesday to undergo heart-valve replacement surgery. The procedure will take place today. Doctors say his prognosis looks good.

FUNNY BUSINESS? In Touch magazine suggesting Paris Hilton's Chihuahua Tinkerbell remains at large and that the hotel heiress is carrying a body double. Her rep, Gina Hoffman, dismissed the claim. "It's ridiculous. The dog is definitely Tinkerbell."

BACK TO SCHOOL: Tommy Lee heading to college as part of a reality series deal with NBC, per Variety. Cameras will follow him from classroom to frathouse keggers.

TO THE VIDEOTAPE...OR NOT: An entertainment company that produced Siegfried & Roy's magic show refusing to turn over a video to federal authorities that shows Roy Horn being attacked by a tiger. Two recent subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were ignored, the agency plans to pursue other "legal avenues."

IN HIS DEFENSE: Phil Spector hiring a lawyer who formerly worked for mob boss John Gotti to defend him on murder charges after his latest attorney quit the case.

A BUNCH OF DOO-DOO: Santa Barbara Sheriff Jim Anderson announcing Tuesday that a state attorney general report has cleared his department of manhandling Michael Jackson when he was arrested Nov. 20, 2003. Jackson told 60 Minutes that deputies roughed him up and locked him in a feces-soiled room.

CRIMINALLY FOUL? In other doo-doo related news, Dave Matthews Band and one of its tour bus drivers may now face criminal charges for allegedly dumping human waste into the Chicago River, Chicago police said Tuesday. The band and its driver were hit with a $70,000 civil suit Monday brought by the state of Illinois.

A PHISHY APOLOGY: Phish's manager, John Paluska, apologizing to hundreds of fans turned away from the band's final concert in Vermont by offering a free download of the entire two-day concert, as well as an autographed collectible photobook that won't be sold in stores.

HER PREROGATIVE: Britney Spears' fiancé, Kevin Federline, set to turn up in the video for the popster's cover of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative." The video debuts next month and depicts Spears' wedding day. The track meanwhile will be included on her greatest hits collection, set for release Nov. 16.

TIME WARP: Bob Dylan releasing his memoirs this fall. Chronicles: Volume One, the first in a planned three-book series, hits stores Oct 12.

MINI MOGUL: Kwame Jackson closing a multibillion-dollar real-estate deal to develop a 130-acre area in Maryland, per TV Guide. His company is also planning an executive menswear line and a network TV show.

KEEPING HOPE ALIVE: Ruben Studdard and Kimberly Caldwell to guest star in Fox's new sitcom Related by Family as musical fast-food employees. The episode airs in January.

BACK FOR MORE: FX ordering another season of Denis Leary's firefighter drama Rescue Me, per Variety.

ALL THE GOOD IDEAS ARE TAKEN? Paramount developing a prequel to 1987's The Untouchables. Antoine Fuqua has been tapped to direct.

BACK TO THE BOARDS: Whoopi Goldberg returning to Broadway on Nov. 17 with a one-woman show at the Lyceum Theatre, where her show first debuted in October 1984.

BACKLASH: Beenie Man pulled from the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night because of protests from gay groups who object to his homophobic lyrics.

EMMY UPDATE: Sarah Jessica Parker and Matt LeBlanc tapped as presenters for this year's Emmy Awards, being held at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium Sept. 19. Garry Shandling will host.