FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, August 3, 2001

BAD PIPES: Madonna canceling her sold-out Friday night concert in New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena after coming down with laryngitis. Her publicist says the singer should be healthy enough to do Monday's show in Boston.

LIVING IN A MATERIAL WORLD: A Dolce and Gabbana bra worn by Madonna during her "Girlie Tour" fetching a bodacious $23,850 at an online auction of the singer's clothes. All told, the diva's used duds took in $205,332.

HE'S A LOSER: The editor behind the London tabloid story that falsely claimed George Harrison was near death has resigned, according to Salon.com. James Desborough reportedly stepped down for his role in spreading the trumped-up story that made headlines worldwide but was quickly denied by the ex-Beatle.

SURVIVAL SKILLS: Survivor host Jeff Probst telling Entertainment Weekly he was stung in the foot by a scorpion while shooting Survivor: Africa. Don't worry, kids, he'll recover.

RUNG UP: A New York grand jury indicting Sopranos star Robert Iler, 16, on second-degree robbery charges. He and two pals face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Iler also faces a possible $100 fine for marijuana possession.

ROSEBUD RULES: Citizen Kane topping a Library of America list of the top scripts of all time. The list, based on a survey of screenwriters, also includes Casablanca, The Godfather, Chinatown and All About Eve.

BUT QUENTIN'S OVERRATED: Meanwhile, Pulp Fiction tops the group's list of most overrated screenplays, followed by Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and Traffic. Groundhog Day, Quiz Show, Aliens and The Wizard of Oz top the list of most underrated scripts.

SICK BAY: Model Niki Taylor back in the hospital for complications stemming from her near-fatal car accident. Her publicist says she's in stable condition--but that "setbacks and future treatments are expected."

A VERY BRADY REUNION: The cast of The Brady Bunch set to appear in a special charity edition of Weakest Link in mid-September. It will be the first time since 1980 that the original actors who played the six Brady kids and their mom, Carol, have reunited on camera.

THEY WILL ALWAYS LOVE HER: Arista reupping Whitney Houston's recording contract to the tune of $100 million, label execs announced Thursday. It's the biggest deal in Arista's history.

THE MONEY BUG: The cast of Becker showing up for work Thursday after staging an apparent sickout the day before in an attempt to get a pay raise. Variety quotes CBS sources as saying the network won't renegotiate until the show is sold into syndication later this year.

ROCK SOLID: Emmy-winning comedian Chris Rock signing a new two-year deal with HBO with his first project an untitled half-hour parody show of such newsmagazines as Dateline and 20/20.

FRENCH PIE? The much-hyped downloadable version of American Pie 2 circulating the Web actually turning out to be a French-language porn film with stills from the Pie 2 trailer interspersed, duping Netizens hoping to see the flick before its release in theaters next week.

VETOED! Comedy Central axing the spoof Trey Parker-Matt Stone sitcom That's My Bush! after eight episodes. The net will continue airing reruns and Parker and Stone say they want to make a big-screen version.

THE KING OF COMEDY? Comic Glenn Matthews convicted Wednesday of illegal firearm charges and armed bank robbery after admitting to a comedy club audience in Macon, Georgia, that he robbed three banks. Audience members laughed while club officials called police.

POSSESSED: Director John Frankenheimer coming aboard to helm a yet-to-be-titled prequel to the Exorcist franchise, relating Father Merrin's first encounter with the devil while doing missionary work in post-WWII Africa. The film starts shooting next spring.

CODA: Ron Townson, one of the lead singers for The 5th Dimension ("Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In"), has died of kidney failure at the age of 68.