FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, August 5, 2004

OPRAH FOREVER: Oprah Winfrey signing new deal that will keep The Oprah Winfrey Show on air through the 2010-11 season, marking the show's 25th year in syndication.

ON THE REBOUND: Soul singer Ronald Isley expected to make a full recovery after suffering a minor stroke in London on Friday night, according to his record label.

MOTHER, DO YOU THINK THEY'LL LIKE THE SHOW? Miramax Films partnering with former Sony Music chief Tommy Mottola to develop and produce a Broadway musical based on Pink Floyd's The Wall. Roger Waters, who wrote the seminal rock opera, plans to pen the Broadway show's book and arrange and orchestrate music.

OXY CLEAN? Country singer Mindy McCready was arrested Thursday and charged with prescription drug fraud after Nashville police said she used a fake prescription to obtain the drug OxyContin. McCready is out on $10,000 bail.

FEELS BRAND NEW: Norah Jones planning to rerelease her current album, Feels Like Home, on Sept. 21 as a double-disc package with a DVD and three previously unreleased tracks.

HOLLYWOOD FOR SALE: The Actors' Fund of America will kick off its Auction of 1000 Stars 2004 next week. Fans can bid online for hundreds of entertainment- and sports-related items, ranging from boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali to the first script from Knots Landing. To bid or view auction items log on to www.auctionof1000stars.org.

ON THE AIR AGAIN: FCC favorites Opie and Anthony will reprise their shock jock shtick this October on XM satellite radio. The duo was fired from New York's WNEW in August 2002 after broadcasting a live account of a couple having sex inside St.Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.

SHINY HAPPY BAND: R.E.M. planning to release its new album, Around the Sun, Oct. 5, followed by a Vote for Change tour with Bruce Springsteen and other artists. The band will then embark on 29-date tour of North America stretching through November.

SHRINKING ACRES: Spike Lee's production company, 40 Acres and a Mule, has closed its Los Angeles office, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The famed director's latest film, She Hate Me, has taken in less than $60,000 in its first weekend of release.

SET THE DATE: The 47th annual Grammy Awards will air live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 13.

GET JIGGY WITH IT: Will Smith joined by DJ Jazzy Jeff in a surprise show for some 3,000 fans outside the British premiere of I, Robot in London's Leicester Square.

GREEN GIANT: Shrek 2, which is now the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time, coming out on DVD on Nov. 5, the same day rivals Disney and Pixar releases their next 'toon The Incredibles in theaters.

TIGGER FREED: A Walt Disney World worker charged with fondling a 13-year-old girl while wearing a Tigger costume acquitted Wednesday after jurors deliberated less than an hour.

LENDING HIS VOICE: U2 frontman Bono flying into Omaha, Nebraska, Sunday night to sing at the private funeral of Susan Buffett, the 72-year-old wife of billionaire investor Warren Buffett who died of a stroke last week and was worked with the singer in the campaign against AIDS.

SILENT BOB SPEAKS! Filmmaker Kevin Smith announcing on his Website that he and his wife, originally married in April 1999, unexpectedly renewed their wedding vows while visiting Las Vegas' Little White Chapel during a shoot for one of his "Roadside Attraction" segments for The Tonight Show.

BACK IN A FLASH: Van Helsing writer-director Stephen Summers snagging the rights to Flash Gordon and intending to adapt the famed comic-book hero to the big screen for Universal.

RESURRECTED: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Rachel Weisz jumping into Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain, costarring Hugh Jackman. The sci-fi epic was shelved two years ago when Brat Pitt dropped out.

DOING ITS PART: CBS announcing on Wednesday the creation of a program to recruit minority producers and journalists through owned-and-operated stations and affiliates, as well as at the network.

LOOSENING UP: Cincinnati's city council lifting a nearly 25-year-old ban on concert general admission seating that it imposed following the death of 11 fans at a Who concert after realizing some artists were skipping the city because it didn't have festival seating.

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: Federal regulators unanimously certifying that TiVo's new portable technology meets the FCC's copyright protection requirements for digital TV. The decision rejects the contention held by Hollywood and the NFL that such a mobile device could lead to widespread copyright piracy.

TOO REAL: Gana la Verde (Win the Green in English) began airing daily in Los Angeles last month. The Spanish-language reality TV series gives contestants a chance to win the services of immigration lawyers to help them get a green card for U.S. residency.