TV

August 2, 2004 -- He's rich, beeyotch: Dave Chappelle signs to do two more seasons of "Chappelle's Show" for Comedy Central for a reported $50 million. He also gets to develop new shows.

August 3, 2004 -- The Parents Television Council, a media watchdog group, releases its annual list of the most and least family-friendly shows on TV. "Joan of Arcadia" tops the best list, while the group says "Everwood" is the worst.

August 4, 2004 -- A shirtless Brad Pitt figure goes on display at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in Amsterdam. The statue, appearing in Tussaud's "X-Appeal" exhibit, is the first bare-chested figure to go on display there. Museumgoers can lean in to hear the wax figure's fake heartbeat if they so desire.

August 5, 2004 -- News of megabucks franchises dominates the day: Ralph Fiennes is announced as the evil Lord Voldemort in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the fourth film spun from J.K. Rowling's books, and Oprah Winfrey decides to extend her talk show through the 2010-11 season, which will be its 25th.

August 6, 2004 -- Rick James, the "Super Freak" singer whose battles with cocaine and other addiction were almost as well-known as his music, dies in Los Angeles at the age of 56. James enjoyed something of a renaissance in 2004 following a now-famous "Chappelle's Show" episode depicting some of his antics.

August 7, 2004 -- Hotel heiresses Paris and Nicky Hilton try to recover from a burglary at the Hollywood house they share. Police say the perps cut a hole in a window screen to gain access. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), a second videotape purportedly showing Paris having sex surfaces not long after the break-in.

August 8, 2004 -- Fay Wray, who screamed her way into movie immortality as the object of a giant ape's affection in "King Kong," dies at the age of 96.

August 9, 2004 -- FOX announces that former "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Charmed" star Shannen Doherty will join the cast of its first-year soap "North Shore," playing a bad girl who angles to take control of the show's Hawaiian resort.

August 10, 2004 -- The teenagers of America bestow their love on Lindsay Lohan and "The O.C." at the annual Teen Choice Awards. The "Mean Girls" star and the FOX show each win four surfboard trophies at the ceremony.

August 11, 2004 -- Whoo-hoo! Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, wins his third Emmy for outstanding voice-over performance. The award is one of a handful of juried Emmys, which are determined by a panel of experts, not the usual nomination process.

August 12, 2004 -- Beloved TV chef Julia Child, who brought French cuisine into the homes of countless Americans, dies three days shy of her 92nd birthday. The kitchen of her Cambridge, Mass., home is now part of the Smithsonian Institution's collection.

August 13, 2004 -- Craig Kilborn makes the surprise announcement that he's quitting "The Late Late Show" on CBS, sending the network on a search for a string of guest hosts to handle the show while it searches for a permanent replacement.

August 14, 2004 -- The Summer Olympics in Athens stages its first full day of competition, giving America a steady diet of swimmer Michael Phelps and NBC 16 days of massive ratings.

August 15, 2004 -- Grabbing a headline from ubiquitous sister Paris, hotel heiress Nicky Hilton, 21, marries 33-year-old money manager and family friend Todd Meister in Las Vegas. Alas, like so many Vegas nuptials, this one isn't destined to last; Hilton will seek to annul the marriage two months hence.

August 16, 2004 -- Talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey proves she's mortal like the rest of us by showing up for jury duty in Chicago. She's impaneled for the murder trial of a 27-year-old defendant.

August 17, 2004 -- News of the marriage of Hollywood couple Diane Lane ("Unfaithful") and Josh Brolin ("Hollow Man") comes to the masses. The couple's publicist will reveal only that it took place on the West Coast over the previous weekend.

August 18, 2004 -- Oscar-winning composer Elmer Bernstein dies at the age of 82. Bernstein's five-decade career included memorable scores for "The Magnificent Seven," "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Ten Commandments."

August 19, 2004 -- The Chicago jury Oprah Winfrey is serving on returns a guilty verdict in the murder trial of 27-year-old Dion Coleman, who's convicted of shooting a man in an argument over $50.

August 20, 2004 -- Michael Jackson takes a moment out from his legal battles over charges of child molestation to rip "Man in the Mirror," a VH1 movie about the singer's life, and the media in general. "The public depiction of us is not who we are, or what we are: we are a loving family," Jackson writes on his web site. "My success on stage can be attributed to the love and support of my family off stage.

August 21, 2004 -- The keepers of world records at Guinness certify Regis Philbin as the person who's been on television more than any other human in history. The "Live with Regis and Kelly" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" host, whose career stretches back to the 1950s, has logged more than 15,000 hours in front of a camera.

August 22, 2004 -- Despite a production history that includes the scrapping of a nearly finished film in favor of shooting another and savagely bad reviews, horror prequel "Exorcist: The Beginning" wins the top spot at the weekend box office, earning $18 million. Its victory may have something to do with the fact that its chief competition was "Without a Paddle" ($13.7 million).

August 23, 2004 -- Men with unrealistic dating aspirations are heartened to hear that model/actress Rebecca Romijn-Stamos will soon be single again. Her husband of five years, "Full House" star John Stamos, files for divorce.

August 24, 2004 -- NBC basks in the glow of big Olympic ratings, as the Michael Phelps-dominated swimming competition and controversy in men's gymnastics lead to a boost in ratings over the 2000 Games, and the network's so-so fall schedule is still weeks away from debuting.

August 25, 2004 -- Singer and environmental crusader Dave Matthews finds himself in a bit of dirty business after the state of Illinois sues his band for allegedly dumping waste from the band's tour bus into the Chicago River. The muck splats onto a tour boat, hitting dozens of people. No one from the band was on the bus at the time of the alleged incident.

August 26, 2004 -- "Apprentice" runner-up Kwame Jackson appears to have learned from Donald Trump. The man who lost out to Bill Rancic in the show's first season announces that his company, Legacy Development Partners, will develop a 500-acre tract near Washington, D.C., that could be valued at $3 billion.

August 27, 2004 -- Jimmy Smits and NBC make it official: After several weeks of rumors, the Emmy winner agrees to join the cast of "The West Wing" as a congressman seeking to replace lame-duck President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) -- and, NBC hopes, breathe some new ratings life into the series.

August 28, 2004 -- Movie star Bruce Willis agrees to pay a $21,000 fine in Idaho for violating the state's wetlands protection regulations. The fine stems from Willis' clearing of an island in a pond on his property that was classified as a wetland. Willis also agrees to restore the island to its former state

August 29, 2004 -- The Olympics close in Athens after a fairly memorable two weeks that sees the U.S. men's basketball team fail to take the gold medal despite fielding a team of NBA stars, swimmer Michael Phelps tie a record by winning eight medals and NBC overwhelm viewers with more than 1,200 hours of coverage on its various outlets.

August 30, 2004 -- Filmmaker Kevin Smith says he'll direct a sequel to his first movie, "Clerks," after working on the movie's 10th-anniversary DVD and being reminded of his love for the characters. The sequel, "The Passion of the Clerks," is set to begin shooting in early 2005.

August 31, 2004 -- Sitcom star Gerald McRaney undergoes surgery to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs. The operation will force the "Major Dad" star to miss several weeks of work on his new show, "Commando Nanny," forcing The WB to delay its premiere and adding to its reputation as a cursed show. Earlier in the month, title star Philip Winchester broke his foot and was forced to leave the show