She might have a few pounds to lose herself, after carrying the demon spawn of DiMera

EXCELLENT NEWS INVOLVING TWO OF MY MOST FAVORITEST TELEVISION PROGRAMMES:

Q: When is "The Biggest Loser" returning to television? It is very motivating.

A: "The Biggest Loser," NBC's weight-loss reality show, has been renewed for a fourth season. Casting has ended, but there's no word yet on when the show will air -- probably late summer or early fall.

NBC is promising fresh changes for the new season, and one of them was announced in February: Host Caroline Rhea, often criticized by viewers for carrying a few extra pounds herself, will not be returning.

The show's new host is Alison Sweeney, who plays Sami on NBC's daytime soap "Days of Our Lives." Sweeney told Soap Opera Digest "I don't mean to be cheesy, but I really believe in the message of the show, which is helping people and educating them on how to live a healthier life." She also told the magazine that her "Loser" shoots will not affect her role on "Days" and she will continue to appear on the soap.

I can already imagine the potential catchphrases: "I'm sorry, you are not the biggest loser. But at least E.J. Wells has not brainwashed you." Or, "It's time to cut the fat...and harvest John Black's kidney!"

'Sup with all the gaiety?

I have a fancy little tracking device in this here blog that lets me see how many people visit the site, where they're from and how they got here. It is a fascinating tool, as I now know that I have readers from Lisbon to Delhi, from Queensland to Kent, Ohio. I do feel a little creepy monitoring the site like this, but it's totally fascinating to imagine someone in Alberta, Canada, reading this crap.

The best part of my stint as Big Brother: reviewing what search strings people enter into Google or Blogger that lead them to Sympathetic Weather. It seems you are very interested in which people -- real or fictional -- may or may not be gay. Recent searches:

-"Shawn Brady" gay
-patrick pentland gay
-"the soup" joel mchale gay

Then there was the search for "Steve Irwin baby elephant," which, though not overtly gay, is kinda gay.

And so...today's screencap of last night's Lost -- which I hope to make a recurring feature on the 'Weather -- is also kinda gay. Enjoy:

It has gotten out of hand

At my previous job, we all used to watch Days of Our Lives together during lunch. I've never been a huge soap opera person -- though I did enjoy Another World growing up -- but it only took about a week of lunchtime story-watching and I was hooked.

As I learned the histories of Salem's inhabitants and relished each predictable character development, I vowed that I would only ever watch Days within the confines of the office conference room. I would not, nor could I ever, stomach sitting through daytime drivel at night, when each day's episode is aired again on SOAPnet. I could never stoop to that level.

Then I stooped to that level. I left my last job and started a new one at a place that doesn't have TVs in its conference rooms (or a built-in cadre of ravenous Days fans). So I started catching the reruns on SOAPnet, but only when I had nothing better to do. I would never TiVo the show -- nope, just casually tuning in is enough for me.

But then I started to become disappointed when I'd miss a day here or there. It's not the most difficult story to follow, mind you, but I need to know all of the details because how else am I to know exactly how many times Mimi nearly told Shawn that he is the father of Belle's baby but then chickened out because she is an insecure Lockhart and is terrified of losing him? So I started TiVoing Days. And my husband really started to make fun of me.

That's OK, though, because I'm still not the type to read Soap Opera Digest or check online for plotline spoilers or cast information. Except I just spent 20 minutes reading about Days' writers' intentions of bringing back the DiMeras. And I am quite disappointed in the new actor portraying Shawn Brady, as though I should care about such things. (For me, Jason Cook is and shall always be Shawn Brady.) And yesterday I found myself at the grocery store checkout staring at the cover of the 'Digest. But I didn't pick it up, or purchase it.

Yet.