Sideshow: Snooki has some advice for Kate

   Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, will stay in the hospital a bit longer for treatment of severe morning sickness. The news she is with bairn has exploded the brains of the world. Snooki of Jersey Shore has sage advice for Kate: "It's hard, but don't stress out! Enjoy your pregnancy and be excited." Kate's said to be feeling better, especially after William, Duke of the Same Cambridge, visited her.

Newt Gingrich ran into NBC's Parks and Recreation filming at the St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis. Make lemonade out of a sow's ear: They wrote Newt into the script. Sens. John McCain, Barbara Boxer, and Olympia Snowe made scheduled appearances in this season's opener, and Vice President Biden is scheduled for a future episode. . . . Dan Stevens, the handsome Brit who plays Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey, is leaving the show. Matthew won't be recast, so obviously he's going to die or go away or be eaten by a horse. What will wife Mary of Downton do? And what will the world do, if, as rumor has it, Maggie Smith also doesn't re-sign? We will all mourn. As Lady Violet says, "Of course you would!"

Host Brooke Burke-Charvet of Dancing With the Stars will have her thyroid surgically removed this week, sez People mag. She announced cancer suspicions last month. . . . Forbes mag released its icky list of most overpaid actors (who return the least per dollar invested). Atop, or abottom, is Eddie Murphy. Ouch. Also ouched: Katherine Heigl, Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock, and Jack Black. . . . Speaking of lists, Alana Thompson, alias Honey Boo Boo, is on Barbara Walters' tally of the year's most fascinating folks. Babs reveals the whole list in a Dec. 12 ABC special. Also there: soon-to-be-former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gov. Christie of New Jersey, and Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas. . . . Why is everybody talking about Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot? There's a ton of stuff, discussions, panels, donkey basketball games, etc. John Farrell just ended a five-gig run, reading them at Philadelphia's Sedgwick Theater. Here's why: Little Gidding, the last "quartet," was pubbed 70 years ago, in 1942. Happy birthday. . . . Speaking of trad, it was Trash the Dress Day for Phillies slugger Ryan Howard and bride (and Iggles cheerleader) Krystle Campbell! The Maui honeymooners let a wave wash over them and ruin their wedding duds. Trash the Dress was started by Las Vegas photog John Michael Cooper in 2000! Happiness to yez, Ryan and Krystle!