Page 1 Roundup (02/10)

The Daily News: Donald applauds accused abuser Rob Porter’s work as White House staff secretary, says nothing about his victims

 Trust-fund creep gets prison for raping unconscious women

Man who tried to shove co-worker headfirst into a wood chipper is sentenced to 5 years

New York Post: Ex-Olympic swimmer shares harrowing details of coach’s alleged abuse

Page Six: Comedian Rob Delaney’s 2-year-old son dies of cancer

Variety: Jennifer Garner to star in Lena Dunham’s new HBO series (that thankfully I don’t think she’s in)

The New York Times: Why does it seem like John Kelly would be willing to step down for any reason?

Shocker! Trump blocks release of memo rebutting Republican claims

The smearing of Woody Allen

Sporting News: Fed Cup 2018: Lineup, schedule, how to watch Serena and Venus Williams and the U.S.

The Washington Post: Gloria Allred has been endlessly parodied. A new movie aims to celebrate her instead.

A battle over language is at the heart of Northern Ireland crisis

Los Angeles Times: They're Disneyland superfans. Why a lawsuit is alleging gangster-like tactics against one social club

The Wall Street Journal: The race to create cryptocurrencies is driving up cost of one specific type of hardware that’s also prized by PC gamers

The Goodbye 'Girls'

Can't say enough about how relieved I am that "Girls" is finally over for good. I was loyal to the end but definitely think my life was in no way enriched for the experience of watching an entitled brat whine about life as, well, an entitled brat. While some were at least enjoying hate-watching it, I was busy hating myself for religiously tuning in -- ironically in sort of a Hannah-OCD kind of way -- wishing I had jumped ship the way Sexy Charlie had. (These people had no real problems, and I get angry every time I think of how stupid and implausible it constantly was. Remember when Hannah orally raped Ray in a coffee truck and it flipped off the road? And when everyone at Marnie's wedding jumped into a muddy pond in their white suits BEFORE the ceremony????? And when Jessa and Adam completely destroyed every single item in their apartment like two lunatics??? And when Desi randomly had a wall built in a rental???? And how everyone was constantly buck-naked in front of everyone else?????) Last week's episode was the perfect finale for the show about four insufferable and solipsistic young women, yet Lena Dunham couldn't leave well enough alone, opting for a pointless -- and horribly forced -- "jump ahead" sendoff, filled with painstakingly obvious motherhood moments. I'd say "What was she thinking?" but the more I watched her (not) mature as a writer and person (Dunham) and character (Hannah), the more I realized I just didn't care. Looking forward to hearing a lot more from Issa Rae, whose female-driven HBO show, "Insecure" is funny, charming and rings true in a way "Girls" never did.

UPDATE:

!!!

Kimmel's Arresting 'Girls' Routine

From HERE.

Feeling really uncomfortable that Jimmy Kimmel is totally turning me on here -- is he allowed to be hot? But not nearly as squeamish as the final season of "Girls" has made me. Would love to hear from others who have also watched "Please Like Me" (gay Aussie comedian Josh Thomas's series) so we can compare notes on how they're the same show, each featuring one less likable and less likely character after the next, each of whom engages in more self-sabotaging behavior per episode than even my most flighty friend has in an entire lifetime. And each starring a revolting narcissist who uses their position of power to cast love interests who would never in a million years have sex -- let alone be in a relationship -- with their characters in real life! 

Lena Dunham Matches Donations for Detroit-Area LGBTQ Center

Turns out Lena Dunham's not all bad after all.

A Variety of Reasons to Be Despondent

Harvey Milk said you gotta give them hope, but I must confess this motley crew isn't instilling much in me, nor is news that a new poll finds that Republican men think it's a better time to be a woman than a man. Even this Variety cover is being protested for violating the "flag code" because, you know, liberals are all unpatriotic. (Please kill me.)

When will straight white men ever catch a break?

'Girls' Behaving Badly

Read HERE.

No, it's just you.

I guess the first red flag from these three reviewers is that one of them made a reference to not crying this much since "the second season of 'Grey's Anatomy.'" (Oh, dear.)

Actually, despite the headline, one of them got it mostly right:

 MARGARET LYONS:

I liked last season! I liked this season, too, though I’m in the minority because I absolutely hated “The Panic in Central Park,” where Charlie re-emerges and turns out to be a heroin addict. And I did not love “Homeward Bound,” last week’s episode where Hannah dumps Fran, jumps on Ray, and eventually hitchhikes back to New York. But I wanted “Hello Kitty,” the Kitty Genovese episode, to last for nine hours; I was riveted, and the closing moments, when Hannah realizes that Jessa and Adam are together, just knocked me out. I would have called it the best acting moment of the “Girls” season, but Elijah’s slow crumple as he realizes his not-quite-boyfriend Dill is rejecting him might best it.

I would go on about how I rewatched some of the first season and confirmed that four years later the characters are now less-mature caricatures of what they started out as -- my friend Greg says Lena Dunham went to the Ryan Murphy School of Forgetting What You Previously Wrote -- but I'm so exhausted by this show/topic I will just reiterate how relieved I am that this season is over.

Song of the Day: 'My Mistakes' by Eleanor Friedberger

About the only thing good to come out of last week's episode of "Girls," featuring a plus-size Charlie.

Lena Dunham: Hostility From Bernie Supporters Is Worse Than Anything She's Received From Right Wing

Lena Dunham -- whose "Girls" I have upgraded from hate-watching to merely hating -- is spot-on when discussing the vitriol she's received for having the audacity to support Hillary Clinton:

“I have received more hostility for voting for a qualified female candidate than I have ever received anywhere from the American right wing,” she said at a Clinton campaign event at NeueHouse in Hollywood. “The fact that other members of the Democratic Party have spoken to me like I was an ill-informed child for voting for someone who represents everything I think this country should be is outrageous.”

I hear ya, Hannah. And the millennials are the real rub. I'm not saying young people can't be informed. But to be lectured by someone who just learned about a Bernie Sanders speech from the '90s via YouTube that I remember when it happened in real-time is a bit hard to stomach. (I helped Rep. Major Owens of New York research speeches and legislation in the late '80s before Bernie was elected to the House of Representatives, for crying out loud.) Where were you people during the f**king midterm elections?

I'm not saying all Bernie supporters are misogynists. But just as Obama's rise "mysteriously" brought out an ugly side in some people, I can't help but see a parallel to what's happening now. Suddenly EVERYBODY -- many of whom never had an opinion about politics at all as far as I remember -- is left of Che Guevara? A similar thing happened during the New York mayoral race in 2013, which just happened to be between a well-qualified woman who was cast as the devil (Christine Quinn) and a left-leaning man who was suddenly impervious to criticism (Bill de Blasio). The parallels are jaw-dropping and shouldn't be ignored.

Postcard From BEA

I didn't make it to BookExpo America this year, but my friend Tim Anderson did, as did Lena Dunham, who was there promoting her upcoming sex guide of sorts, "Not That Kind of Girl." The New York Daily News reports that Dunham woke up the breakfast crowd on Saturday by stepping to the microphone and boldly announcing that she had slept with everyone else on the stage with her. "This is a great panel of guys," she said beaming. "I feel so lucky. I've f----d all of them." Alan Cumming, bisexual and 47, Martin Short, widowed and 64, and literary treasure Colm Toibin, 59, all looked shocked but quite pleased.

Meanwhile, Tim spotted Grumpy Cat, whose mother, I'm told, has been aloof ever since his memoir came out, too.

Girls' Quarterly

  I didn't think I'd be watching "Girls" much longer after the first three episodes of Season 3 left me despising every single character in sight. (You've gotta like someone!) But then solipsism intervened -- or would it be reverse solipsism in this case? -- and I started to see myself in Hannah's book drama, so I hung on. (OK, the show jumped a mini shark at the funeral, but the more I thought about it the more I realized Hannah is truly awful and just might do THAT.) But the real turning point for me was when Ms. Horvath landed a job at GQ in the "advertorial" department -- gasp! -- and suddenly the show hit its stride. Love that GQ not only played along, but ran this infographic explaining the truth behind the glamour. It may be Conde Nast, but in this editorial climate, anyone in journalism could have told you bad coffee is all you're gettin' for free these days!

The 3.5-Million Dollar Woman

I'll be reading this apparent homage to "Valley of the Dolls."

The Daily News reports:

Hannah Horvath would be so proud. The Brooklynite’s real-life alter-ego, Lena Dunham, will become a published author before the end of the year. And the “hardest-working millennial” chose a medium befitting of her generation to reveal the cover and release date of the tome – by posting a picture on Instagram. The outspoken writer, producer and actor of the hit HBO series “Girls” posted a split-frame image of the book cover of “Not That Kind of Girl,” and another of her holding her first book. The 27-year-old Dunham, who reportedly got a tony $3.5 million for the book deal by Random House, wrote on Twitter: “It’s official. Coming 10/7/14.” She links to the photo on her Instagram account.

By the way: I should point out that after HATING the first three episodes of "Girls," I am suddenly enjoying it. Of course this has EVERYTHING to do with the Hannah book drama, not to mention her new "writing" job. Ray and Marnie are freaking me out, but at least Shoshanna's boyfriend's ass is hot!

Although it sounds more like this:

No One's Complaining About 'Girls' Nudity Now

I haven't watched Sunday's episode yet, but I'm hearing Evan Jonigkeit's ass stole the SHOW!

Strike a Pose

In her much-discussed cover article, Vogue calls Lena Dunham the "new queen of comedy." But after watching Sunday's premiere, I'm not even sure if "Girls" is supposed to be funny.

'Girls' Will Be 'Girls'

Watched the "Girls" two-fer premiere last night at a friend's place. Not sure if it was because I wasn't alone for a change and actually had to answer to another human being for what I was witnessing or if it was because it really was more heinous than usual, but I really fought the overwhelming urge to punch the television screen nonstop for 60 minutes. My pal Tim and I had no problem ranking their insufferability, from bad to worse -- Shoshanna, Marnie, Hannah, Jessa -- but even the secondary characters are reprehensible. (Marnie's mom!) (And way to throw a black person AND a gay person into the story, Lena.) Can't wait for next week ...

'Girls' Gone Mild

Lena Dunham gets hot and bothered about 'Girls' porn parody 

 For someone who writes a pretty funny show, Lena Dunham sure seems like a stick in the mud. Read HERE.

Boy Leaves 'Girls'

I was kind of on the fence with "Girls" again this year, but now that word has leaked that Christopher Abbott -- aka Charlie the hotass -- has left the show, I may be done. He reportedly "clashed" with creator/writer/star Lena Dunham -- gee, that's really hard to imagine -- but whatever the case, it's going to be hard to explain how he and Marnie could have finally worked out their differences in the season finale, and then separated shortly thereafter. Say it isn't so, Charlie!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lena Dunham Auditions for 'Zero Dark Thirty'

This is borderline amazing.

Lena Dunham Covers Rolling Stone

 Although it's not quite the honor it once was, pretty cool for Lena Dunham to land the cover of Rolling Stone. I'm enjoying Season 2 of "Girls" much more than the first --although the idea that Patrick Wilson would hook up with her sort of sends it into science fiction mode -- and I am curious to see how her book turns out. A few interview highlights HERE.

Girls! Girls! Girls!

"And cocaine could have been my favorite drug."

 OK, if I was in any way on the fence about whether to recommend "Girls" to people as being the best show on TV today, last night's episode blew that notion right up my nose. (It was the show's best yet.) One word for you: Laird!

Song of the Day: 'I Get Ideas' by M. Ward

 Even if you can't stand "Girls" you still need to watch it for the great music, like M. Ward's "I Get Ideas."