Rob Lowe introduced someone else who has play-acted the part of a savvy political mover; John Larroquette thought about "small feet" and Danny Masterson explained his Tina Fey fantasy. The Twitterati were predictably random.

It turns out the man accused of trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman for having "creepy" sex with his own staff knew from creepy. The brawling, hard-drinking 48 Hours producer was reportedly known for his own intra-office liaisons.

This week was mostly rape and death. You know how it is.

[A giant marionette rests up on the side of a Berlin road in an enormous chair before its performace as part of the Day of German Unity tomorrow. Image via Getty]

It's hard to explain Drue Kataoka. There's the hair. The intimate spiritual moments with aged Silicon Valley dons. And this new music video about net neutrality, co-starring Facebook fameballer Randi Zuckerberg. Think of Kataoka, perhaps, as Silicon Valley's Julia Allison.

This week: an incredibly NSFW visit from Tucker Max!

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It's not every day your city loses the Olympic games. And for the normally stoical people of Chicago, it was a day to let their feelings show.

Remember how brightly Peter Thiel's star was shining just last year? The PayPal co-founder's early Facebook investment started looking brilliant, his hedge fund returns were stellar and he debuted on the Forbes 400 list. My, how things change.

[It's not too soon for Roman Polanski jokes for Pig Spigot, the user-generated card company, which just added this design to their website.]

• The club atop Andre Balazs' Standard Hotel won't be known as the Boom Boom Room for much longer. It looks like it will be renamed "QT" instead, possibly because another venue by the same name raised objections. In other Standard news, the as-yet unopened bar across from the Boom Boom Room is going to sport a plunge pool and condom machine. [BlackBook, GS]
• Former Fiamma chef Fabio Trabocchi has been tapped as the new executive chef of the Four Seasons. He's succeeding Christian Albin, who died in June. [NYT]

This kind of stuff cannot possibly look attractive to your theoretical disinterested observer, or "independent voter," to be literally cheering the fact that an American city—a Midwestern American city!—has lost something to a foreign city. This is like rooting for Obama's puppy to get run over. This is like if Obama said "My fellow Americans, it would be cool to see Drew Brees break the single-season passing yardage record this year" and then Michele Malkin went on the TV to pray for Bart Scott to break his leg this Sunday. (That's right, Malkin, I just compared you to a Jets fan.)

Love exists. Have a good weekend.

Looks like Rupert Murdoch isn't going to have to open up his gargantuan wallet to pay off the FCC because of a So You Think You Can Dance vagina slip. Why? Well, there was no vagina.

The CBS newsman accused of blackmailing Letterman has pleaded not guilty to attempted grand larceny by way of extortion. Here's the barebones indictment, which includes no new information. Bail has been set at $200,000.

All of the Palins are such quitters! First Sarah Palin gradually quit making sense over the course of many years, then she quit being governor, and now Todd Palin has quit working the oilfields that gave them blue collar cred.

Since she's got her own show, it makes sense that Bravo has replaced Bethenny Frankel on the Real Housewives of New York. But who could really take her place?

Isolated and out-of-power, Jacques Chirac has given away his dog after multiple bitings.

• Time Inc. is "not for sale," says Time Warner boss Jeff Bewkes. [DF]
• Meanwhile, Time Inc., Condé Nast, and Hearst are looking to team up and create a "Hulu for magazines." Another winning idea, clearly. [FT, ATD]
• Miramax is fast approaching non-existence. Disney, Miramax's parent, is cutting 50 jobs at the company, leaving it with just 20 employees. [NYT]
• The pros and cons to a marriage between Comcast and NBC. [AdAge]
• The Washington Post and Bloomberg are launching a joint news service. [AP]
• TV Guide dismissed several execs yesterday, including its publisher. [NYP]
• Former Warner Bros. and Yahoo! chief Terry Semel was interested in buying the Nets, but he couldn't compete with Russian mogul Mikhail Prokhorov. [P6]
• Will the David Letterman drama ultimately hurt the show's ratings or send skittish advertisers running for the exits? That's unlikely, say observers. [THR]
• The cover of Sarah Palin's forthcoming (and already best-selling) memoir, Going Rogue, has been revealed. Try to contain your excitement. [AP]