In last week's episode of Girls,one of the most groundbreaking boundary-pushing moments of uncomfortable realness occurred during a couch-sex scene between Elijah, Hannah's new gay roommate and ex-boyfriend, and Marnie, the ex-roommate and best friend, whose mesmerizing prettiness can no longer be taken for granted this season. This week's episode is primarily a metaphorical inspection of the couch for the cum/come stains left behind even though nobody came at all.

I think most critics who watch television for a living decided that Lena Dunham's second season of Girls is better simply because season one was subjected to such ferocious scrutiny. The fairness of the criticism was irrelevant, but the intensity of it must still linger. That's why when the screeners were sent to critics' homes or offices a few weeks ago inside yellow padded mailers, the contents, to many of them, were fragile. Let's revisit some of season one's real or imagined controversies and aspersions: Racism. Nepotism. Elitism. Sophism. Anti-Nazism.

Last night, Hollywood had its first dress rehearsal of the awards season: the Golden Globes. As with most rehearsals, a lot of shit went wrong: audio cut out, teleprompters malfunctioned, and several women grabbed the microphone to scream crazy things into it; in another era they might have been burned as witches.

Rich girl Lena Dunham sold a book of "frank and funny advice on everything from sex to eating to traveling to work" to Random House for $3.7 million in October on the strength of an illustrated 66-page proposal. Here it is, weighing in at $56,000 or so per page.

Presumably to build up the anticipation for Girls' second season, which premieres next month, HBO has released a deleted scene from America's favorite television show.

Conservatives are absolutely livid over a new Obama campaign ad starring Lena Dunham, in which the 26-year-old Girls showrunner speaks suggestively about her "first time" voting for Obama.

The Obama campaign just released its latest video ad, featuring none other than Girls creator Lena Dunham. In the clip, she offers advice on "your first time," describing one's first foray into the voting booth the same way a young lady might describe losing her virginity. In other words, a cute sex joke! And guess what? Right-wing bloggers flipped out.

Book publisher Random House has signed sitcom writer Lena Dunham to a $3.5 million contract for a collection of "frank and funny advice on everything from sex to eating to traveling to work," to be called Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's Learned. Lena Dunham became eligible to vote in 2004, so you should listen to her.

Lena Dunham is seeking $1M to write an advice book. Or you could just read through your old Facebook messages for free.

Jada Yuan's New York cover story on Mindy Kaling contains the most perfect summary of what the writer-comedian-actress means to pop culture, as stated by Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly:

Who do you think Lena Dunham should date? Did you say PSY? We think so, too. Date PSY, Lena! Alas, she is actually dating this guy Jack Antonoff from that band Fun.. "Hipster hookup!" writes Us Weekly, because what are two young white people if not hipsters?

This Lena Dunham lady is going places. The Girls auteuress is not only the toast of the film/TV world—she's now broken the New Yorker barrier with a delightfully enraging memoir of her gay ex-boyfriend.

SPOTTED, 8 A.M.: Sweaty, post-workout Lena Dunham, on Montague St. in Brooklyn Heights. A defining generational moment.

Sure, there have been enough YouTube parodies of HBO's hyperlocal quarterlife crisis narrative Girls to fill an entire season, but few have been stamped with the personal imprimatur of the show's executive producer Judd Apatow.

It's a very darling sort of year for the Emmys with critical/Internet/real people favs like Girls, Breaking Bad, Homeland, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock popping up in multiple categories. Mad Men and American Horror Story lead with 17 nominations. Somewhat weirdly, American Horror Story qualifies for the miniseries categories because, as Vulture explained earlier this year, "the miniseries distinction is reserved for programming that has a story line that gets resolved in a single season." This logic led the first season of Downton Abbey to be considered by the Emmys as a miniseries last year, although that was bullshit then (clearly Mary and Matthew had more heart-dragging to do — no one could have possibly thought that the first season finale constituted resolution). It's a bit more understandable in the case of American Horror Story, which will focus on an entirely different story every season, but it's still a little weird since we know several characters from last time around will return. (Actually, word is that returning actors will not be reprising their Season 1 roles but take up all new ones. Jessica Lange, for example, is supposed to play a nun.) No matter - whatever it takes for a show so batshit crazy to be regarded as distinguished is fine with me.

A counterpoint to John Cook's final Girls recap.

The appropriate response to Girls, a television show about two African-American boys from Harlem who live with a white Park Avenue millionaire and his sassy but wise housekeeper, is to lock down parliament and unilaterally gut the presidency. But today is Lester Flatt's birthday, and Girls is over Girls is over Girls is over, so here's your last recap.

On tonight's Late Night, Lena Dunham revealed that she once wrote a play wherein she switched bodies with Jimmy Fallon and then they fell in love, which means that she falls in love with her own image like a mumblecore Narcissus. An additional takeaway: she was at a party with Fallon when she was 17 which in no way has to do with having rich, prominent, well connected parents at all.

Writer, director, producer, and star of HBO's much-dissected comedy series Girls Lena Dunham recently issued a formal rebuttal to critics who pick on the show for featuring a main cast composed entirely of celebrity offspring.

The appropriate response to Girls, a television show about the beleaguered staff of an under-resourced Boston hospital that turns out in the end to have been the extended fantasy of an autistic boy staring at a snow globe, is to eat someone's face off. But today is the 33rd anniversary of the release of Get the Knack, and there's only two of these things left, so here's a recap.