I SAW HER, YEAH I SAW HER WITH HER BLACK TONGUE TIED 'ROUND THE ROSES, FIST POUNDING ON A VENDING MACHINE, TOY DIAMOND RING STUCK ON HER FINGER: HBO's Girls debuted last night (as perhaps you know, if you have synapses). It was very funny, crisply and efficiently written in a way that pilots rarely are. I was kind of afraid of it, because of the "Sex and the City without Manolos" synopsis that has been making the rounds, but that, thankfully, is a gross and superficial mischaracterization, like saying that Entourage is just "Reservoir Dogs without guns," because it is about a bunch of guys in Los Angeles who are obsessed with status and money. In its first episode, Girls observed its characters more sharply than SatC ever did and deftly avoided, while at the same time acknowledging, the latter show's impulse toward reductive taxonomies of women.

My only complaint, which is possibly unfair, is that the show has a pretty narrow world view. It's not clear to me whether the show expects the audience to sympathize with the central conflict in the pilot -- will Hannah's parents continue to support her, two years after she graduated from college? I didn't. And I get that we're supposed to recognize that Hannah makes bad choices and is not entirely sympathetic, but it also irritated me that Marnie (who, on Hannah's shoulders, wears the white gown) and Jessa (red gown and horns) disagreed on tactics but agreed that the only strategy was to beg the parents for more money. The show is funny, well-acted, and well-timed, but I'm not sure how long I can take it if it's going to be just a bunch of stunted young adults lamenting about how unfair it is that they can't live beyond their means.

Nope, one other complaint. Hilde Desmond and Jean Weir are the same age? Impossible.

WHAT IS DEAD CAN NEVER DIE: But (SPOILER ALERT for last night's Game of Thrones)

NOBODY'S BUSINESS BUT THE TURKS:  The final five cities seeking to host the 2020 Summer Olympics are Tokyo, Madrid, Istanbul, Doha (Qatar), and Baku (Azerbaijan).

Doha, for what it's worth, proposes to move the Games to the first two weeks of October given the obvious weather concerns; interesting that three of the five potential host cities would be the first to bring the Games to the Muslim world. (Sarajevo would come closest, I guess.) Between Summer and Winter, the next four host cities are London, Sochi (Russia), Rio de Janeiro, and Pyeongchang (South Korea).

YOU'RE THE KING:  “Power resides where men believe it resides,” Varys explains to us on Game of Thrones this week. “It’s a trick, a shadow on the wall.” It is the ability to send men places they would rather not go; it is the ability to have them batter each other bloody for your amusement.

So, of course, I'm talking about this week's Mad Men. Below the fold, for the spoiler-unaware ...

IF IT'S ANY CONSOLATION, I THINK YOU ALREADY SHOULD BE SHOT AT: Full confession. Not adding value. Just pointing. This ------------> Space Janitors.

FARM-RAISED SALMON:  I don't believe I've ever said this about a movie before, but my only real complaint about The Three Stooges is that it doesn't have more celebrity cameos. It's that kind of movie, and I only wish even more names had joined in the fun.

Give credit to the Farrelly Brothers for making a giddy, entirely family-friendly film that keeps the Stooges as they are, and doesn't overdo the cultural dislocation humor or adopt a condescending attitude towards our protagonists. Instead, it's a homage to the Stooges by just doing the kind of movie they'd still be doing today, with cartoonish violence and pratfalls aplenty. No learning, no growing, minimal hugging.

Kudos in particular to all three leads, to Larry David's work as a nun, and to Isaiah Mustafa for continuing to find gainful employment.

MINDLESS ADVERTISING: The last few times I've been to the movies, as part of the pre-show, I've been subjected to a very odd ad for boyband Mindless Behavior (which apparently wants to be the new B2K), which, sadly, I can't seem to find on the Internet.  In the ad, we hear little (if any) actual music, but instead, lots of screaming fans together with bold statistics in all-caps like "MILLIONS OF YOUTUBE VIEWS!," "TRENDING ON TWITTER FROM OVER 50 COUNTRIES!," "THOUSANDS AT MALL OF AMERICA IN-STORE!," and, my favorite, "EXCLUSIVE MERCHANDISE LINE AT KMART!"  What, exactly, is the goal of this ad?  It certainly tells me that this group is popular among teenagers, but gives me no idea what they sound like (the answer appears to be "the unholy union of Justin Bieber and T-Pain" judging from this video) or why I should want to buy their records.  Is it to get people to pitch endorsement deals to them?  Is it to tell parents "this is popular, buy it for your kids?"  I just don't understand it.