11 January 2026
Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post) and Noreen Malone (The New Republic)
On Critic Proof, Alyssa and Noreen compare New Girl creator Liz Meriwether with Girls creator Lena Dunham, especially in terms of their presentation of sex on TV. Alyssa describes how New Girl has grown on her despite her apprehensions about star Zooey Deschanel. She also discusses Mindy Kaling’s show The Mindy Project. Why are the breakout characters on the new crop of female-centric comedies mostly male? Is charm on the decline among men? Is the “unromantic comedy” on the rise? Are traditional romantic comedies bad for women? Turning back to New Girl, they suggest that romcoms could succeed by becoming more realistic about love and life.
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Alyssa Rosenberg
Noreen Malone
Noreen’s profile of Liz Meriwether in TNR
Emily Nussbaum on Lena Dunham in NY Magazine
Benjamin Schwarz’s piece on the decline of charm in The Atlantic
NY Magazine piece on the decline of movie stars and rise of pop stars
Tina Brown’s biography of Princess Diana
Jezebel post on the decline of romantic comedies
Alyssa on the rise of the unromantic comedy
Megan McArdle’s case for getting married young
Critic Proof | Jun 3, 2013 | Alyssa Rosenberg & Noreen Malone
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