With the recent death of Chandler Bing Matthew Perry, I decided to watch the Aaron Sorkin show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip again. This made the third time I watched the whole series. It’s a real shame it only lasted one season.

Once again I loved Sorkin’s dialog, I could watch his shows just to revel in his words, but the intricate plotting across the entire season, as well as the sendup of the religious right was a lot of fun as well.

Now you may say I’m a dreamer (but I’m not the only one), but there is a scene that even the first time I saw it, I thought it echoed, in a very subtle way, a scene from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

It probably wouldn’t have occurred to me, but Ed Asner was the guest star, and I know that Aaron Sorkin knows his television history, especially his sitcom history, as he has demonstrated time and again.

The scene that I think he’s echoing occurs when a friend of Mary’s tells Mary and Rhoda that she’s fallen in love with Lou Grant to the bewilderment of each of them.

Anyway, judge for yourself.

Here’s a video that includes the Studio 60 setup to the scene, followed by the original scene from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and then the brief Studio 60 scene itself.