On Friday, very early in the morning, I brought my car into the dealer to be serviced. I was shocked to see approximately twenty people sitting in the waiting room who had brought their car in before me. As I sat down to do some work, I noticed almost everyone in that room was either doing work, reading the newspaper, or had their eyes closed. No one was paying attention to “Good Morning America,” which was playing on the large television hanging on the wall.

As I sat in the waiting room working I looked up from time to time and noticed that, while people came and went, everyone continued to ignore the television. Suddenly, Robin Roberts announced that the next segment on the show would be a reunion of the five female leads of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” It was almost as if a loud noise went off in that room. Everyone, including myself, looked up to watch the television and remained watching until the segment was over. I also noticed that everyone’s demeanor suddenly changed, people went from yawning and frowning to smiling and laughing out loud within seconds.

When the segment was over everyone turned their attention back to their work and their newspapers. Sadly, everyone’s smiles disappeared.

I didn’t return to my work. Rather, I sat there and wondered what was it about “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” that caused such a positive reaction? Are the caliber of television shows so different now that people are nostalgic for the shows of the past? Or is it that, when we live in a world where as I write this blog North Korea claims to have two missiles aimed at United States targets, that we just need a little bit of Mary Richards in our lives?

What do you think Gotham?