And one more: "West Wing" fans will recall that for the first two seasons of that show, Mrs. Landingham (Kathryn Joosten) was President Bartlet's highly efficient, slightly peppery and entirely lovable secretary. That is until she was killed in a car accident.

It was a full season later before Mrs. Landingham was replaced by the equally efficient, sometimes odd Debbie Fiderer (Lily Tomlin), who continued as a recurring character until the series ended.

After she left "The West Wing," Joosten landed on "Desperate Housewives" where's she's been recurring as the crotchety Mrs. McCluskey since 2004. Unlike Dolores Landingham, nobody would describe Karen McCluskey as lovable. But she has become a fixture who's sort of tough on the outside with a bit of a heart of gold.

And, in the past three episodes, we've been introduced to Mrs. McCluskey's sister, Roberta, who's sort of an odd duck herself.

Roberta is played by none other than — Lily Tomlin.

Weird.

E-mail: pierce@desnews.com