Newly minted Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., likes the fictional defense lawyer Perry Mason just as much as Sonia Sotomayor does.

Franken opened up his questioning this afternoon with a reference to something Sotomayor said in her earlier exchange with the other Minnesota senator, Amy Klobuchar: that the popular 1950s and '60s TV series inspired her to become a prosecutor.

"I was a big fan of 'Perry Mason', too," Franken said. "It amazes me that you wanted to become a prosecutor based on that show, because in 'Perry Mason', the prosecutor lost every week." Sotomayor, along with the audience, got a good laugh. "That says something about your determination to defy the odds," Franken added.

Discussing a TV series in his first Judiciary Committee hearing may not have been the best way for the former "Saturday Night Live" star to distance himself from his previous career, but after this brief exchange, Franken touched on several noteworthy issues not yet discussed in the hearings. He asked the nominee about net neutrality, the Supreme Court's role in regulating Internet service providers, and the Voting Rights Act.

He also asked Sotomayor how she would define "judicial activism." She replied, "I don't use that term because I don't describe the work that judges do in that way. I assume the good faith of judges in their approach to the law come in good faith to an outcome that we believe is directed by the law."

Franken got one last question in about "Perry Mason" before wrapping up. He asked the nominee what her favorite episode was, which Sotomayor couldn't remember. Franken then jokingly asked why the White House didn't prepare her with the name of that episode. Sotomayor laughed, and said, "You're right. But I was spending a lot of time reviewing cases."

The White House is on top of it, though. A spokesperson sent out an e-mail just minutes after the committee recessed, confirming that the name of the episode was "The Case of the Deadly Verdict," from 1963.

The committee recessed to conduct Sotomayor's FBI background check in a private session, but when the senators returned, Franken had yet another comical moment. When Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., found that his microphone wasn't working, Franken said, "Well, I think mine works. I'll change places with you."

The most senior and least senior committee members then played musical chairs as ranking member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., quipped: "That's the quickest rise of any senator in history." Franken sat in the chairman's seat for a few minutes until the microphone was fixed.