So, What Goes On Behind Those Fences?
I find it hard to believe that "Picket Fences" has already been off of the air for more than ten years. At the same time -- I celebrate the the first season is finally available on Amazon. What is that you say -- you never watched "Picket Fences"?!? If that is the case, you missed out on what is quite possibly one of the most wickedly smart, quirkily funny, and just plain engagingly creative shows on television. Created by the brilliant mind of David E. Kelley, this show was magnificent. Come along and tour Rome, WI (the fictional one, not either of the two real ones) with me:
Picket Fences At A Glance
Picket Fences is a 60-minute drama which initially ran from September 18, 1992 to June 26, 1996 on the CBS television network in the United States. This show was created by Emmy-award winning producer David E. Kelley. The show sometimes struggled to maintain a stable prime-time audience, and had wildly fluctuating ratings. In its first season on the air, it only placed 80th in the prime time Nielsen ratings, and in its second season it moved just slightly to 66th.(...from Wikipedia)
Season One Is Available
Picket Fences - Season 1
Amazon Price: $11.98 (as of 02/17/2012)
List Price: $29.98
Used Price: $7.31
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"Picket Fences" Overview
"Picket Fences" followed the lives of the residents of the fictional small town of Rome, WI -- where weird things happen, including cows giving birth to human babies, transgender teachers, and people turning up dead in freezers. Struggling to maintain order in this odd community is Sheriff Jimmy Brock (Tom Skerritt). He is married to the town doctor, Jill (Kathy Baker), his second wife. They attempt to bring up their three children, Kimberly (Holly Marie Combs) (from Jimmy's first marriage), Matthew (Justin Shenkarow) and Zachary (Adam Wylie), normally. Lauren Holly and Costas Mandylor played impulsive and immature sheriff's deputies Max and Kenny. Bombastic lawyer Douglas Wambaugh (Fyvush Finkel) usually irritated Judge Henry Bone (Ray Walston), whose rulings seemed to be directed more by his own moral compass than by point of law. After several prosecutors came and went, Don Cheadle joined the cast as John Littleton. Kelly Connell played medical examiner Carter Pike, and Zelda Rubenstein portrayed police dispatcher Ginny Weedon. Other well-known actors in the cast included Marlee Matlin, Richard Masur, and Dabbs Greer."Picket Fences" frequently dealt with difficult subject matter, including abortion, homosexuality and transsexuality, belief in God, medical ethics, polygamy, sexuality, cryonics, the Holocaust, shoe fetishism, spontaneous human combustion, and constitutional rights. Illustrative of the subject matter is that the regular cast included a judge, two lawyers, and a coroner.
Three Reasons To Love Picket Fences
- Tom Skerrit
- Holly Marie Combs
- Costas Mandylor
The Picket Fences Cast
Picket Fences :: aired from September 1992
to June 1996 on CBS.
- Tom Skeritt as Sheriff Jimmy Brock
- Kathy Baker as Dr. Jill Brock
- Costas Mandylor as Kenny Lacos
- Lauren Holly as Maxine Stewart
- Holly Marie Combs as Kimberly Brock
- Justin Shenkarow as Matthew Brock
- Adam Wylie as Zack Brock
- Fyvush Finkel as Douglas Wambaugh
- Ray Walston as Judge Henry Bone
- Kelly Connell as Carter Pike
- Don Cheadle as D.A. John Littleton
The Mayors Of Rome, Wisconsin
One of the oddest aspects of the series is the revolving door of town mayors who never seemed to last very long. Holding one of the most risky positions in TV history, these are Rome's mayors (and their portrayers), with their fates on the series:
- Mayor Bill Pugen (Michael Keenen): spontaneous combustion after murder conviction
- Mayor Rachel Harris (Leigh Taylor-Young): hounded from office for starring in an adult film
- Acting Mayor Jill Brock (Kathy Baker): jailed, lost bid for re-election
- Mayor Ed Lawson (Richard Masur): entombed in a freezer by his wife, then decapitated
- Acting Mayor Howard Buss (Robert Cornthwaite): suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, fatally shot by his son
- Acting Mayor Maxine Stewart (Lauren Holly): shot and wounded by a shock jock's fan
- Mayor Laurie "The Dancing Bandit" Bey (Marlee Matlin): mayor at series end, despite bank robbery convictions. She was offered the job as part of her 3000 hours community service sentencing.
Picket Fences Guest Book
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NarrowPathPublishing Sep 12, 2010 @ 10:37 pm | delete
- I miss Picket Fences so much...the first three seasons, anyway. The last one was meh. Transgender teachers aren't weird though...unfortunately neither is most of the town's reaction to one existing. Anyway, great series...I wish they'd put seasons 2 and 3 out on DVD already! Season 2 is on hulu so why not?
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rms
Oct 8, 2008 @ 1:30 pm | delete
- Congratulations New Giant!
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cappuccino136 Apr 22, 2008 @ 9:07 pm | delete
- I really loved this series. Thanks for this lens that celebrates this series. You've reminded me how great and how much fun it was.
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