Picket Fences

This article is about the television series. For the fence variety, seePicket fence.

Picket Fences
Genre	Family drama Legal drama
Created by	David E. Kelley
Starring	Tom Skerritt Kathy Baker Costas Mandylor Lauren Holly Holly Marie Combs Justin Shenkarow Adam Wylie Zelda Rubinstein Fyvush Finkel Ray Walston Kelly Connell Don Cheadle
Opening theme	"Picket Fences" byStewart Levin
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No.of seasons	4
No.of episodes	89(list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	David E. Kelley(S1-S3) Alice West
Running time	42 minutes
Production companies	David E. Kelley Productions 20th Television(1992–1995) 20th Century Fox Television(1995–1996)
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 18, 1992(1992-09-18)– June 26, 1996(1996-06-26)

Picket Fencesis an Americanfamily dramatelevision series about the residents of the town of Rome,Wisconsin,created and produced byDavid E. Kelley.The show ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, onCBSin the United States. It sometimes struggled to maintain a stable primetime audience and had fluctuating ratings, due in part to itsFriday night death slot.In its first season on the air, it placed 63rd in prime-timeNielsen ratingsand in its second season it moved to 61st. Nonetheless, the show won critical acclaim and was a major awards winner, winning 14Primetime Emmy Awardsduring its run and is now regarded as acult classic.The show's exteriors were shot in the L.A. suburb ofMonrovia, California.

Overview

The series follows the lives of the residents of the small town of Rome, Wisconsin, where weird things happen, including cows'uddersexploding and people turning up dead in freezers. The show deals with unusual topics for the primetime television of the period, such asabortion,incest,homophobiaandLGBT adoption,transsexual,racism,belief in God,ethics in medicine,polygamy,polyamory,adolescent sexuality,date rape,cryonics,theHolocaust,shoe fetishism,masturbation,animal sacrifice,spontaneous human combustion,andconstitutional rights.Illustrative of the subject matter is that the regular cast included a judge, two lawyers, and a medical examiner. Religious issues were frequently discussed, and the town'sCatholicandEpiscopalpriests were frequently recurring characters, as well as lawyer Douglas Wambaugh's relationships in his localJewishtemple.

Struggling to maintain order in the community is Sheriff Jimmy Brock (Tom Skerritt). Sheriff Brock is 52 years old,married to the town doctor, Jill (Kathy Baker), his second wife. They raise their three children, Kimberly (Holly Marie Combs) from Jimmy's first marriage to Lydia Brock (Cristine Rose), Matthew (Justin Shenkarow) and Zachary (Adam Wylie).

Maxine 'Max' Stewart (Lauren Holly) and Kenny Lacos (Costas Mandylor) are impulsive and slightly immaturesheriff's deputies.Kelly Connell playedmedical examinerCarter Pike (who regularly begged to be deputized) andZelda Rubinsteinportrayedpolice dispatcherGinny Weedon.

Bombastic lawyer Douglas Wambaugh (Fyvush Finkel) usually irritated Judge Henry Bone (Ray Walston). Wambaugh refused to hear any confessions of guilt from his clients as he feared that it would only stand in the way of adequately defending them in court; and Bone's rulings seemed to be directed more by his own moral compass than by points of law, though his decisions were almost never reversed. After several prosecutors came and went,Don Cheadlejoined the cast as John Littleton.

Other actors who were in the cast includedMarlee Matlinas Mayor Laurie Bey / The Dancing Bandit,Richard Masuras Ed Lawson,Roy Brocksmithas elementary school principal Michael Oslo,Jack Murdockas ethically challenged city councilman Harold Lundstrom,Roy Dotriceas Father Gary Barrett, a Catholic priest, andDabbs Greeras the Reverend Henry Novotny, priest of the local Episcopal church.

Cast

Actor	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4
Main characters
Tom Skerritt	Jimmy Brock	Main
Kathy Baker	Jill Brock	Main
Lauren Holly	Maxine Stewart	Main
Costas Mandylor	Kenny Lacos	Main
Holly Marie Combs	Kimberly Brock	Main
Justin Shenkarow	Matthew Brock	Main
Adam Wylie	Zachary Brock	Main
Fyvush Finkel	Douglas Wambaugh	Recurring	Main
Kelly Connell	Carter Pike	Recurring	Main
Zelda Rubinstein	Ginny Weedon	Main
Don Cheadle	John Littleton		Recurring	Main
Marlee Matlin	Laurie Bey		Guest	Main
Ray Walston	Henry Bone	Recurring	Main
Recurring characters
Dabbs Greer	Henry Novotony	Recurring
Roy Dotrice	Gary Barrett	Recurring
Roy Brocksmith	Michael Oslo	Recurring
Denis Arndt	Franklin Dell	Recurring
Sam Anderson	Donald Morrell	Recurring
Michael Keenan	Bill Pugen	Recurring
Robert Cornthwaite	Howard Buss	Recurring
Elisabeth Moss	Cynthia Parks	Recurring
Leigh Taylor-Young	Rachel Harris		Recurring
Richard Masur	Ed Lawson		Guest	Recurring
Amy Aquino	Joanna Diamond				Recurring
Matthew Glave	Bud Skeeter				Recurring

Episodes

Main article:List of Picket Fences episodes

Picket Fenceshas a total of 88 episodes and four seasons.

Crossovers

The series has two crossover episodes with anotherDavid E. Kelleyseries,Chicago Hope,one occurring in each series. In the first, onPicket Fences,Dr. Jill Brock accompanies Douglas Wambaugh to Chicago Hope Hospital over concerns of his heart. In the second, Wambaugh is back at Chicago Hope Hospital causing trouble for the doctors.Lauren Hollylater joined the cast ofChicago Hopeas Dr. Jeremy Hanlon andTom Skerrittappear in a different role as a guest star.

Show	Episode #	Episode Name	Airdate
Picket Fences	3–7	"Rebels with Causes"	November 11, 1994
Chicago Hope	1–13	"Small Sacrifices"	January 23, 1995

David E. Kelley andChris Carter(creator ofThe X-Files) were talking in a parking lot on the Fox lot one day and thought it might be interesting to have Mulder and Scully visit Rome, Wisconsin for anX-Filesepisode. Originally, the two shows would be shot with different viewpoints – one from theX-Filesperspective and the other fromPicket Fences'.The official approval was never given by Fox and CBS, so the only remnants remaining of this effort are theX-Filesepisode "Red Museum"and thePicket Fencesepisode "Away in the Manger" having similar plotlines involving cows. Every reference toPicket Fenceshas been purged from theX-Filesepisode, but there still are some small details left in thePicket Fencesepisode referring to the happenings atThe X-Filesand some minor characters there.

Ratings

Season		U.S. ratings	Network	Rank
1	1992-93	9.49 million	CBS	#63
2	1993-94	9.49 million	CBS	#61
3	1994-95	9.50 million	CBS	#64
4	1995-96	7.00 million	CBS	#98

Adaptation

The series was adapted in India in Hindi language and aired onStarPlusasKehta Hai Dilfrom 2002 to 2005 produced by UTV Software Communications.However, the Indian version in between deviated entirely from the story ofPicket Fences.

Home media

On June 19, 2007,20th Century Fox Home Entertainmentreleased the first season ofPicket Fenceson DVD in Region 1. In the United States, the entire series was available to stream onHulufrom Thanksgiving 2021 to Thanksgiving 2023. On August 20, 2014, Season 1 was released in Australia. Season 2 was released in Australia in December 2014.Season 3 was released in Australia in March 2016.

Awards and nominations

Main article:List of awards and nominations received by Picket Fences

Picket Fenceswon fourteenEmmy Awards(including "Outstanding Drama Series"twice) and oneGolden Globe Awardin its four-year run. In 1997, the episode "Heart of Saturday Night" was ranked #96 onTV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.In 2002, the character of Douglas Wambaugh was ranked 47th onTV Guide's 50 Greatest Television Characters of All Time list.

External links

• Picket FencesatIMDb
• Picket Fencesatepguides