''Picket Fences'' is an American
family drama
In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...
television series about the residents of the town of Rome,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
, created and produced by
David E. Kelley. The show ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on
CBS in the United States. It sometimes struggled to maintain a stable primetime audience and had fluctuating ratings, due in part to its
Friday night death slot. In its first season on the air, it placed 63rd in prime-time
Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
and in its second season it moved to 61st. Nonetheless, the show won critical acclaim and was a major awards winner, winning 14
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
during its run and is now regarded as a
cult classic
A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...
. The show's exteriors were shot in the L.A. suburb of
Monrovia, California.
Overview
The series follows the lives of the residents of the small town of Rome, Wisconsin, where weird things happen, including cows'
udders exploding and people turning up dead in freezers. The show dealt with unusual topics for the primetime television of the period, such as
abortion
Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
,
incest
Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...
,
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
and
LGBT adoption
Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children or adults by Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child or adult (stepchild ad ...
,
transsexuality,
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
,
belief in God,
ethics in medicine,
polygamy
Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...
,
polyamory, adolescent sexuality,
date rape,
cryonics
Cryonics (from ''kryos'', meaning "cold") is the low-temperature freezing (usually at ) and storage of human remains in the hope that resurrection may be possible in the future. Cryonics is regarded with skepticism by the mainstream scien ...
, the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
,
shoe fetishism,
masturbation
Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...
,
animal sacrifice
Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing and offering of animals, usually as part of a religious ritual or to appease or maintain favour with a deity. Animal sacrifices were common throughout Europe and the Ancient Near East until the spread of Chris ...
,
spontaneous human combustion, and
constitutional 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's
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and
Episcopal priests were frequently recurring characters, as well as lawyer Douglas Wambaugh's relationships in his local
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
.
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 immature
sheriff's deputies. Kelly Connell played
medical examiner Carter Pike (who regularly begged to be deputized) and
Zelda Rubinstein
Zelda May Rubinstein (May 28, 1933 – January 27, 2010) was an American actress and human rights activist, known as eccentric medium (spirituality), medium Tangina Barrons in the Poltergeist (film series), ''Poltergeist'' film series. Playing "G ...
portrayed
police dispatcher Ginny 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 Cheadle
Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (, ; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his roles in film and television, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Don Cheadle, multiple accolades including two Golden Globe Award ...
joined the cast as John Littleton.
Other actors who were in the cast included
Marlee Matlin as Mayor Laurie Bey / The Dancing Bandit,
Richard Masur as Ed Lawson,
Roy Brocksmith as elementary school principal Michael Oslo,
Jack Murdock as ethically challenged city councilman Harold Lundstrom,
Roy Dotrice as Father Gary Barrett, a Catholic priest, and
Dabbs Greer as the Reverend Henry Novotny, priest of the local Episcopal church.
Cast
Episodes
''Picket Fences'' has a total of 89 episodes and four seasons.
Crossovers
The series has two crossover episodes with another
David E. Kelley series, ''
Chicago Hope'', one occurring in each series. In the first, on ''Picket 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 Holly later joined the cast of ''Chicago Hope'' as Dr. Jeremy Hanlon and
Tom Skerritt appear in a different role as a guest star.
David E. Kelley and
Chris Carter (creator of ''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...
'') 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 an ''X-Files'' episode. Originally, the two shows would be shot with different viewpointsone from the ''X-Files'' perspective and the other from ''Picket Fences''. The official approval was never given by Fox and CBS, so the only remnants remaining of this effort are the ''X-Files'' episode "
Red Museum" and the ''Picket Fences'' episode "Away in the Manger" having similar plotlines involving cows. Every reference to ''Picket Fences'' has been purged from the ''X-Files'' episode, but there still are some small details left in the ''Picket Fences'' episode referring to the happenings at ''The X-Files'' and some minor characters there.
Ratings
Adaptation
The series was adapted in India in Hindi language and aired on
StarPlus as ''
Kehta Hai Dil'' from 2002 to 2005 produced by UTV Software Communications. However, the Indian version in between deviated entirely from the story of ''Picket Fences''.
Home media
On June 19, 2007,
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...
released the first season of ''Picket Fences'' on DVD in Region 1. In the United States, the entire series was available to stream on
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
from 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
''Picket Fences'' won fourteen
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
s (including "
Outstanding Drama Series" twice) and one
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
in its four-year run. In 1997, the episode "Heart of Saturday Night" was ranked #96 on
''TV Guide''s 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time. In 2002, the character of Douglas Wambaugh was ranked 47th on ''TV Guide''s 50 Greatest Television Characters of All Time list.
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1990s American legal drama television series
1992 American television series debuts
1996 American television series endings
CBS television dramas
American English-language television shows
Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Television shows set in Wisconsin
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series winners
Primetime Emmy Award–winning television series
Television series created by David E. Kelley