Picket Fences is a 60-minute television drama centering around the residents of the fictional community of Rome, Wisconsin. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992 to June 26, 1996 on the CBS television network in the United States. Picket Fences was created by producer David E. Kelley. The show sometimes struggled to maintain a stable prime-time audience, and had fluctuating ratings. In its first season on the air, it placed 80th in the prime-time Nielsen ratings, and in its second season it moved to 66th.

Series overview

The series follows the lives of the residents of the small town of Rome, Wisconsin, where weird things happen, including cows giving birth to human babies, transgender teachers, and a spate of 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). 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 point of law. After several prosecutors came and went, Don Cheadle joined the cast as John Littleton. Kelly Connell played medical examiner Carter Pike (who was regularly begging to be deputized), and Zelda Rubenstein portrayed police dispatcher Ginny Weedon. Other well-known actors who were in the cast included Marlee Matlin, Richard Masur, and Dabbs Greer.