Swinging for the Fences

The cast and creator of the game-changing series Picket Fences look back at the show’s sweetest —and most surreal—moments.

- Craig Tomashoff

Showrunner and writer David E. Kelley well understood the appeal of the adage “Home is where the heart is.” And he also knew, when he was pitching a show to CBS in 1991, that it would be all the more appealing if that home was in the actual heartland.

“He said he wanted to do a show depicting life behind the white picket fences of America,” recalls then-executive vice president Peter Tortorici. “The way he described it, though, there was so much more complexity, so manybizarre things going on behind those fences. We just thought, ‘We can’t get this on the air fast enough.’”

In theory, Picket Fences was a family drama set in the tiny town of Rome, Wisconsin, centering on Sheriff Jimmy Brock (Tom Skerritt), his wife and town doctor Jill (Kathy Baker), and their kids (Holly Marie Combs, Justin Shenkarow, and Adam Wylie). In reality, the series was unlike anything that had come before it, thanks to quirky characters like local lawyer Douglas Wambaugh (Fyvush Finkel) and his nemesis, Judge Henry Bone (Ray Walston), along with plots including a thief who left a trail of frogs, mayors who died of spontaneous combustion, and a wife who committed suicide by climbing into a dishwasher.

The show—which Kelley admits “was a really weird beast”—premiered in September 1992 and ran for four seasons, featuring luminary guest stars including Don Cheadle, Elisabeth Moss, Paul Winfield, and Louis Gossett Jr. Although never a ratings smash, it won 14 Emmys, including two for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Actor wins for Skerritt and Baker, and Outstanding Supporting Actor awards for Finkel and Walston. We caught up with Picket Fences’ original cast to reminisce about their favorite moments, including some memorable kisses, an Emmy shocker, and an elephant in need of an enema.