The Good
A show that really looks at the world differently
The Bad
No commentary tracks. Paltry extras.
Set in Rome, Wisconsin Picket Fences is that interesting show that is special even though you can never really put your finger on why that is the case. It deals with social issues, family issues, moral issues and it manages to blend them in a way that shows how intrinsic all those issues actually are to one another. Tom Skerrit and Kathy Baker star as Jimmy and Jill Brock. One is a Sheriff and the other is a Doctor, but the real star of this show is the place where it was set. They have three children, Kimberly, Matthew and Zack. Through these characters we see their home life and also their worlds when they are apart. It is here that things get interesting because the cast of characters that makes up this small town is nothing if not eclectic.
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It isn’t so much what happens on this show as how the characters deal with it. For example, an old, Indian tribe takes up arms against the citizens of Rome, Wisconsin when they are upset that a golf course is being built on their sacred ground (“Rights Of Passage). Politics is looked at with a very humorous tone when a mayoral election between all the candidates turns really ugly (“The Autumn of Rome”). Lastly, women’s issues are the order of the day when Kimberly and her friend share a kiss and Maxine (Lauren Holly) doesn’t get a promotion because she’s a woman.
The unflinching way that show creator David E. Kelley and the cast deal with the issues on this show worked really well because of how they didn’t call attention to them. The problems were handled as everyday issues and in that regard showcased how, in one way or another, we all must deal with them.
Features
“All Roads Lead to Rome” Featurette
David E. Kelley talks about wanting to create a show where the community that it was taking place in was also a character. Then he and others talk about the issues that this show dealt with like AIDS, homosexuality, mental health, etc. Apparently, Tom Skerrit didn’t want to do this show at first because he didn’t want to have to commit 5 years of his life to it. What changed his mind was reading the script and seeing what Kelley and his team were saying. During this featurette we also find out that the members of the Brock family bonded on screen as well as off, and how they worked out their scenes so that, in the words of Kathy Baker, they “moved like a family.” Overall, this was a very enlightening piece on this interesting show.
Video
Full Frame - 1.33:1. This show was transferred very well to DVD. Once again, it’s hard to put my finger on why it is so special but it is. The editing and shot compositions are all pretty standard, but there was something about the colors that seemed to spring off the screen. In a lot of ways, this show looks like something Norman Rockwell might have put together if he worked in TV instead of paintings. There is a richness to a lot of the episodes that doesn’t feel artificial or even too clean.
Audio
Dolby Digital. English and French - Stereo. Spanish - Mono. Close Captioned. Subtitled in English and Spanish. The audio on this release was good. This show being from 1992 there wasn’t nearly as much whispering as we get on today’s shows. Things seemed leveled in such a way that I didn’t have to turn the audio on my set much more than halfway up. They don’t do anything too great with the audio but once again it seems like Fox is tops in the compression of TV on DVD releases.
Package
This front cover features a white picket fence on the top, 2/3rds of this front, slipcase cover, with small pictures of all the characters laid out on the grass below. The back portion features more images from the cast members, as well as one large image of the entire Brock family. They have given us a tiny description of what this show is about, a Features listing and system specs. The six discs that house the 22 episodes of this show are stored in three slim cases. They all have different covers featuring artwork from the show, and the back covers list out all the episodes and provide descriptions as well.
Final Word
Maybe it was because I wasn’t expecting that much from Picket Fences: Season 1, but I really got into the show. I love how it was able to deal with social and topical issues, however it never felt like it was trying to be that way. The acting on this show was solid and the characterizations very dead on. In a lot of ways Picket Fences serves as a microcosm of what was going on in the world at that time. Of course, this show does have that television idealism that can’t help but infect itself into our viewing experience, but the off kilter nature of how the subject matter was dealt with didn’t highlight that fact too much. I also loved that I never felt like I was being talked down to, or that some agenda was being pushed. In addition to that, liked that the denizens of this small town weren’t treated as being weird or different simply because they are not from some cultural hot spot.
In a lot of ways, Picket Fences: Season 1 creeps up on you. In expecting to see a show that was typical, this show subverted my expectations while also broadening them as a viewer.
Picket Fences was released .
