[.ca] Picket Fences: Season 1

It sure is great to be able to go back and visit Rome, Wisconsin again:
It is amazing in watching Season 1 of David E. Kelley's "Picket Fences" how much I remember about most of these episodes. But then who could ever forget the Tin Man dropping dead during the town of Rome, Wisconsin's production of "The Wizard of Oz"? On the other hand, this time around I was shocked to realized that it was a very young Elisabeth Moss (later Zoey Barlet on "The West Wing") who turned to Zack after the family had caught Kimberly in bed and utters the immortal words: "Yes, that was sex. Naked nude sex" ("High Tidings"). Those words stuck with us for some time. Nobody was ever just naked or just nude, they were always naked nude, and as for sex, it was never just sex it had to be "naked nude sex." Talk about your walk down memory lane, finally having this show out on DVD provides one of the best examples of that particular experience in quite some time. I love dramedies and "Picket Fences" certainly counts as one. Time and time again Douglas Wambaugh (Fyvush Finkel) shows up for the defense of everybody from "the serial bather" ("Frank the Potato Man") to "the polygamist bride" ("Nuclear Meltdowns") and just when you think he is a complete clown he turns and levels somebody with a scowl and a pointed remark. It always seems to be the latter I remember better. I find nothing much has changed when I watch these episodes again. Carter Pike drives me crazy with his incessant demands to be deputized or dig up a corpse, but then his lousy love life ("Sightings," the only episode in Season 1 that does not have Kelly as at least a co-writer) renders him human again. Deputy Maxine Steart (Lauren Holly) is almost as bad as she sees serial killers around every corner, except she was right about "The Green Bay Chopper" and Cupid ("Be My Valentine"). Then there is her partner Kenny Lacos (Costas Mandylor) dating those twins ("The Body Politic"). And these are just the supporting characters. At the heart of the show is the family Brock, where Sheriff Jimmy Brock (Tom Skerrit) give voice to Kelley's conservative impulses and his wife Dr. Jill Brock (Kathy Baker) usually gets the liberal positions (both Skerrit and Baker won Emmys for that first season, as did the series for Best Drama). The contrastive viewpoints are necessary because Kelley clearly scanned the headlines for controversial issues to write about, from mercy killing ("Sacred Hearts") and transsexuals ("Pageantry"), to menopause ("Bad Moons Rising"), an HIV-positive dentist ("The Body Politics"), and using fetal tissue to treat Parkinson's Disease ("Fetel Attraction"). Actually, I was surprised that although the issue episodes stand out, there were more dealing with solving crimes, from a 10-year-old suicide ("Remembering Rosemary") to a more recent one ("The Snake Lady"), and all the other weird cases involving "Frank the Potato Man," "The Frog Man," and the Chippewas who take over the courthouse because the city wants to put the 18th hole of the golf course over an ancient burial ground ("Rights of Passage"). Seeing Kenny in the lockeroom after the standout talking about the man he killed was just as powerful the second time, as was the whole bit with Max adopting a baby ("The Lullaby League"), and who can forget guest star Dellas Reese calling Zach (Adam Wylie) "little bittie thang" in that one? Which reminds me, Jimmy and Jill should trust Kimberly (Holly Marie Combs) and not freak out everytime she kisses a girl ("Sugar and Spice") or whatever. The kid has a good head on her shoulder and the Brocks should be open to the idea that maybe they were good parents in raising her. There are some regrets with this DVD in that the cast does not have more of a hand in the extras found on "Picket Fences: Season 1," like with some nice commentary tracks. In the featurette on the final DVD, David E. Kelly does most of the talk but all of the other principles chime in during an all too short look at how the show came together. The show's creator expresses surprise that Judge Henry Bone became the voice of the town, but that seems absolutely inevitable given Ray Walston's virtuoso performance. Sometimes the actor is so damn good that what they are doing so effortlessly does not constitute scene stealing. Judge Bone simply commanded your attention every time he opened his mouth in his courtroom. Which reminds me: not only is there a reference to "Jimmy Berluti" early on in Season 1 ("Remembering Rosemary"), in the pilot episode I swear that Costas Mandylor as Kenny Lacos sounds just like Michael Badalucco on "The Practice." So I have the feeling that there really is a Jimmy Berluti out there in the world that Kelly is channeling through these characters.