The WORST episodes of Picket Fences
Every episode of Picket Fences ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Picket Fences!
Before Ally and The Practice, David E. Kelley was behind this superlative series. Picket Fences followed the lives of the residents of the small town of Rome, Wisconsin, where weird things happened. Cows giving birth to human babies, a spate of people turning up dead in freezers, sex change teachers, a revolving door of mayors who never lasted very long - and one who even spontaneously combusted! Struggling to maintain order in this Twin Peaksesque environment is Sheriff Jimmy Brock. Married to the town doctor, Jill, they are attempting to bring up their three kids Kimberly, Matthew and Zachary against the odds.
#1 - Buried Alive
Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/8/1994
A visit by Jill's father leads to a lively evening of therapy in the Brock household. Jimmy invites Max to dinner after she arrests Jill's father for disorderly conduct.
#2 - Close Encounters
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/3/1995
Littleton copes with his attraction to an 18-year-old assistant. Max and Kenny decide to put an end to their sexual tension.
#3 - Frogman Returns
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/13/1995
The embarrassed son of the Frogman sues for emancipation. Jill strikes Matthew for accidentally injuring Zack.
#4 - Freezer Burn
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/6/1995
The probe of a masseur's murder uncovers a scandal among his women clientele.
#5 - Elective Conduct
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/4/1994
Racial tensions escalate as the mayoral campaign progresses. Zach pens a report that gets him suspended from school and hurts Jill's chances of being elected mayor. Meanwhile Kimberly gives Aisha a vote of confidence when the teen is mocked for getting good grades.
#6 - The Bus Stops Here (1)
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/7/1994
As temporary co-mayor, Jill copes with racial tensions from a judge's decision to bus tough black students from Green Bay to Rome's schools.
#7 - Systematic Abuse
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/1994
Littleton feels Brock's department is hampering the investigation of a girl's murder.
#8 - Survival of the Fittest
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/1994
Community pressure mounts to convict the prime suspect in a teen girl's murder.
#9 - Howard's End
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/13/1994
Howard's struggle with Alzheimer's affects his family and the town. Jill's decision during surgery may revoke her hospital privileges.
#10 - Frosted Flakes
Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/6/1994
The parents of a dying boy try to get the court's permission to use an unorthodox procedure to save the child's life.
#11 - My Left Shoe
Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/29/1994
Father Barrett may lose his parish after Jimmy and Kenny find women's shoes in his closet. Things get worse when the Mayor criticizes the Father on public-access cable, prompting a lawsuit. Matthew fears his sexual curiosities are a sin.
#12 - A Change of Season
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/22/1995
Following Carter's narrow escape from a house fire, Jill fears he tried to commit suicide. Kimberly makes a career decision: she's not going to be a lawyer after all, she's going to be a doctor. Jill is both shocked and a little delighted.
#13 - System Down
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/1/1994
Jimmy becomes the unlikely foreman of a jury deciding the case of a suspect accused of murdering two policemen.
#14 - Squatter's Rights
Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/11/1994
When an obese woman confesses to murdering her husband by sitting on him, Max has some doubts about the motive. A synagogue ostracizes Wambaugh.
#15 - Terms of Estrangement
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/4/1994
Sheriff Brock tries to remain professional when Kimberly is kidnapped---and his onetime partner, who he once testified against, is the prime suspect.
#16 - Divine Recall
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/11/1994
Mayor Rachel scolds Father Barrett for giving a pep talk colored with religious ideals to a public school's hockey team. Meanwhile, a risque video from Rachel's past jeopardizes her career as Kenny admits their affair to Jimmy.
#17 - Supreme Courting
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/4/1994
Valentine's Day brings love and controversy to assorted age groups: Max helps Carter woo a widow he is smitten with, Zack finds his first love but gets in trouble for kissing her, and Kimberly's boyfriend is too prudent as they struggle with sexual-consent guidelines.
#18 - Abominable Snowman
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/28/1994
With his mind failing due to Alzheimer's, Howard Buss proposes that doctors harvest his heart for the transplant his son needs. Meanwhile, Wambaugh pleads with the city to house Frank the Potato Man.
#19 - Remote Control
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/21/1994
The debate over crime reaches a fever pitch Wambaugh blames violence in the media for his client's assault on Matthew. Rachel launches a war on crime and moves forward with new legislation to curb violence.
#20 - Guns 'R' Us
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/14/1994
Embarrassed by a prank, Matthew tries to get even with some boys, but the practical joking gets out of hand, which may result in paralysis for him. Meanwhile, budget cuts hit the sheriff's department and Max fills in as sheriff.
#21 - Paging Doctor God
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/7/1994
Jill does her best to uphold the Hippocratic oath when she performs emergency surgery on a pregnant Christian Scientist, who has refused care and whose husband takes the fight to court. Zach wants to convert to Judaism.
#22 - Blue Christmas
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/17/1993
The drug war comes to Rome in place of Santa: controlled substances are found on the high school campus during a drug sweep, Kimberly's friend is arrested and a federal witness turns up in town. Carter is devastated when his mother dies of a heart attack, and it brings out the worst in him.
#23 - Snow Exit
Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/19/1996
In the middle of a major snow storm, Judge Bone has a heart attack while, snowed-in at the police station, Mayor Bey goes into labor with only Jimmy to deliver her baby. Meanwhile, it's bonding time with lots of alcohol for Jill, Kimberly and Lydia, as Max is reunited with an old adversary - the one and only Barney Bratwurst.
#24 - Three Weddings and a Meltdown
Season 4 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/24/1996
Carter inadvertantly proposes to Sue after she gets her wires crossed. Nevertheless, he's a man of his word and they announce their engagement to the people of Rome. Their sudden decision to wed prompts Kenny and Max to do the same, although they later begin to experience cold feet. Digging in her friend Selma's backyard, Myriam Wambaugh discovers human remains and Selma goes on trial for murder. Persuaded to defend her by his ex-wife, Wambaugh manages to get her off and passion erupts again for Doug and Myriam, who decide to get re-married in a triple ceremony with Carter & Sue and Kenny & Max. Meanwhile, the Brocks' marriage is in serious trouble, with Jill feeling they've come to the end of the line. She moves in with Joey to do some thinking and Jimmy is left to do the same. At the wedding, the three happy couples tie the knot and the wedding fever gets to Jimmy and Jill, who make up and get back together. As the cast gather for a group photo in their wedding finery, we wave a sad
#25 - Bye-Bye, Bey-Bey
Season 4 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/24/1996
It's the christening of Mayor Bey's baby, Michael, but the Rome residents are flabbergasted when Laurie announces that she had the baby for her brother Jerry and his lover Gordy, who plan to raise the baby in the town. The Beys' estranged mother Christine, who turned her back on her children because she was deaf and he was gay, turns up and announces she is taking them all to court to get custody of her grandson. Tension brews in Rome as the people take sides on the issue and a campaign begins to have Laurie removed as Mayor, resulting in Jerry and Gordy being attacked at the supermarket by a vicious homophobic gang. Despite attempts by the prosecution to discredit the men and prove their lifestyle is unsuitable to raise a child in, Judge Bone ultimately rules in their favour and allows them to keep baby Michael, saying he doesn't feel they pose a threat to the boy. The court case over, Mrs Bey leaves Rome again under a cloud, and Laurie is emotional as she leaves the baby in the care