Picket Fences is what Twin Peaks could have been if David Lynch hadn't gone recklessly over the top. It's a delicious casserole of the ridiculous and the sublime; a show with heart, soul, wit and intelligence; suspenseful one minute, loony the next.
Picket Fences clearly aims to be a kinder, gentler [Twin] Peaks, but the goosey, paradoxical mood for which it strives -- heartwarming creepiness -- is, at this point, more of a turnoff than a turn-on.
The acting was decent, and the writing was okay when it wasn't shoving the writer's political beliefs down your throat, but ultimately Picket Fences was a show made for its time alone.
David E. Kelley, former executive producer of L.A. Law, blends the black humor of that success with a splash of David Lynch's Twin Peaks sensibility to create the season's best series.
Perhaps the show's willingness to disregard realism is best exemplified in Finkel's marvelous character, which seems to represent every defendant, every litigant before Judge Bone... A real find.
[Featured] some game performances -- especially by Tom Skerritt as Rome's sheriff and Ray Walston as its judge -- but the soft CBS style and Kelley's love of the wacky throws off the tone.
Irritating as it may frequently be, however, Picket Fences also seems the new fall drama most likely to become habit-forming. You may love it, you may hate it, but you're liable to be hooked.
The elements that made L.A. Law such a great show are all here - the characters you care about, the quirkiness, the comedy, the pathos, the drama. As a matter of fact, this is the best new drama of the year.
The show is labeled a "one-hour drama," but that's a misnomer. There's never been an hour of Picket Fences that wasn't interrupted by sophomoric farce or nonsense.
