Picket Fences

A beloved local man is killed during a stage production of The Wizard of Oz. Suspicion initially falls on the town pharmacist when the sheriff learns the dead man was having an affair with the pharmacists daughter. The dead mans wife confesses but her confession is suppressed in court. She is then murdered and the Sheriffs department discovers that she and the pharmacist conspired to kill her husband and then the pharmacist killed her.

Max falls for a dwarf who rides into town on an elephant, which the dwarf says was being abused at a circus. Jill tells Kimberlys favorite teacher, Mr. Pankow, that he has a brain tumor.

A rash of break-ins leads to an investigation of a "serial bather". Suspicion initially centers on "Frank the Potato Man", a vagrant who, it is learned, was tried for aggravated rape 15 years earlier.

Town doctor Jill Brock, fed up with the mayors failure to address womens issues, declares herself a write-in candidate in the upcoming mayoral election. Deputy Kenny Lakos arrests a former boxing world champion and convinces him to engage in a charity match before extradition to New Jersey.

Jills father arrives in Rome with his new 26-year-old girlfriend. Wambaugh finds his wife in bed with another man.

A rabbi seeks to block the town from staging a religiously-themed Christmas pageant on public property. The town is shocked to learn that beloved teacher Louise Talbot, scheduled to play the Virgin Mary in the pageant, is a post-operative transsexual.

Kenny is seriously wounded by the Frog Man, a burglar who leaves live frogs at the site of his crimes.

When her friend becomes pregnant, Kimberly fears that she is the victim of incest. However, the man purporting to be her father is actually her husband and they are involved in a polygamous relationship. Max investigates a religious sect that engages in animal sacrifice. Guest Stars: Liz and Jean Sagal

Deputy Max goes undercover when a response to her personal ad leads her to believe that she is being targeted by a serial killer known as "Cupid."

Carter believes a sheriff who mysteriously disappeared 38 years earlier may have been killed by radiation emitted by an Unidentified Flying Object.

Kimberly and her best female friend exchange a few kisses during a sleepover, leading to rumors that Kimberly is a lesbian. She turns to her birth mother, who had a lesbian affair in college, for advice.

Mayor Pugen kills a carjacker after the carjacker drops his weapon and Sheriff Brock must decide whether to press murder charges. When he does, the new district attorney has to choose how to prosecute the case.

Kenny and Max respond to a report of a rape and find a man and woman fighting. Under pressure from Kenny, the man says that it was she who raped him. Following a probable cause hearing, Judge Bone advises the district attorney and Wambaugh to reach a plea bargain. The woman gets a year sentence, suspended, after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault. Local businesswoman Rachel Harris is sworn in as mayor and she and Jimmy clash over her plans for his office. Maxs former therapist manipulates her into dropping charges and they enter into a sexual relationship.

Jill and Zack are among the hostages taken by a group of bank robbers led by a deaf woman (Marlee Matlin) who calls herself "the Dancing Bandit." Jimmy works with the FBI to stop the standoff, but the group proves far craftier than anyone expected.

A young woman in a coma following a car accident is found to be four months pregnant, despite being a virgin. When her father seeks an abortion to try to save her life, the towns Catholic and Protestant clergy intervene, citing possible divine causation. Matthew tells Zack that there is no Santa Claus.

A locker search for drugs at the local high school leads to the arrest of Kimberlys best friend, Lisa Fenn. Meanwhile, a protected Federal witness turns up in Rome which leaves Sheriff Brock and his force concerned. Also, Carter has a melancholy reunion with his brother when he arrives in Rome for the funeral of their mother.

Matthews attempts to get revenge for a humiliation by some high-school bullies by threatening them with a gun takes an unexpected turn, which lands one of them in the hospital and Matthew in jail for attempted murder. Meanwhile, Mayor Harris decision to roll back deputy salaries inspires a round of "blue flu" with Kenny and Maxine.

Howard Busss son Kevin will die without a heart transplant so Howard, suffering from Alzheimers disease, seeks a court order to allow him the right to assisted suicide so he can give his heart to his son. Frank the Potato Man sues the town for a place to live, claiming an implied social contract.

A 25-year-old softcore pornographic video of Mayor Rachel Harris surfaces. The town clergy lead a movement to remove her from office. Howard Buss, as senior member of the town council, becomes acting mayor.

A 500-pound woman confesses to murdering her husband by sitting on his head. Douglas Wambaugh is expelled from his synagogue and seeks a ruling in a Jewish religious court to be reinstated.

Max arrests Jills father. The Brocks invite her to dinner in hopes of smoothing things over but end up confronting their own issues with each other as well.

The parents of a boy dying of leukemia seek a court order to allow them to place the child in cryonic suspension.

A local girl disappears and Sherriff Brock suspects her boyfriend, Brian Latham, is involved. Meanwhile, Jill opposes a grade school teacher who is teaching creationism.

A Wisconsin Federal judge orders that 400 black students from the Green Bay ghetto be bused to Romes schools, prompting panic among Sheriff Brock and the parents, knowing that a good number of them are lowlifes and drug dealers that come from that neighborhood. Meanwhile, Wambaugh gets a surprising response to his appeal of the Brian Latham murder conviction to go the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington DC. Also, Maxine makes a mess of her relationship with Littleton.

After a young girl spray paints a pentacle on a wall at school, Sheriff Brock removes her from the custody of her mother, a practicing Wiccan, and a court custody battle ensues. Max and Kenny discover Ginny frozen to death in her own freezer. Her brother (played by Paul Williams) holds a memorial service at which he sings "The Rainbow Connection" (a song written by Williams for The Muppet Movie).

Wambaugh accompanies Jill Brock to Chicago where he receives a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis at Chicago Hope Hospital in this series crossover episode. Jill clashes with Dr. Jeffrey Geiger (Mandy Patinkin) who, she feels, looks down on her as a small-town doctor.

While Brian Latham continues to proclaim his innocence, Kenny and Max review the evidence of the case and begin to believe he is telling the truth. Jimmy turns 55 and suffers a midlife crisis.

A masseur known for giving erotic massages to many female residents of the town is found dead in his freezer. Jimmy Brock is upset when he learns that his wife, Jill, was one of the masseurs clients.

Jimmy Brocks ex-wife, Lydia, visits unexpectedly and brings with her an unusual request — she wants to have another baby, and she wants Jimmy to father it.

When a child molester moves to Rome after spending 16 years in prison it causes big problems for the local residents, especially with Jill and Jimmy, who are struggling to reconcile parental concerns with their professional duties.

Jimmy goes outside of his department to get the help he needs to find Ed Lawson, who is wanted for murder. Meanwhile, the town launches its own search to find a new mayor, and Kenny and Max are caught kissing on the job.

When Jill is found guilty of physician-assisted suicide, Wambaugh insists that Judge Bone put the issue of euthanasia on trial. Meanwhile, Kenny and Carter discover that Zack has been killing swans in a nearby pond.

Jimmys father, Walter Brock (played by James Coburn), pays an unexpected visit and asks Jimmy to take over his law firm. This offer provokes long-standing father-son animosities, with Jimmy finally admitting that he dropped out of law school because he believed he would never measure up to his fathers expectations of him.

Kimberly surprises her parents with her plans to attend medical school out of state. Carter Pikes house catches fire after he had taken some sedatives, leaving Jill Brock to suspect a suicide attempt.

A former talk show host, Dr. Joanna "Joey" Diamond (Amy Aquino) joins Jills medical practice. Kenny begins using a dating service.

Maxine is in trouble after she shoots a man wearing a bratwurst costume. Meanwhile, Jill assumes Kimberly is pregnant when she learns her daughter saw Dr. Joey and concealed the office visit from Jill.

Jill considers tubal ligation. Brock must dance the polka with the Mayor for charity. Haunted by the death of his brother, Littleton returns to Chicago.

During a celebration welcoming the Pope to town, someone opens fire, and a man is killed. The victims gay lover says the man committed suicide, but the Pope says he saw the whole thing and that it was murder. The Pope, therefore, becomes the chief witness in a murder case in Rome, Wisconsin.

Matthew is deeply depressed after a friend commits suicide and Jimmy takes him on a trip in order to help him overcome his grief.

After being struck by a falling power line, Carter sees his deceased grandfather Bob while he is clinically dead for three minutes. This experience causes him to reevaluate his relationship with God and with his girlfriend Sue. Judge Bone meets an old flame of 50 years ago while Zack gets a crush on a young cello prodigy who is visiting for a musical competition. Unfortunately, the girl only has eyes for Matthew.

Jills emotions take control as the family celebrates Zacks 13th birthday.

Maxine Stuart meets with opposition when she fills in as mayor and enacts some unpopular policies and changes. Shock jock Chuck Dante adds fuel to the fire on his radio show. The situation becomes serious when one of Dantes followers shoots Maxine.

When an Amish girl is raped, she refuses to testify against her rapist due to her religious beliefs. The rapist goes free and rapes another girl whose outraged family sue the Amish community, blaming them for the rape.

It is the christening of Mayor Beys 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 favor and allows them to keep baby Michael, saying he does not 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 of his two dads.