PICKET FENCES: 05/06 TIDBITS
Gordon Wong
[1] Zach is chosen to play his trombone on stage for a legendary blues
singer.
[2] Max delivers a fugitive's baby and decides to adopt it.
[ Overall ]
I hate it when "past their prime" musicians appear on TV shows. They
usually set up an excuse for having a musical event on the show. However, I
was mildly amused (only mildly) by the turn of events on the show (the pig
liver tranplant).
The storyline surrounding Maxine showed us a side of Maxine that we've never
seen before. Recently, the show has been trying to move away from Maxine's
tough demeanor.
[ Highlights ]
* The judge has a soft spot for Maxine, but he tries to hide it well. When
Maxine kissed him on the forehead, he told her he would hold her in
contempt
if she did that again ... and also told her to "get out".
[ Lowlights ]
* If Naomi says, "ITTY BITTY LITTLE THING" again, I'm going to scream!
If Naomi says, "This room is for grownups" again, I'm going to scream, too!
What I like about Picket Fences is the way some of the characters have
their favourite saying (e.g., Jim with "excuse me"; Bone with "get out";
etc., ...), but when a character repeats a phrase over and over, it gets
boring.
* Naomi's friend, to Naomi, "You're pigheaded." Well, she was pig-livered,
as well :)
[ Quotes ]
* When Maxine told Bone that adoptive mothers sometimes breastfeed, Bone
replied: "I am sure I did know that, but I just forgot."
* Bone, to Wambaugh: "This time ... you lose."
* Maxine, to Wambaugh: "You son-of-a-bitch."
* Jill, to Naomi: "We ruined a perfectly good pig for you."
* Naomi's friend, commenting on the helicopter that was about to transport
Naomi to the hospital: "This ain't going to get up with her in it." A lot
of fat jokes on this episode?
[ Scenes ]
* Remember the scene where they took a shot of the Brock family in the
audience
... I usually don't notice these things, but there was a black woman and a
Chinese man surrounding them. Were they trying to show the ethnic diversity
of Rome?
[ Questions ]
* Didn't Wambaugh make a mistake when he referred to the pig as an "equine"?
* What's with the Brock family? They sure like to eavesdrop ... they brought
along stethoscopes in the opening scene.
* Are they trying to set up a Kenny & Maxine relationship? I hope not ... I
kind of like the unique charm of their friendship. What do you think?
hwnunes
There is very little I can find wrong with the episode.
In article <24...@mindlink.bc.ca> Gordon Wong,
Gordo...@mindlink.bc.ca writes:
>I hate it when "past their prime" musicians appear on TV shows. They
>usually set up an excuse for having a musical event on the show.
However, I
>was mildly amused (only mildly) by the turn of events on the show
(the pig
>liver tranplant).
I really liked this story line, but it wasn't about a musician who
was past her prime, but a stubborn musician that was too stubborn to
change her appearence to become a star (she was too fat to be
marketable). The odd thing is that she is now concerned what her
obit. is going to say as that will detract from people remembering
her as a singer.
And about putting music in an episode, it was not like the music
numbers were taking over the show. In fact, the musical number
(really only one) was cut nicely with the birth of the baby.
Everything about this storyline was great and added some humor to
what could have been a very heavy episode. Della Reese portrayed
the character very well, her band was great, and the insults
exchanged between them lightened up the show a little. One thing is
that it wasn't boring.
>The storyline surrounding Maxine showed us a side of Maxine that
we've never
>seen before. Recently, the show has been trying to move away from
Maxine's
>tough demeanor.
This story was great, too. Odd, however, that it followed the
episode where Max is asked if she tends to become pregnant anytime
soon.
> The judge has a soft spot for Maxine, but he tries to hide it
well. When
> Maxine kissed him on the forehead, he told her he would hold her
in
> contempt if she did that again ... and also told her to "get out".
That was great, but I liked the judge's house call at the end. It
meant more, and it helped Maxine more.
> If Naomi says, "ITTY BITTY LITTLE THING" again, I'm going to
scream!
> If Naomi says, "This room is for grownups" again, I'm going to
scream, too!
It was a character quirk. It was like a nickname. It also showed
the fact that the character really didn't care for children, but in
the end we learn that she has a place in her heart for them. We
learned the same thing of Max.
> What I like about Picket Fences is the way some of the characters
have
> their favourite saying (e.g., Jim with "excuse me"; Bone with
"get out";
> etc., ...), but when a character repeats a phrase over and over,
it gets
> boring.
I think Max's catch phrase is "I'm calling the FBI." Carter's is "I
should be deputized, Jimmy." Kenny doesn't have any set speach
patterns.
> Naomi's friend, to Naomi, "You're pigheaded." Well, she was
pig-livered,
> as well :)
The Naomi line I liked (and that best summed up her character) was
when she was being loaded onto the helicopter and she said, "Jostle
me and I'll sue your ass."
Overall, there are a lot of good lines in this episode, which
overall is one of the better hours of television I've seen all
season.
>* Didn't Wambaugh make a mistake when he referred to the pig as an
"equine"?
Yes, he should have said "suidae." Or then "swine." "Equine"
relates to anything with the horse family. Boy, I'm not surprised
Wambaugh took this case personally. Imagine if you were Jewish and
had a part of a pig implanted into you.
> What's with the Brock family? They sure like to eavesdrop ...
they brought
> along stethoscopes in the opening scene.
Actually, Dr. Brock brought along the stethoscopes. She must be
taking tips from her son.
> Are they trying to set up a Kenny & Maxine relationship? I hope
not ... I
> kind of like the unique charm of their friendship. What do you
think?
A different type of partnership between Kenny and Maxine has been
suggested since the beginning of the episode. It really went to
extremes in the Thanksgiving episode. This is what I found odd.
See if you see a sinecurve here. Kenny shot by Frogman, Maxine
comforts him. Kenny shoots Indian Leader, Maxine wants to comfort
him, thinks against it. Maxine looses the baby, Kenny wants to put
his arm around her, doesn't. Later, Judge Bone tells Maxine it's
OK, to feel the hurt, then squeezes Kenny's forearm, and leaves.
The loss of the baby finally hits Maxine, Kenny is there for her.
If these two get togther, one relationship will have to be
sacrificed. If they get together personally, they can no longer be
partners on the force (its just not done).
Anyway, didn't that scene where Max tells Kenny that she wants him
to be the godfather remind anyone of the "who do you think about
when you masturbate" discussion they had over Thanksgiving dinner?
hwn.
-PF deserves some awards in the off season. This show has really
impressed me. PF kinda makes up for the loss of "Civil Wars" and
the rollercoaster ride on NX this season.
Six Sigma CASE (Brian L. Matthews)
In article <24...@mindlink.bc.ca> Gordo...@mindlink.bc.ca (Gordon Wong) writes:
|* When Maxine told Bone that adoptive mothers sometimes breastfeed, Bone
| replied: "I am sure I did know that, but I just forgot."
Yes, I liked the whole exchange. Bone was obviously uncomfortable with the
situation but didn't want to show it.
|* Didn't Wambaugh make a mistake when he referred to the pig as an "equine"?
Yes. I thought it might have been on purpose and Judge Bone would correct
him, but he didn't. This seems like a pretty stupid mistake to get by.
There were probably a hundred people on the set when they were shooting
that scene - didn't any of them know the difference between equine and
porcine?
|* What's with the Brock family? They sure like to eavesdrop ... they brought
| along stethoscopes in the opening scene.
They sure do. It's certainly a poor example the parents are setting for
the kids. Of course now we know where the older boy learned it :-)
|* Are they trying to set up a Kenny & Maxine relationship? I hope not ... I
| kind of like the unique charm of their friendship. What do you think?
I hope not too. They've hinted at it before, but this was the strongest.
And didn't Maxine look strange in a dress? :-)
Brian
hwnunes
hwn...@leland.stanford.edu writes:
>A different type of partnership between Kenny and Maxine has been
>suggested since the beginning of the episode.
For all those having a little more trouble than usual decoding my
post, the word episode should be replaced by the word "series."
hwn.
-sorry
Nancy Durgin
|>>In article <24...@mindlink.bc.ca> Gordon Wong wrote:
|>Overall, I really liked the 5/6 episode titled "The Lullaby League."
|> There is very little I can find wrong with the episode.
I didn't dislike it, but I didn't think it was one of the best.
Della Reese didn't bother me -- I got used to her character-actor style
on "MacGyver". so the role seemed natural to me.
|>> If Naomi says, "ITTY BITTY LITTLE THING" again, I'm going to scream!
|>> If Naomi says, "This room is for grownups" again, I'm going to scream, too!
|>
|>It was a character quirk. It was like a nickname. It also showed
|>the fact that the character really didn't care for children, but in
|>the end we learn that she has a place in her heart for them. We
|>learned the same thing of Max.
|>
|>> What I like about Picket Fences is the way some of the characters have
|>> their favourite saying (e.g., Jim with "excuse me"; Bone with "get out";
|>> etc., ...), but when a character repeats a phrase over and over, it gets
|>> boring.
|>
|>I think Max's catch phrase is "I'm calling the FBI." Carter's is "I
|>should be deputized, Jimmy." Kenny doesn't have any set speach
|>patterns.
|>
Kenny's phrase is "Unacceptable". He hasn't said it in a while, but he
typically says it to bad guys right before gunning them down (or apprehending
them...).
Nancy
--
==============================================================================
Nancy Durgin | (Usual disclaimers | Tegra-Varityper, Inc.
uunet!tegra!nad | apply...) | Billerica, Massachusetts
==============================================================================
Denise Suerth
>I hate it when "past their prime" musicians appear on TV shows. They
>usually set up an excuse for having a musical event on the show. However, I
>was mildly amused (only mildly) by the turn of events on the show (the pig
>liver tranplant).
>
I had no problem with this. They're always having people from outside of
town -- the former girl group singer turned prostitute, the little man with
the elephant, etc.
>The storyline surrounding Maxine showed us a side of Maxine that we've never
>seen before. Recently, the show has been trying to move away from Maxine's
>tough demeanor.
>
This was the storyline I dreaded. I could see it coming a mile away.
Although you can often see things coming on Picket Fences, usually they
handle it in an out-of-the-ordinary way.
> The judge has a soft spot for Maxine, but he tries to hide
it well. When Maxine kissed him on the forehead, he told her he would hold
her in contempt if she did that again ... and also told her to "get out".
>
It was even better when he went to see her at the end and earlier when he
had to break it to her that she had to give the baby back.
>
The most recited catch-phrase, which makes the show, is "Douglas Wambaugh
representing _fill_in_the_blank_."
>
> Are they trying to set up a Kenny & Maxine relationship? I hope not ... I
> kind of like the unique charm of their friendship. What do you think?
>
I think their relationship represents friends who work together who are also
attracted to each other in some ways, but can't imagine why. Like some
workplace relationships the dynamics are constantly changing and in a weak
moment they could fall into each other's arms, but would almost certainly
regret it later. And that would not necessarily mean one would have to quit
his/her job -- I know of cities where husband and wife have worked together
on the police force on the same shift (it wasn't a good idea, but it was
allowed).
Overall, I thought this was a good episode, definitely not one of the best,
but I caught myself thinking there should be a best acting nomination for
Ray Walston (supporting) and Della Reese (guest star).
Denise M Suerth WILL Radio
Internet: d-su...@uiuc.edu 801 S. Wright St. Rm 228
"I'm not a grad student, but I Urbana, IL 61801
play one on TV." Phone: (217) 333-0850