David E. Kelley's unusual primetime drama "Picket Fences" debuted on CBS in 1992, and it was, like a lot of media of the 1990s, an aggressive takedown of the previous generation's tropes. The title, "Picket Fences," was meant to evoke the placid serenity of the post-War Baby Boom, describing a common yard feature in the then-new 1950s suburbs. The series, however, took place in Rome, Wisconsin, a place that was anything but placid. The stories surrounded bleak and sometimes unexplained crimes, and the show regularly tackled sensitive and political topics like abortion, sexual assault, polyamory, and the place of faith in the modern world. 

"Picket Fences," with its soapy stories and unusual tone, was clearly a knockoff of (or merely following the trends started by) David Lynch's 1990 series "Twin Peaks." That show also aimed to deconstruct placid 1950s media images with dark violence and surreal mysteries. 

But "Picket Fences...