Pickard's first television guest-starring roles were in crime dramas in 1951 and 1952, respectively -- "Racket Squad", with Reed Hadley, and "Boston Blackie". In 1954, he guest starred on the legal drama, "The Public Defender", again with Reed Hadley. He was also cast on the syndicated western anthology series, "Stories of the Century", with Jim Davis, and later on Davis' other series, "Rescue 8", based on stories of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Pickard appeared on "Hopalong Cassidy" and in 1956 on the CBS children’s western "My Friend Flicka". That same year he was cast in another anthology series, "Navy Log", and in an episode of Jack Webb's NBC series, "Dragnet". He appeared in a 1956 episode of the TV series "The Lone Ranger" entitled "Trouble at Tylerville".