Sledge Hammer: Cast Photo - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

Sledge Hammer aired from September 1986 until September 1988 on ABC.

Satire , they say in theatrical circles ,is what closes on Saturday night.Nevertheless, this wild burlesque on top cop shows (particularly the Dirty Harry type)managed to hang on the ABC schedule for an extended period.

Sledge ( David Rasche) was the ultimate tough cop - a totally self-confident, square-jawed man who showed no mercy for the wimps and scumbags who inhabited his fair city. This included small-time offenders like jaywalkers and litterers who deserved to be shot just like all the rest of the hardened criminals! In one episode, he forced a miscreant - at gunpoint - to punch himself silly!

Sledge's appearance was very distinctive. He wore reflecting sunglasses, mismatched ties and striped shirts. But his one true love was his pearl-handled .44 Magnum, named "Gun." Each episode opened with the camera caressing this gleaming weapon while ominous music thundered in the background. Sledge even talked to it, To others he would say,"Trust me...I know what I'm doing."

Sledge always seemed to be suspended from the force but was always reinstated and got his man. Actually, it was his beautiful partner, Officer Dori Doreau ( Anne-Marie Martin), a woman, who almost always solved the cases. Capt. Trunk ( Harrison Page)was their headache-ridden, always yelling superior. Other characters included officers Mayjoe and Daley ( Leslie Morris, Patti Tippo) as well as a creepy coroner named Norman Blates ( Kurt Paul)

In the final episode of the 1986-1987 season, Sledge was apparently blown to smithereens while attempting to dismantle a nuclear device; the show's producers had not expected the series to be renewed. The second season's debut episode opened by replaying the scenes leading up to the explosion at the end of season one , complete with the nuclear holocaust and to be continued...tag. The credits then rolled, welcoming viewers to Sledge Hammer: The Early Years. It was that kind of unexpected comedy that made Sledge Hammer a favorite of young parodists in training, who still crack a smile in memory of Sledge and his beloved gun today.

Guest starring as villians were Ray Walston, Bernie Kopell, John Vernon, Bill Dana, Robin Leach, Bill Bixby ( who also directed a half dozen episodes), rock star Adam Ant and Davey Jones of The Monkees.

What was this series about? Creator/Producer Alan Spencer said that much as Get Smart poked fun at the spy movies of its day, this show did the same thing for the current batch of rebel cop movies and TV shows. "Ultimately," he said, "what the show is about... is a half hour!"

A Review from The New York Times

2 NEW SERIES, 'MATLOCK' AND 'SLEDGE HAMMER'

By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: September 23, 1986

THE ''law and order'' formula continues to be milked, sometimes in wondrous ways. NBC's ''Matlock,'' having its premiere at 8 o'clock this evening, stars Andy Griffth as an Atlanta lawyer who plays detective on his own cases. That's pretty standard stuff. Meanwhile, on ABC at 8:30, a ''preview'' of ''Sledge Hammer!'' (which begins its regular run this Friday at 9:30) offers a trigger-happy police detective whose cartoon-like antics include firing warning shots at jaywalkers. Square-jawed Sledge is supposed to be a sendup of Rambo, Dirty Harry and other current icons. Actually, the parody is curiously affectionate.

On NBC, Benjamin Matlock (Mr. Griffith) is a silver-haired member of the legal establishment whose country-boy manner has a way of disarming the unwary. He works with his daughter (Linda Purl), also a lawyer, and a young private detective (Kene Holliday). The show was created by Dean Hargrove, who shares executive-producer billing with Fred Silverman, the former chief of NBC-TV. Matlock is a courtly gentleman, giving to calling people ''son'' or ''ma'am.'' He can be crusty in a cuddly sort of way. Letting his daughter drive the car, he proclaims: ''Keep your eyes on the road, stay within the speed limit, and no rock 'n' roll on the radio.''

Tonight Matlock, passing up his usual $100,000-plus fee, decides to defend a young fellow who seems to have been caught red-handed, literally, in the stabbing of his girlfriend. The viewers know, however, that the young woman has been killed by a distinguished judge who was having an affair with her. Going methodically about his business, Matlock soon knows who the real killer is and lets the judge, who is now presiding over the trial, know that he knows. As a cat-and-mouse exercise, the episode - written by Robert Hamilton and directed by Chistopher Hibler -works moderately well in the hands of two seasoned pros. Mr. Griffith effortlessly makes the most of the country sophisticate, and Dick Van Dyke is splendidly devious as the judge. ''Matlock'' makes easy viewing, so easy that you are liable to forget it's there.

Over on ABC, the capers of Sledge Hammer (David Rasche) were created, written and produced by Alan Spencer. Sledge wears reflector sunglasses and carries a .44 magnum that he fondly calls Gun. Sledge has a habit of talking to and occasionally kissing Gun. His favorite charity is Toy Guns for Tots. Much to the annoyance of his neighbors, Sledge uses his apartment walls for target practice. You get the idea quickly. That's part of the problem with fairly obvious humor.

There are some promising developments. Sledge is assigned to work with the beautiful Dori Doreau (Anne-Marie Martin), who is supposed to restrain him on the job. Dubious Sledge warns her that ''I'm the guy and I call the shots,'' but is impressed when she physically humbles a couple of villains. Dori, it turns out, was first in her police class in hand-to-hand combat. ''I'd like to fight you sometime,'' says Sledge earnestly.

The plots on ''Sledge Hammer!'' are clearly disposable. Here is a tongue-wedged-in-cheek romp that is interested more in being daffy than comprehensible. Mr. Rasche, wearing a collection of some of the more outrageous ties to be found in prime time, makes an appropriately convincing blank-faced, empty-headed leading man. Like Max Headroom on HBO's Cinemax, Sledge may be the perfect hero for our time. Some viewers may understandably not know whether to laugh or weep.

An Article from the AP
Published on October 29, 2987

'Sledge' grabs ratings with disturbed viewers

NEW YORK (AP)-Like any television producer, Alan Spencer has deep theories about television programming and audience reach. And like his show "Sledge Hammer" his theories are deeply warped.

"Sledge got a surprise renewal this season from ABC, and was promptly placed opposite NBC's top-rated "The Cosby Show" on Thursday night. ABC said "Sledge Hammer!" has a loyal core audience.

"I think the core audience is the people who don't receive the other two networks very clearly," said Spencer, in a transcontinental telephone interview that wasn't too clear either.

"We just made the cover of Mad Magazine, Maybe that's our audience-predominently male, a lot of kids. I was at a party recently where there were a lot of bodyguards present, and they were all fans of it. I think its real violent Republicans. People who drink beer and drive trucks and like to play with power tools."

Spenser says the show got renewed because it did well on the "disturbed people meter." However on the real people meter that measures Nielsen demographic ratings, "Sledge does well with young males, an important target audience for many advertiser.

Spenser nevertheless said he was surprised ABC renewed the show-"The Las Vegas odds were nothing I would have bet on."

A formerly serious New York actor named David Rasche stars as Detective Sledge Hammer, a macho weirdo who baby-talks his gun. This season Spenser said, Sledge will have "more of a man-woman relationship rather than a man-gun one." The object of his desire will be his partner Dori Doreau, played by Anne-Marie Martin.

Despite Spenser's jokes about the allegedly paleolithic cultural level of "Sledge" viewers, they are the same people who get sophisticated inside jokes that have turned "Sledge" from a one-time takeoff on Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" into a weekly satirical romp. It's not surprising that Spenser is a fan of "Get Smart," the 1960s spy satire that starred Don Adams.

Spenser boasts that "Sledge" is the only satirical sitcom to last more than a season since "Get Smart" ended its five-year run in 1970.

Times have changed and "Sledge" accordingly is more jaded than "Get Smart," poking fun at politics, movies and such self-involved 1980s issues as "colorization."

An upcoming episode, a tip of the hat to director David Lynch, is "Blue Velcro." Bud Cort guest-stars and actor Bill Bixby directs.

The plot revolves around the death of a young film director, apparently from a vampire bite after firing the star of his horror picture. Sample dialogue: " You know anybody who'd want to drain the young director of all his blood?" "Any William Morris agent."

For more on Sledge Hammer go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sledge_Hammer!