Sledge Hammer! creator Alan Spencer on humanizing a gun-crazy nihilist for a network

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http://www.avclub.com/article/sledge...ng-gun--230835

Alan Spencer was in his 20s and still in the early stages of his TV- and film-writing career when he created Sledge Hammer!, a seminal cop spoof that aired for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. Despite his youth, Spencer managed to develop a series with a singular voice and a lasting appeal. The series’ lead character, Inspector Sledge Hammer (David Rasche), is a violence-loving embodiment of right-wing pride whose absolutist passion for firearms still resonates amid today’s heated debates over gun rights. Spencer tempered this avatar of mayhem with the two other main characters: Dori Doreau (Anne-Marie Martin), Sledge’s sensible partner, keeps her berserker colleague in check while their superior, the perpetually hypertensive Capt. Trunk (Harrison Page), rages at Sledge’s bumbling and bullying. They are the ego and superego, respectively, to Sledge’s id.

Still, if Sledge were nothing but a Dirty Harry parody, as the character is often described, the show would have felt flat. Instead, Sledge’s gleeful rage is offset by an endearing naivete (which is baked into his catchphrase, “Trust me, I know what I’m doing”) and a latent humanity that give him dimension beyond mere caricature. The dual nature of Sledge Hammer!’s hero is evident in the show’s two season finales. The first year ends with Sledge detonating a nuclear warhead; the second concludes with Sledge awkwardly proposing marriage to Doreau and then, just as awkwardly, retracting it in the face of her consternation.

After Sledge Hammer!, Spencer would go on to a fruitful career as a Hollywood script doctor. In 2012, IFC aired his series Bullet In The Face, which (as the title might indicate) evoked Sledge Hammer! with its giddy, over-the-top approach to violence. This weekend, Spencer will appear with the original cast of the show in a 30th-anniversary reunion at SF Sketchfest. Spencer spoke to The A.V. Club about the formulation of Sledge Hammer!’s characters, the challenges of portraying violence in an 8:00 timeslot on ABC, and the enduring relevance of the show.