Sledge Hammer!
Sledge Hammer! | |
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Alan Spencer | |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | Danny Elfman |
Composers |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 41 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Thomas John Kane |
Cinematography |
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Editors |
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Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 22–24 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 23, 1986 February 12, 1988 | –
Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by
of the standard "cop on the edge" character.Setting
The series takes place in San Francisco, California, with parts of Los Angeles used as a stand-in for filming. However, no mention of San Francisco was made past the pilot episode and none of the city's landmarks are seen throughout the series, though the city name can be read on the police department building sign. The San Francisco newspaper used at the beginning of the pilot episode was censored during the show's initial broadcast, as the city wanted nothing to do with the series. Subsequent episodes showed newspapers that had no city name.[2]
Episodes
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 22 | September 23, 1986 | April 28, 1987 | |
2 | 19 | September 17, 1987 | February 12, 1988 |
Characters
Main
Inspector Sledge Hammer
Inspector Sledge Hammer (David Rasche) is a stubborn, sexist, and reactionary (all of this by his own admission), but also a serious and respectful detective from the San Francisco Police Department. Hammer's most prized possession is his Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum[3] with a customized grip, featuring an engraving of a sledgehammer. Hammer sleeps and showers with his gun, (it has its own satin pillow) and even talks to it, referring to it as his "amigo." He believes in shooting first and asking questions never. Unlike other comic crime fighters, Hammer is a blunderbuss that is effective and even capable of humanity on rare occasions.[4]
Detective Dori Doreau
Hammer's partner is Detective Dori Doreau (Anne-Marie Martin), who is sensitive, intelligent, and sophisticated. It becomes apparent with time that she has some romantic feelings for Sledge.[5]
Captain Trunk
Captain Trunk (Harrison Page) supervises Hammer and Doreau.[6] He is regularly driven into fits of rage by Hammer's inconsiderate and brash attitude.
Recurring
- Officer Fletcher Majoy (Leslie Morris) – desk sergeant at the precinct.
- Officer Daley (Patti Tippo) – another officer at the precinct who is sometimes a gal pal to Doreau.[citation needed]
- Coroner Norman Blates (Kurt Paul) – the precinct's medical examiner, he specializes in the sudden deceased at crime scenes. According to executive producer Alan Spencer, the character is an homage to Norman Bates, the character from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.[7]
- Newscaster Lisa Ellerblub (Diane Sainte-Marie) – a local news anchorwoman (a play on Linda Ellerbee), she is usually on the receiving end of Hammer's chauvinistic insults.[citation needed]
Guest appearances
Some notable figures who made guest appearances on Sledge Hammer!:
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Actor Jackie Cooper directed a few episodes including "Witless",[8] "All Shook Up"[9] and the first-season finale, "The Spa Who Loved Me".[10]
Production history
Inspired by
Despite his youth, Spencer had already written for
Spencer quickly reworked his script for a half-hour television format. HBO executives wanted to produce the pilot
The pilot of Sledge Hammer! was completed just as
Intro and theme music
The introduction to the show features long, near sensual
According to the DVD release, Hammer's original catch phrase was "I'm crazy, but I know what I'm doing." ABC executives objected to a lead character being "crazy", so they insisted on a change.
The DVD release uses an updated heavy metal version of the theme music by Baboon Rising on the main menus.
Ratings and second season
Despite critical acclaim[21] and garnering high ratings in a special time slot just for the debut,[22] Sledge Hammer! struggled in the ratings partly due to being repeatedly bounced around ABC's fall schedule.[23]
During the same season Sledge Hammer! made its debut, ABC scheduled a high-profile comeback vehicle for a then 75-year-old Lucille Ball entitled Life with Lucy that was not well received by critics or audiences. After only eight episodes aired, Ball's show was canceled and Sledge Hammer! was given her timeslot.[24]
Sledge Hammer! attracted weekly viewership of nineteen million viewers who followed the show religiously through its many time slot shifts. The fact that the series appealed to key target demographics also kept it on the schedule.[25]
Because ABC intended to cancel the series, the last episode of the first season ends with Hammer accidentally destroying the city when he attempts to disarm a stolen
The second-season premiere perfunctorily explained that it and following episodes were set "five years before" the explosion, though Doreau is Sledge's partner in the second season, despite being introduced to him in the pilot, and despite the presence of references to contemporary events, rather than those of five years earlier.[27]
The second season suffered from another extremely undesirable time slot (this time against
Home media
Anchor Bay Entertainment released the entire series on DVD in Region 1. The first season of Sledge Hammer! was released on DVD on July 27, 2004. The laugh track, which the network had insisted on including on the pilot and first 12 episodes, is removed on the DVD version. For this Spencer in part sourced copies of the episodes from collectors in the UK who had recorded the episodes where they aired without the laugh track and hired an experienced sound designer. These collectors are thanked on these DVDs. The DVD features a documentary on the series featuring interviews by Spencer, David Rasche, Anne-Marie Martin and Harrison Page. The DVD also includes an unaired version of the pilot that runs several minutes longer and has a different ending and theme music. An earthquake hit while Spencer was recording commentary for one of the DVDs; the tape kept rolling during the event and was included on the DVD, leaving viewers wondering whether the earthquake was real. The first season enjoyed strong sales.[29] The second season was released on DVD on April 12, 2005; the commentary on the final episode ended with Spencer, again, being caught in another earthquake, this time with sound effects and a convenient cliffhanger.[citation needed]
On September 6, 2011, it was announced that
In Region 4, Shock Entertainment has released both seasons on DVD in Australia.[31][32]
DVD name | Ep # | Release date | |
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Region 1 | Region 4 | ||
Season 1 | 22 | July 27, 2004 | June 29, 2011 |
Season 2 | 19 | April 12, 2005 | August 31, 2011 |
The Complete Series | 41 | December 13, 2011 | N/A |
Awards
Sledge Hammer! was nominated for a 1987
Comics
New World's then-subsidiary Marvel Comics released a short-lived comic book based upon the series as a promotion for the second season. In the second issue, Sledge is up against a Spider-Man imposter and on the cover issue a disclaimer hints that Sledge Hammer is actually a mutant when the X-Men series and its mutant spin-offs were on the height of their popularity.[citation needed]
The series only lasted two issues but was only intended for publicity purposes.[34]
See also
- Police Squad!, a similar American TV series from the 1980s that spawned the Naked Gun film series
- Angie Tribeca, a similar American TV series that satirizes American procedurals
- A Touch of Cloth, a similar British comedy (2012–2014)
References
- ^ O'Connor, John. (September 23, 1986). "2 New Series, 'Matlock' and 'Sledge Hammer'". The New York Times. p. C18.
- The Horn Section. September 23, 2011.
- ^ "The Making of Sledge Hammer with Creator Alan Spencer". Cracked. 19 September 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ "Sledge Hammer! creator Alan Spencer on humanizing a gun-crazy nihilist for a network sitcom". The A.V. Club. January 15, 2016.
- ^ "Sledge Hammer! creator Alan Spencer on humanizing a gun-crazy nihilist for a network sitcom". The A.V. Club. January 15, 2016.
- ^ "The Making of Sledge Hammer with Creator Alan Spencer". Cracked. 19 September 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- Mandatory. January 21, 2014.
- All Movie. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- All Movie. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- All Movie. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ^ "13 high caliber facts about 'Sledge Hammer!'". MeTV. Aug 31, 2016.
- ^ "11 Bulletproof Facts About Sledge Hammer!". Mental Floss. Feb 11, 2018.
- ^ ""TRAILERS FROM HELL" PRESENTS ALAN SPENCER ON "THE NUDE BOMB" (1980)". Cinema Retro. August 10, 2022.
- ^ "The Making of Sledge Hammer with Creator Alan Spencer". Cracked. 19 September 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ "The Making of Sledge Hammer with Creator Alan Spencer". Cracked. 19 September 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ "The Making of Sledge Hammer with Creator Alan Spencer". Cracked. 19 September 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ Shales, Tom. (September 14, 1986) "Fall TV: The Perils and the Programs". The Washington Post. p. G1.
- ^ "13 high caliber facts about 'Sledge Hammer!'". MeTV. Aug 31, 2016.
- ^ "Sledge Hammer! creator Alan Spencer on humanizing a gun-crazy nihilist for a network sitcom". The A.V. Club. January 15, 2016.
- ^ "11 Bulletproof Facts About Sledge Hammer!". Mental Floss. Feb 11, 2018.
- ^ "13 high caliber facts about 'Sledge Hammer!'". MeTV. Aug 31, 2016.
- ^ "2 NEW SERIES, 'MATLOCK' AND 'SLEDGE HAMMER'". The New York Times. September 23, 1986.
- The Horn Section. September 23, 2011.
- ^ "13 high caliber facts about 'Sledge Hammer!'". MeTV. Aug 31, 2016.
- ^ "Interview: SLEDGE HAMMER! Creator Alan Spencer". Movies in Focus. March 10, 2012.
- ^ "The Making of Sledge Hammer with Creator Alan Spencer". Cracked. 19 September 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ "SLEDGE HAMMER!: A CLOCKWORK HAMMER {SECOND SEASON PREMIERE} (TV)". Paley Center for Media. September 17, 1987.
- ^ "Sledge Hammer! creator Alan Spencer on humanizing a gun-crazy nihilist for a network sitcom". The A.V. Club. January 15, 2016.
- ^ "Duds find new life in a box". Los Angeles Times. August 16, 2014.
- ^ TV Shows on DVD – Sledge Hammer!: The Complete Series Archived 2011-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sledge Hammer! – Season 1 Archived 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sledge Hammer! – Season 2 Archived 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sharon Gless and John Ritter present the award for "Favorite New TV Comedy."". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
- ^ "13 high caliber facts about 'Sledge Hammer!'". MeTV. Aug 31, 2016.
External links
- Sledge Hammer! Online – Alan Spencer's official site
- Sledge Hammer! at IMDb
- Sledge Hammer! at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television