Sledge Hammer! (TV Series 1986–1988)

Sledgehammer-dvd.jpgSledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character.

Inspired by Clint Eastwood's no-nonsense approach to law enforcement in the Dirty Harry films, teenager Alan Spencer dreamed up the idea of a police officer whose approach was even more over-the-top, to the point of comical absurdity.

Inspector Sledge Hammer of the San Francisco Police Department is a violent, sadistic, insensitive detective. His prized possession is a .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 629 revolver (a stainless steel version of the Smith & Wesson Model 29) with a customized grip, featuring an engraving of a sledgehammer. Hammer sleeps and showers with his gun, and even talks to it, referring to it as "her." He believes in shooting first and asking questions never. Despite this, Hammer is never seen killing anybody on-screen during the whole 41 episodes of the show. In the pilot episode, he deals with a sniper on a skyscraper roof by blowing up the entire building with a bazooka, after which he utters "I think I got him" to onlooking cops, and in "Witless," he kicks a mob boss out of an open window to his death.

Link: Seasons 1 & 2

Sledge Hammer!

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  • A fun series.  Thanks for sharing.

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