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Sledge Hammer!

Year:

1986

Duration:

30 min | Argentina:60 min

Genres:

Action | Comedy

IMDB rate:

8.3

Awards:

1 nomination

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1986-09-23

Filming Locations: Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA

Cast

Actor

Character

David Clennon

Frank Doubleday

Alba Francesca

Maria Richwine

Mike Pniewski

David Rasche

Sledge Hammer

Anne-Marie Martin

Dori Doreau

Harrison Page

Captain Trunk

Leslie Morris

Officer Majoy

Did you know?

Trivia

In "All Shook Up", Sledge sings an Elvis-style song with mutters. David Rasche came up with one of the "songs" and used generic love-themed phrases.

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The producers were so convinced the show would be cancelled that they closed the first season with Sledge accidentally destroying the city. When the show received a surprise renewal, the second season was said to take place five years before the explosion.

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Alan Spencer originally wrote the pilot script in 1976 as a parody of Dirty Harry (1971) and its sequels. Not only did every network reject it, but executives questioned Spencer's mental health due to the exaggerated violence. It wasn't until the success of the third sequel, Sudden Impact (1983), that networks began showing an interest in Spencer's script.

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Quotes

Sledge Hammer: Trust me - I know what I'm doing!

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Sledge Hammer: [to reporter] I would like to address that particular stereotype if I may. Now, your stereotypical donut is nothing but dough and sugar fried in fat, am I right? Now that fat gums up your arteries and goes to your brain, and you turn liberal. And the next thing you know, Barry Manilow is on the turn-table and you're not going to work and you're voting for gun control. You see what I'm saying? You see the connection? That's why I eat granola.

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Robin Leach: Good evening, I'm Robin Leach. The producers of Sledge Hammer! have asked me to explain tonight's episode. Let me be frank - it is an attempt to boost ratings. There are many ways to do this: better scripts, more warmth and big-name guest stars. But, we're desperate. So on tonight's episode, we're gonna to rely on four sure-fire ratings grabbers: sex, violence, rock music, and, best of all, a cliffhanger ending that will keep our viewers glued to the edge of their seats until next season. Thus, ensuring there will be a next season. Trust me. I know what I'm doing.

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Faq

Why doesn't Sledge sing any Elvis songs during 'All Shook Up'?

Because then they would have had to pay for the rights to use the songs. The only Elvis song Sledge sings during his Elvis act is 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' because that is in common domain and therefore you don't have to pay to use it.

What is the deal with season 2 being set five years before season 1?

*Spoilers* Season 2 is supposedly set 5 years before Season 1 so we must assume that Sledge and Dori's adventures in season 1 were spread out over a 5 year period. This is because at the end of season 1 Sledge is trying to defuse a nuclear bomb when it explodes, destroying the city. Creator Alan Spencer was sure the series wasn't going to get a second season so decided to end on a humdinger of a cliffhanger. When it did get a second series he realised he'd painted himself into a corner plotwise, hence the retcon. However this creates the problem that Sledge and Dori constantly refer to contemporary events, not those of 5 years before. The fan theory to settle the contradiction is that the warhead that explodes at the end of season 1 was an experimental model designed to only destroy buildings and leave humans unharmed. This is why at the end of season 1 we hear Captain Trunk yelling over the remains of the city ruins even though he was right beside the bomb when it exploded, he obviously survived so Sledge and Dori could too. Therefore the city was rebuilt between the seasons and the episodes in season 2 with contemporary references are set after season 1. Spencer endorses this idea as 'as good as any.

How many people do we see Sledge shoot during the series?

No one. Although we're told he kills two robbers in the pilot we never actually see him shoot anyone. The closest we see is in the episode "Witless" in which Hammer unknowingly shoots an assassin hiding in his closet. We do not see the assassin get shot but hear him groan behind the closed door. Most of the time when Hammer fires his gun, he shoots objects or shoots the villains' guns out of their hands.

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