As a child (I was around 2 or 3 at the time), the TV show Sledge Hammer! had always stuck with me. I never remembered watching an episode, but I remembered a big gun, and a pillow. Today I found the intro.
(music by Danny Elfman… really!)
So I’m thinking, this has got to be the best show ever made. Boy I was right. I have the clips to prove it.
As it turns out, Sledge Hammer! is the shlockiest show ever created. It lasted 2 seasons on ABC (‘86 to ‘88).
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. At the age of sixteen, Spencer wrote a screenplay based on this idea. The script and the main character were both named “Sledge Hammer”.
Spencer, who at his young age had already written for various standup comedians such as Rodney Dangerfield and television shows such as The Facts of Life and One Day at a Time, was unable to sell the script until the mid-1980s, when the release of the fourth Dirty Harry movie Sudden Impact and the popularity of NBC’s Dirty Harry-inspired action series Hunter created demand for a satirical police television show. When HBO approached Leonard B. Stern, former producer of Get Smart, about developing such a show, Stern recommended Spencer’s “Sledge Hammer!” idea.
Spencer quickly reworked his script for a half-hour television format. HBO executives did not like it, however, and suggested changes that Spencer found unacceptable, such as casting Dangerfield or Joe Piscopo in the lead role. Surprisingly, last-place ABC was willing to take a chance on the unorthodox script. ABC insisted that the violence be toned down for network television and that a laugh track be included (although it should be noted that some versions, such as that shown by ITV regions in the United Kingdom, do not have this track), but agreed to cast Spencer’s first choice for the lead character, the classically trained actor David Rasche. Sledge Hammer! entered ABC’s fall lineup in 1986.
Fortuitously, the pilot of Sledge Hammer! was completed just as Peter Gabriel’s song “Sledgehammer” became a huge hit. ABC took advantage of this pleasant coincidence by using Gabriel’s popular tune in television, radio and film advertisements for the show.
Thanks wikipedia!!! <- seriously very informative. read it because I don't feel like copying/pasting the entire page.
Now, here are the clips!
Now, before I show you this next clip, I want you to know that this is the season 1 finale. The producers didn’t know that they would be renewed for a second season, so they decided to, well, watch.
When the second season started, the simply shifted the time frame to 5 years before the series premiere. GENIUS!
Tags: 80's abc, awesome, funny, shlock, sitcom, sledge hammer!, tv
Make this viral and you get 1,000,000 internet dollars.
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There will be a fan gathering in Los Angeles on October 10, 2010 for fans of Sledge Hammer! To to this link for more information: http://www.sledgefest2010.com. Producer Alan Spencer, and actors Harrison Page, Patti Tippo, Kurt Paul and Beverly Leech will be there, and it's only $12 for the afternoon shows and $25 for the optional dinner with the cast.
E-mail me at schmidt7@pacbell.net if you want more info.
Charlie Schmidt