Sledge Hammer! - Season One

Amazon.com

The "Magnum Farce" of Sledge Hammer aims at deserving targets and scores a bull's eye every time. Thanks to DVD, one of the funniest, most unconventional sitcoms of the 1980s has been gloriously revived, with an abundance of bonus features that fans are going to love. This is sweet revenge given the show's original ABC time-slot, buried under Miami Vice and Dallas on Friday nights, but creator-producer Alan Spencer's savvy spoof of Dirty Harry had critical praise in its favor when it premiered (with a senseless laugh track, mercifully deleted here) on September 23, 1986. Played to perfection by David Rasche and introduced with an infectious Danny Elfman theme song, Sledge is a trigger-happy male chauvinist pig (er, cop) in mismatched clothes who thinks The Deer Hunter is a comedy, sleeps with his .44 Magnum (called simply "Gun"), drives a bullet-riddled sedan with an "I ♥ Violence" bumper sticker, and somehow manages to always catch his quarry. "I'm a nihilist, not a stylist" he says (in the hilarious episode "Sledgepoo"), and that puts him at reckless odds with his lovely, karate-kicking partner Dori (played with flawless aplomb by former soap-star Anne-Marie Martin) and the vocally volcanic Capt. Trunk (Harrison Page, a slow-burn master and vital ingredient to the show's excellent casting).

Partly inspired by Get Smart!, Spencer and a host of talented writers and directors dished up consistent laughs and daring anarchy, challenging broadcast standards with topnotch spoofs of hit movies (in episodes titled "Witless," "Jagged Sledge," "The Color of Hammer," etc.) while familiar guest stars like John Vernon, Brion James, Clint Howard, Michael De Barres, and Mary Woronov raised the comedy quotient even higher. After a deliberately outrageous, go-for-broke season finale it's a miracle that the low-rated Sledge Hammer! was renewed for a second season, but Anchor Bay's DVDs do justice to the show's enduring quality, and Spencer's commentaries (on four episodes) rank among the funniest ever recorded (one of them during an earthquake, no less). All in all, this is one of the most delightful DVD surprises of 2004, with more fun to come in season 2. --Jeff Shannon

Description

In the fall of 1986, an unsuspecting TV nation met a new kind of comedy hero who made Rambo look like Pee Wee Herman. David Rasche starred as the trigger-happy lawman whose hatred of criminal scum and yogurt eatin' creeps was matched only by his love of excessive force and a .44 Magnum. Over the next two seasons, this hilariously deranged lampoon of DIRTY HARRY and plenty of other targets became one of the most notorious series in television history and launched a rabid cult of fans that grows to this day. This is SLEDGE HAMMER! The complete first season of SLEDGE HAMMER! is now newly re-mastered (including removal of the laugh track) and loaded with an arsenal of exclusive extras that features uncensored footage, all-new interviews with stars David Rasche, Harrison Page and Anne-Marie Martin, audio commentaries and more, all given the "Hammer" seal of approval by Series Creator & Executive Producer Alan Spencer.

Customer Reviews:

Hammer, puhleeze!.......2007-08-17

Not as good as I remember it. I had forgotten all the Dirty Harry spoofs. Funny to a degree. But missing something. Laugh Track?

MC White said: Rent first.

Great classic comedy.......2007-05-14

This was one of my favorite shows as a kid, and I'm glad it made it to DVD!

"Trust me, I know what I'm writing !".......2007-05-05

....I'm standing @ the scene of a liqour store robbery w/ the man beside
me, inspector Sledge Hammer. Inspector Hammer, will you tell us what happen-
ed ? Certainly Miss. I was in the store when two thugs entered & threatened
the owner w/ shotguns. @ that time, I drew my Magnum & killed them both.
Then I bought some eggs, milk & some of those little cocktail weenies...
Inspector, was what you did in the store absolutely necessary?? Yes, I
had no groceries @ all...." this was our 1st glance into the twisted,tact-
less & chauvinistic world of Sledge the man. We couldn't help but laugh @
his utter disregard of human life! What about the needless violence, such
as when he blew up an entire building to get 1 sniper? Or, when he made the purse-snatcher beat himself up? Truly in a league all by himself! I was only 12 when the show debuted, but I immediately got the meaning that
creator Alan Spencer was quietly conveying & I remember almost choking on
a cup of water, I was laughing so hard ! So sad the original shows have
to struggle in such a cookie- cutter business(Alan, I share your frust-
rations!) Sledge Hammer was such a show- kitschy, even somewhat predict-
able (" I don't take things lying down", then passing out on a couch--
"Kiss of the spider-woman"), yet it really touched a nerve w/ millions
of us who have a sense of off-beat humor,like Spencer. The 1st season
didn't have much in the way of guest-stars, although John Vernon (best
known as the mayor in the 1st Dirty Harry movie) did star in the Pilot.
And who other than Spencer himself is floating in the background in many
episodes!(That is his hand grabbing the newspapers in the pilot). Let's
not forget Lewis Arquette (Father of the clan) starring as a "manynote"
in "Witless". What else can be said? Great acting, great story plots("All
shook up" is one of the most original plots ever!), as well as cool loca-
tions( a motel w/ Swedish masseuses). Great bonus materials, incl. comm-
entaries, the ORIGINAL unedited pilot( 10 mins. longer), plus bumpers &
previews(originally aired on ABC in '86). Here's a treasure hunt: See if
you can find a common denominator in the last commentaries on both sea.
1&2- it is quite an amazing occurence! ( " The Spa Who Loved Me"; "Here's
To You, Mrs. Hammer" respectively). Let's turn OFF those scumsuckers
on our t.v.'s and watch some "REAL family entertainment" ! TRUST ME, I KNOW WHAT I'M RECOMMENDING!

Just as I remembered Sledge.......2007-01-18

A special nostalgia set for my family. The first episode seems to always be the best, though. Ol' Sledge is back again, and what a hoot!

Cancelled too early.......2007-01-16

This was one of the greatest comedy shows. It didn't pull any punches, and provided endless laughs the whole family could enjoy. Highly recommended.

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