# Sledge Hammer! (1986)

> A preposterous San Francisco inspector plays the cop-on-the-edge archetype to absurd extremes in this satirical 1980s police sitcom.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/490

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 41
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, crime
- Created by: Alan Spencer
- Network: ABC
- Cast: David Rasche, Anne-Marie Martin, Harrison Page, Lewis Arquette, Tige Andrews, Judie Aronson, Richard Moll, Aubrey Morris
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090525/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: irreverent, breezy, deadpan, joyful, absurdist

## What critics say

Critics and viewers remember Sledge Hammer! as a brilliantly funny parody of 1970s and 1980s tough-cop shows, though it was cut short after two seasons.

## Synopsis

Sledge Hammer! (1986-1988) is an American satirical police sitcom created by Alan Spencer for ABC and produced by New World Television. David Rasche plays Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the hard-boiled cop on the edge, working alongside Anne-Marie Martin as Dori Doreau and Harrison Page as Captain Trunk. The engine of the show is the gap between Hammer's swaggering certainty and the chaos he leaves in his wake, as he tackles street crime in San Francisco with flamboyant overconfidence and absurd gadgetry. Each twenty-five-minute episode is a self-contained case-of-the-week built from the tropes of 1970s and 1980s detective films and television, skewered with deadpan timing and escalating set pieces. Across two seasons and forty-one episodes it stays a short-lived, bright, irreverent spoof, with a breezy, joyful tone and a sharp eye for genre clichés. Writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss, known for The Simpsons, contributed as story editors, lending the satire a sharp, writerly edge. Fans of Police Squad!, Hot Shots! and Barney Miller will find resonance in its blend of parody, workplace comedy and affectionate mockery of police procedure. Its cult reputation rests on a short run that critics still remember as brilliant.

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