I remember finishing an episode of Perfect Strangers one night and half paying attention to what was on. Suddenly I see this guy pull a bazooka out of his trunk and blow up a building then seeing that same guy get chewed out for blowing up a building. I was hooked by that point. The show is Sledge Hammer. Sledge Hammer is a cop that makes Rambo look like Peewee Herman. He's tough and doesn't take no guff. Unfortuneately for everyone around him Hammer feels that every problem can be solved with violence which causes him to be placed on suspension constantly. Hammer is teamed with Detective Dori Doreau (a woman!)who actually believes in analysis restraint and thinking first. Despite the fact that they are totally mismatched Hammer and Doreau actually get along and even become friends. Also in the cast is Captain Trunk Hammer and Doreau's long suffering boss who would love nothing more than to see Hammer gone permanently. I loved this show because there was nothing elose like it on at the time. Other police sitcoms featured offbeat characters but they always showed some restraint. Not Hammer. To Sledge Hammer restraint is what you do to a suspect by any means necessary. The first season was well written insanity which captivated me every week. Theb problem with new concept shows is that most people (including network executives) don't always understand them. Sledge Hammer faced cancellation. The last episode of the first season saw Hammer trying to disarm a nuclear warhead. The warhead blows and the audience is left wondering if Hammer got out alive. The show did get renewed but also tinkered with. When Sledge Hammer returned for a second season a voiceover explained that the warhead exploded and now we are watching "Sledge Hammer: The Early Years". The second season was a watered down version of guys versus girls. I didn't watch too many episodes that season. The last one I watched was when Hammer's ex-wife was getting remarried. One scene showed a depressed Hammer throwing his beloved gun and pondering his lonliness. That's not Hammer! Hammer would go out and shoot some one if he was depressed not sulk. I remembr thinking "there has got to be something else on". I wasn't alone. That was the last episode.

Rarely has a network sit-com done really good satire the way Sledge Hammer! did it.I was suprised it lasted 2 years.The shows creator was so sure it would be cancelled that he did a cliffhanger like no other(how do you top nuclear holocaust?).But it was a brllliant treatise on violence and violent movies.It made you laugh,but it also made you think.David Rasche was perfect in the role.For a character that was very dark and cold,he made him likeable.I think the show was just hitting its stride when it wss cancelled.Its a shame,because its obvious the network didnt get it,which shows how much the network respect their viewers,the way they moved it around.I guess they couldnt figure out why build a show around a nihilistic person,but then again,most of those network probaly dont even know what "nihilistic" means!Or the fact that a sit-com would use a word like "nihilistic".And I love the series finale,where Sledge goes through a dramatic change.It deserved better,but its great to see it again on DVD.

Sledge Hammer is so funny, there aren't much like it out there. It's like a spoof Dirty Harry, I can't get enough of it. When you're watching, you don't think much about the plot, since it's a spoof, you just wait for the funny stuff to come up and get a good laugh. But this show ain't all about cheesy jokes, there's are stories thrown in that gives each episode a somewhat linear direction. But Sledge's comic timing and eccentric mannerisms are enough to give you a smile before you anticipate the episodes eventual climax, which ends in a wacky finale.

This comedy series ran for just two seasons on ABC in the 1980s. It told the story of Sledge Hammer, a dedicated but unhinged police officer who never met a life-threatening incident he didn't like. Not for him the hours of doing paperwork behind a desk. No. He'd rather be out there, sorting through the mayhem that is life in the big city, and sometimes adding to it.

Accompanied by partner Dori Doreau and supervised by the beleagured Captain Trunk, Hammer solved cases almost in spite of himself, and left a trail of damage only slightly less severe than that by the people he went out to arrest. Hammer battled crime with his trusty pearl-handled revolver. An enemy of felons, not to mention peaceful people as well, the man was mad, bad, and dangerous to know.

The writing was always hysterical and the acting fitted to the manic characters. This show is a lost classic. Fortunately for the public, it's now out for home release. Just as funny as it was twenty years ago.