Why Sledge Hammer! Matters, Part I

As we continue running down the path of relevancy, we explore an 80's TV show that was gone way too quickly.

Of course we're talking about the ABC series, "Sledge Hammer!"

The show only lasted 41 episodes from 1986-1988, but it came at a time when America needed a good laugh. The last time the country could all find one thing that was so funny was in 1984, when Walter Mondale ran for President. So the timing of this show couldn't have been better.

In case you forgot (and if you did you should be ashamed of yourself), the show starred David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a ridiculous caricature of the "cop on the edge" character.

Sledge Hammer works for the San Francisco Police Department and is a violent and insensitive cop whose best friend is a gun with a customized grip featuring the drawing of a sledge hammer. Hammer sleeps and showers with his gun and even talks to it. Hammer believes in firing first and asking questions later. His defining moment is in the pilot episode, when he blows up an entire building in order to deal with a sniper on the roof (see the clip below).

Here are some quick points that need to be made here that drive home the point that Sledge is one of the greatest comedic characters to grace the small screen:

Hammer drove a beat-up, lime green Dodge St. Regis with a bumper sticker that read: "I Love Violence."
His outfits consisted of cheap sport jackets, loud ties, and sunglasses. He made tons of hilarious anti-marriage jokes at the expense of his ex-wife. Everybody loves ex-wife jokes. His boss once saved his life by giving him an antidote after Sledge was bitten by a snake. Sledge asked his boss how he could repay the favor of saving his life and his boss said, "Don't take it." Sledge is patriotic and xenophobic, he loves war and is a registered Republican. He blames gun control, rock music, and feminism for many of the world's ills.

All shows are out on DVD, and it's worth a viewing.