Sledge Hammer

Mortal Envelope · December 31, 2007, 07:46:23 AM

I caught an episode of this 80s komedy cop show the other night. I guess I remember it being more funny when I was a child than it actually was. Definitely the Reagan years -no doubt about that. Had all the cliches too - gung-ho crazy cop who breaks all the rules, the smart female sidekick, and the African American cop chief who YELLS ALL THE TIME.

Still, it was funny when Sledge flew a paper airplane into the chief's hair - and it was there pretty much the rest of the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5fR0U396jM&feature=related

If I remember right, this show had a great big finale at the end of the first season where Sledge tries to disarm a nuke and blows up the city. Unfortunately, the show was then canceled or at least it was supposed to be and I hear the second season was something like a prequel. Anyone know the real jist of that?

the ghoul · January 07, 2008, 11:39:26 PM

The show was about to be cancelled, and the producer knew it, so he decided to end it with a bang. Then the network changed their mind, and he had to figure out a way to keep the show going, so there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the first episode of season 2 saying that the following episodes take place several years before last season's finale.

RapscallionJones · January 09, 2008, 12:21:33 PM

I got a boot of a bunch of episodes in a video trade once that had me very, very excited. I loved it when I was, like, 11. Some friends came over and we were so excited until the tape rolled and we realized how awful it, in fact, was. Thankfully, the source of the tape was back in 1987 so it had all these hilarious prime time 80's ads and we wound up fast forwarding past the episodes to see commercials for stuff like Speed Stick and Martini and Rossi.

Sister Grace · January 09, 2008, 09:37:31 PM

when i was a kid, i waited patiently for sledge hammer and max headroom every week. i never understood why the series didn't make it, but then again, from the point of a ten year old, almost everything is amusing..

the ghoul · January 10, 2008, 12:28:51 AM

Great show. I loved it back then. Now I have the DVDs, and I still love it now! In fact, it's even better since they removed the laugh track.

RapscallionJones · January 20, 2008, 01:01:06 PM

Quote from: SisterGrace on January 09, 2008, 09:37:31 PM
when i was a kid, i waited patiently for sledge hammer and max headroom every week. i never understood why the series didn't make it, but then again, from the point of a ten year old, almost everything is amusing..

I would kill for a source of Max Headroom episodes. That s**t was way ahead of its time. The 80's was really the high-water mark for all things cyberpunk and the Max Headroom show was right on the money in terms of themes and tones. It's a shame that it didn't last. I think the fact that it didn't contain any immediately recognizable characteristics of science fiction kept it from being entirely embraced by that culture and the fact that Max was really just a sidebar character for a show that criticized the direction that corporate and media culture was heading turned a lot of people off who were looking for catch phrases spoken in stuttered phrase.

Everything else is out on DVD. More TV shows than you can shake a stick at, so why the hell hasn't this one come down yet?

badmovielovers · May 12, 2008, 07:34:27 AM

"trust me .... I know what I'm doing!" Ya I rented it on net flicks and i keep spacing out while I was watching it!
Now I did the same with Dinasours but when I was a kid on the ABC TGIF line up it rocked but now the freaking babe scares me.....It has purple eyes!!!

Warp Ninja X · May 13, 2008, 10:33:50 PM

Oh man this was one my favorite shows I still laugh about the pilot when they tell Sledge to get the sniper off the building. So they thought he get his sniper gun but he gets a bazooka and blows up the building.

InspectorDC · May 20, 2008, 01:42:04 PM

Loved this as a kid, and just revisited it for the first time today actually with the pilot episode. Pretty bad, but therein lies it's charm, those really awful jokes make me laugh like when he tells the Mayor he'll get her daughter back dead or alive

RCMerchant · May 20, 2008, 06:10:52 PM

I enjoyed this show as well...I was in my mid 20's at he time....and high,and drunk. I picked up a vhs of 3 episodes....I barely made it through the first. Total let down. Some things DON'T get better with age. Like GET SMART...I used to think this was some "wild and wacvky" stuff...but it's just seems stupid now. Yet the 3 STOOGES just seem to get funnier and funnier!

JJ80 · May 31, 2008, 04:33:41 PM

Max Headroom is actually back in a small way! The character is used in Channel 4's adverts for the changeover from analogue to digital TV in the UK. I think he's still played by Mark Frewer and is presented as a ranting, embittered and balding pensionner living in an old folk's home by the seaside.

Psycho Circus · July 28, 2008, 04:13:15 PM

They only used Max for a littlle bit, that was the only reason I paid any attention to the switch over.
Since I haven't seen him in a while I'm back to being clueless as to when this will happen and how it affects me!

--Sledgehammer was excellent from what I can remember, It's been such a long time since I saw it last. I was maybe about 11, they were showing re-runs on Sci-Fi. Bring It Back! Damn it!

Sledge Hammer

JJ80