Sledge Hammer!: Difference between revisions

[[File:Sledge_Hammer_1986_9310.jpg|frame|"Trust me, I know what I'm doing."]]

 

{{quote|"Looks like you and I are the only sane ones here."|Sledge, to his Magnum}}

 

 

While Hammer respects his colleagues, his only true friend is his [[Hand Cannon|.44 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver]], complete with customized grip and etched sledgehammer signia. Hammer's affection for his gun is so deep that [[Companion Cube|he showers with it,]] [[Cargo Ship|sleeps with it,]] and [[Consulting Mister Puppet|even talks to it.]]

 

The series received critical acclaim, but struggled in the ratings, largely due to its numerous time slot shifts. Even so, ''Sledge Hammer!'' attracted up to nineteen million viewers who followed the show religiously, along with a very abbreviated [[Comic Book]] series from [[Marvel Comics]]. Despite a season finale that [[Kill'Em All|ended with a nuclear explosion]], ABC changed its mind and renewed the show for a second season. The second season suffered from another horrible time slot ([[What an Idiot!|against]] ''[[The Cosby Show]]'') and a reduced budget.

 

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* [[Accidental Aiming Skills]]: Hammer's interrogation of a suspect in the pilot via a carnival-style shooting game.

'''Hammer''': "Yeah, I missed." }}

* [[Already Met Everyone]]: Tripped over in the second season premiere; it was set five years before the first, despite the fact that Hammer and Dori only met in the first season premiere.

* [[And This Is For]]: Sledge Hammer does this to a hijacker, but after expelling his reasons he punches the hijacker one more time. When the hijacker asks "What was that for?!", Hammer replies "That was gratuitous!"

** And his father, Jack Hammer.

* [[Ax Crazy]]: Arguably Hammer himself, although it was often [[Bowdlerise|Bowdlerised]] for comedic effect.

* [[Bench Breaker]]: Doreau does this accidentally in "Wild About Hammer". The villain for that episode ties her to a chair. Sledge manages to untie her ankles from the chair before he's attacked. While those two are fighting, Doreau manges manages to stand herself up on her now freed legs, only to trip, fall over backwards, break the chair, and free herself from the rest of the rope.

* [[Berserk Button]]: Sledge reacts... badly to being called a wuss.

* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: When he catches a speeder, Hammer ties the man to the hood of his car and drives around the parking lot at high speed.

** In the pilot, he ends a shootout by destroying the building the shooter is on with a rocket launcher.

* [[Drives Like Crazy]]

* [[Empathic Weapon]]: Though the audience never sees anything unusual, Hammer treats his gun as a living, breathing entity.

* [[Executive Meddling]]: Early episodes had a [[Laugh Track]] added by the studio because the executives felt the show was too violent without it. It was removed from the DVD release.

* [[First Name Ultimatum]]

* [[Gag Dub]]: In the German version of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUZMK7fBiZU the opening], someone shouts "ouch!" as if being hit by Hammer's bullet.

* [[Gag Series]]: The second season, even more than the first.

* [[Gun Twirling]]: Sledge does this a lot, including in the above-linked title sequence.

* [[Hand Cannon]]

** Which creates continuity errors since the announcement states that this season takes place five years before, where Hammer met his partner only one year previously.

*** [[Fridge Logic|The continuity error can be reconciled if one assumes the first-season finale took place more than five years after the rest of the first season.]]

* [[Heart Symbol]]: Hammer's car has a bumper sticker reading "I '''♥''' VIOLENCE."

* [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]]: Sledge.

** Originally, he insisted his gun's name was "Gun." Though his relationship with his gun (the mere fact that he has a relationship with his gun) fits this trope.

* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: He may be clueless in many respects but he's really good with his .44

* [[Inkblot Test]]: Sledge received one as part of a psychological evaluation. He identified the pictures as two images of gun violence, "a field of pussy willows," "a [machine gun] blowing away the pussy willows," and "a duck handcuffing a naked woman." The psychologist remarks, "Funny, I've never seen the duck."

* [[I Resemble That Remark]]:

'''Hammer:''' "Is that why you called me in here? To shower me with compliments?" }}

* [[Just Between You and Me]]: Lampshaded when an assassin has Sledge tied to a [[Death Trap]], and tells him how he intends to kill the captain.

* [[Knight Templar]]

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]

* [[Lawful Stupid]]: '''Hammer'''

** Possibly a subversion, however, when you realize that Hammer has no qualms about ignoring laws against [[Police Brutality]] and excessive force...

'''Sledge''' (to Trunk): "You talkin' to me?" }}

* [[Lord Error-Prone]]

'''Sledge:''' "Oh, yes. I had almost no groceries at all." }}

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Several episodes suggest that Sledge uses this. Though he's written off by everybody as a violent idiot, sometimes he manages to crack the case with a sudden admission that he had been taking notes all along. This is [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in an episode when a game show host killed off a contestant who was getting close to the top prize. When Dori wonders how someone that smart got on the show, Sledge explains, "You see, he looks dumb, but turned out to be a genius; a trick I've used myself."

* [[Rule of Funny]]

* [[Running Gag]]

(Everyone takes cover as Sledge retrieves something other than his gun) }}

** Not to mention the inevitable disaster that follows whenever Hammer says, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

* [[Selective Squeamishness Suppression]]: In one episode, Hammer eats his lunch in the same room the coroner was performing an autopsy in.

* [[Shooting Gallery]]: Done in one episode, where Hammer simply shoots all of the targets regardless of whether they're civilians or crooks. Naturally, this annoys Captain Trunk to no end.

'''Hammer:''' "No, I encourage women to wear shoes." }}

'''Sledge Hammer''': "I guess somebody has to." }}

** And in a later episode:

'''Sledge''': "I hope he wasn't watching ''Mr. Belvedere''. I'd hate to think the poor fella went out suffering." }}

** The show took a number of digs at the Republican Party. On the DVD commentary, the director notes that the network was okay with that as long as he gave equal time to digs at the Democrat Party. [[Blatant Lies|He never got around to it]].

* [[Toyota Tripwire]]: Done by Sledge in the premiere to catch a purse-snatcher.

* [[Trigger Happy]]: Hammer isn't just Trigger Happy, he's Trigger Ecstatic.

* [[Would Hit a Girl]]: In the first episode, Sledge shoots a female terrorist, then tells her, "Call me a feminist."

** Subverted twice when he fights a man who turns out to be a woman in disguise.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Buddy Cop Show]]

[[Category:American Series]]