How the heck did I miss this show when it was on? The mid-eighties were some of my most formative TV-watching years, and seeing the show in the boxed set form, it was right up my alley!
Some might wonder why I’m starting this now, when the set has been out for a while… all I can say is, trust me. I know what I’m doing.
Sledge was one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shows; most people I knew who would’ve liked it didn’t know about it. It was terrific though, at least before they added that laugh track.
The second season dvd boxset is scheduled for an April release.
Wow… thanks for the heads-up!
Nonsuch : The DVDs peeled off the laugh track.
i <heart> Violence!
this little baby is my own invention, i call it…a Loudener!
<in an Elvis Impersonator contest>
<Hammer>when am i up?
<Doreau> you’re following a guy from Dallas, and on before a guy from Miami
<H>between Dallas and Miami? what a horrible place for me to be
personally, can’t wait for S2, specifically for my favorite episode…
Hammeroid (a Robocop parody)
<H, after being roboticized>
I have the power of 10,000 locomotives <stomps foot, building shakes> guarranteed 6.2 on the Richter scale every time
<raises right hand, his .44 Magnum has been built into his hand>
Please note, now my amigo and i are one <gun fires>…that was a glitch, but it was fun
<trunk> Hammer!
Would anyone care for…refreshments <vends a can of soda>, i am also equipped with AM-FM stereo
<Trunk> Enough, i don’t want a walking entertainment center, i want something that will defeat Borc
<H> Trust me, i am cognizent of what i am doing
My favorite moment so far was in ‘Miss of the Spider-Woman’ - the poisoned Sledge stumbles around Trunk’s office smashing and breaking things, until he comes to the flag… which he salutes - then goes on smashing and breaking other things.
I loved that show, and was watching it religiously when it first came out. Was really disappointed to see it only last two seasons.
Of course, it didn’t have much of a chance to begin with – I think they put it up against the Cosby Show timeslot.
“Doreau, that was exceedingly violent and completely unneccesary. I loved it!”
Considering how much I missed growing up (never saw Wizard of Oz… took me until college to see Star Wars), I’m surprised I caught Sledge Hammer when it was on. Until the DVD’s came out recently, I thought me and my dad were the only people who ever saw the show.
But I still remember one scene, when they were trying to brainwash him, and finally gave up:
SH: Forget it, you can’t scare me. You can turn my stomach, but you can’t scare me. I’m a brick wall, the only guy who can get through to me is me. And I’m on my side.
Yeah, how did you? 
The first five minutes of the premiere, when Sledge took out the sniper, was enough to sell me on the series for life. Just wish I could get the DVD set…
The first season ending cliffhanger ranks up there with Newhart.
The show’s creators did not know if they’d be renewed for a second season, so they had Sledge accidentally setting off a nuke that levels the city. There’s just smouldering rubble and you hear Trunk yelling, “Hammer!!!”. When they got renewed, there was an onscreen blurb stating that the second season took pace five years BEFORE the first! It didn’t matter that Sledge and Doreau hadn’t met at that time. They never brought it up again. Brilliant!
On the DVD, Alan Spencer comments that he could not get away with that scene on today’s TV.
DangerDad and I both loved Sledge Hammer when it was on (we were about 13-14–we did not know each other, as this sentence implies) and gleefully watched the DVDs recently. Great stuff! The commentary was good in parts, and really annoying in the last episode.
SLEDGE HAMMER: “Hey, guns don’t kill people! Bullets do!”
(A joke later recycled for the Charlton Heston episode of That’s My Bush!.)
I only remember one bit: Hammer defuses a bomb on live TV.
Cops watching in Police station : *Go, Hammer, Go.
Go, Hammer, Go.
Go, Hammer, Go…
Police Chief, watching in his office : Go, Bomb, Go.
Go, Bomb, Go.
Go, Bomb, Go…
I never got that joke when I first saw the episode on TV. I didn’t know it was referring to the show’s suicide schedule. In the US it was up against Dallas and Miami Vice apparently. No wonder the show died.
“Beat yourself up!” I used to love that show. The best episode was the Assault On Precinct 13 ripoff/homage, where the station was under siege by devil-worshippers.
“Hammer! You can’t take out 500 cultists with six bullets!”
“Well, sure, I’ll need a couple lucky ricochets…”
-Joe, paraphrasing