SLEDGE HAMMER SEASON ONE - EPISODE 1

“Under The Gun”
(Airdate: Sept. 23,1986). Sledge Hammer is a no-nonsense cop whose best friend is his .44 Magnum and loves to use excessive force to collar criminals. Recalled from suspension when the mayor's daughter is kidnapped, Hammer vows to bring her back "dead or alive". To keep him in check, Hammer is partnered with Detective Dori Doreau. Together, they unravel a mystery involving a militant organization behind the kidnapping.

Guest Cast: John Vernon as Mayor Flambo, Judie Aaronson as Francine, John Lawlor as Chief Reisner, Don Stark as Kruggle, Joanne Baron as Janice Flambo, D.W. Brown as Luxley, Jesse Aragon as Felix Navidad, Larry Wilmore as Cottage Cheese Clodman, Joe Unger as the soda machine guy.

Writer: Alan Spencer.

Director: Martha Coolidge.

Trivia: John Vernon played the role of Mayor, opposite Clint Eastwood, in the original “Dirty Harry” movie. Also, the name of Reisner assigned to the character of the police chief was an homage to one of the original screenwriters of that same film: Dean Reisner.

Another tribute takes place during a motel scene. The numbers on two adjacent doors are “86” and “99”… a reference to “Get Smart’s” fabled Control agents.

When shooting the sequence where Hammer demolishes an entire building in order to thwart a sniper on a rooftop, bystanders actually thought they were watching a real “Dirty Harry” movie in production.

For broadcast, the San Francisco headline of a newspaper was blurred. Broadcast standards fretted identifying any city that would allow a police inspector as unrepentantly fanatical as Sledge Hammer would yield complaints.

After Hammer rescues Doreau at the end of the pilot, she originally said “Thank God you followed me here.” Hammer’s reply, after his signature gun twirl, was: “Don’t thank God, thank gun.” The connotation of holding a firearm in higher regard than the Almighty worried censors, as well as sponsors, so the dialogue was relooped before the show aired to “Thank goodness you followed me here.” This was followed by: “Don’t thank goodness, thank gun.” Watch their lips closely, and you can see the original lines the actors were saying.

The original pilot was actually an hour, but truncated to half hour sitcom length. Seven minutes, involving a sadistic interrogation scene, were restored for the home video release. Six other minutes have yet to be seen which include a charming, yet ironic, epilogue after Hammer and Doreau exit the Mayor’s office.