|
|
|
|
Sledge Hammer!
One of the oldest and most popular types of show to appear on television is the police procedural series. Usually it follows a gruff detective as he pounds the pavement searching for clues that will inevitably bring the dastardly criminal to justice. in the seventy years or so that TV has been a dominant fixture in our living rooms I sincerely doubt there was a single season that did not feature one or more representatives of this enduring genre. It took a few decades but the idea that there were alternative methods to depict police work began to creep onto the network’s programming schedules. In 1961another venerable stable of television, the situational comedy was combined with the backbone of any police department, the patrol car officer resulting in the hysterical ‘Car 54’. Then in 1974 the station house based detective squad took a humorous turn with the cult favorite, ‘Barney Miller’. But it took until 1986 for the police sir-com to take a definite twisted turn to the bizarre with ‘Sledge Hammer!’ This show took the combination of two very formulaic types of series and concocted an entirely new series in the process. ‘Sledge Hammer’ represents something not frequently popularized on TV, the satiric farce. It was far more over the top than what even seasoned television viewers were used to watching when sitting down to relax in front of the tube. This series pushed the limits of broadcast television at that time. The Standards and Practices division of the four major networks had a vice like grip on the permissible content although that was about to change. In the eighties the advent of cable TV was at hand and the demands and expectations of the audience were starting to change. If this series was produced now on HBO, Showtime or, more likely, F/X there is little doubt that not only would they get away with a whole lot more but it most likely would become a runaway success. This is a prime example of a show that happened upon the scene just before its time. Now, Image Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD. This is one that was brilliant but cancelled lasting only two seasons. At least in this instance its cancellation was not due to mismanagement by the network as it was to the time was just not right. Fortunately, now it fits in nicely. Inspector Sledge Hammer (David Rasche) of the San Francisco Police Department is the embodiment of the tough, no nonsense cop. Created in the mold of the cinematic legendary character, ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan Sledge is brutal and sadistically violent. He is more likely to break the bones of the perpetrator in the process of breaking their constitutional rights. He only thing Sledge can truly depend on his trusty .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 29 with the custom grip sporting his trademark sledgehammer logo. The feelings he manifests towards his weapon could be the topic of a Freudian treatise on fixation; he sleeps with it, talks to it and even showers with his beloved gun. His methods are not exactly consistent with normal established police procedures. This is made abundantly clear in the pilot episode where he employs an unorthodox means to deal with a sniper held up on a rooftop. Traditional logic would mandate negotiator or perhaps a surgical strike with an S.W.A.T. squad. Sledge has a more direct, albeit radical approach; he blows the roof off the building with a bazooka. In a time when the networks were leaning towards political correctness Inspector Hammer deals with a mobster by defenestrating him to his death. This propensity to violence takes on an over top proportions with every moment he spends on the job reflected by his vanity license plate: ‘I ♥ VIOLENCE’. He was ahead of his time by eschewing the habit of smoking although instead of politely asking a person to put it out he’d rather shoot it out from between their lips. The writers knew how to present a show so out of the norm by including a character to counter balance the extremes of Hammer. Juxtaposed to him is partner, Dori Doreau (Anne-Marie Martin). She is the yin to his yang; a kind hearted, sweet person who is frequently deeply resentful of Hammer’s crass behavior. This character provides the necessary counter balance to Hammer attempting to make it a bit more palatable to the critics of the time. Caught between them is the requisite trope, the ulcer ridden supervisory, Captain Trunk (Harrison Page). He is the archetype that is seen in every flick cast in the shadow of the ‘Sudden Impact’ franchise.The humor is slapstick bur that belies the underlying intelligence that infuses the series. It is a sharply crafted satiric look at all the tough cop action movies that have become part of our collective consciousness. The only downside of this series is that the sensibilities enforced by broadcast television hampered what the writers could do. Even with that limitation the show manages to work exceedingly well. For a series that just attained its silver anniversary it held together contextually remarkably well. This is in large part due to how much a part of the cinematic landscape the source material has become. Instead of being restricted by the time the series’ creator, Alan Spencer uses it as a means to subtly get his point across. If you missed this series the 25 years ago it is about time you expose yourself to how outrageous a cop comedy series can be, in a time when sit-coms were all about eccentric families with quirky next door neighbors this show came along to help break the mold. Posted 12/09/11 | ||||||||
|
