Show cover for Sledge Hammer!

The Best Episodes of Sledge Hammer!

Every episode of Sledge Hammer! ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Sledge Hammer!!

Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The...
Genres:ComedyCrime
Network:ABC

Best Episodes Summary

"The Spa Who Loved Me" is the best rated episode of "Sledge Hammer!". It scored 8/10 based on 148 votes. Directed by Jackie Cooper and written by Robert Wuhl, it aired on 4/28/1987. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Hammer Hits the Rock (a.k.a. Sledge on the Rock)".

  • The Spa Who Loved Me
    8.0/10148 votes
    Loading...

    #1 - The Spa Who Loved Me

    Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 4/28/1987

    Bodybuilding terrorists led by a female aerobics instructor steal a nuclear warhead from the military and threaten to destroy the entire country. Hammer and Dori are assigned to the case and are captured by the group. When Hammer gets control of the situation he tries to disarm the device. Seconds later, the bomb explodes.

    Director: Jackie Cooper

    Writer: Robert Wuhl

  • Hammer Hits the Rock (a.k.a. Sledge on the Rock)
    7.9/10116 votes
    Loading...

    #2 - Hammer Hits the Rock (a.k.a. Sledge on the Rock)

    Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 11/12/1987

    Sledge poses as an assassin to discover a mobster's secret hideout.

    Director: Bill Bixby

    Writer: Rod Ash

  • It Happened What Night?
    7.9/10102 votes
    Loading...

    #3 - It Happened What Night?

    Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 2/5/1988

    The precinct thinks that Sledge and Dori have slept together when all that appears on a surveillance tape is them drunk and in bed.

    Director: Bill Bixby

    Writer: Rod Ash

  • Under the Gun
    7.8/10259 votes
    Loading...

    #4 - Under the Gun

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/1986

    Sledge Hammer is a no-nonsense cop whose best friend is his .44 Magnum, and who just loves to use excessive force to collar criminals. In the opener, the mayor's daughter is kidnapped, and Hammer vows to bring her back -- "dead or alive."

    Director: Martha Coolidge

    Writer: Alan Spencer

  • Dori Day Afternoon
    7.8/10155 votes
    Loading...

    #5 - Dori Day Afternoon

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/24/1986

    When Hammer and Dori make a trip to the bank they become involved in an armed robbery. The detectives are taken hostage and the robbers demand a plane to take them to Rio. Dori tries to convince Hammer to let her use her training in terrorist psychology and persuasion before he starts blowing everyone away.

    Director: James Sheldon

    Writer: N/A

  • Over My Dead Bodyguard
    7.8/10140 votes
    Loading...

    #6 - Over My Dead Bodyguard

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/13/1986

    When the press reveals that Capt. Trunk is scheduled to testify against a mob boss, Hammer is assigned as his bodyguard. In an attempt on his life Trunk is wounded and taken to the hospital. Sledge decides to make a bogus report that the captain’s been killed, but an assassin learns Trunk is still alive and infiltrates the tightly secured hospital posing as a physician.

    Director: Charles S. Dubin

    Writer: Al Jean, Mike Reiss

  • Desperately Seeking Dori
    7.8/10141 votes
    Loading...

    #7 - Desperately Seeking Dori

    Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 2/7/1987

    While pursuing a counterfeiter, Doreau gets knocked on the head. The results are a personality disorder that makes her behave in the same anti-social, violent manner as her partner Hammer.

    Director: Bob Sweeney

    Writer: Al Jean, Mike Reiss

  • Wild About Hammer
    7.8/10114 votes
    Loading...

    #8 - Wild About Hammer

    Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/8/1987

    A female cop with a sadistic/ masochistic fetish falls for and kidnaps Sledge.

    Director: Gary Walkow

    Writer: Alan Spencer

  • Last of the Red Hot Vampires
    7.8/10115 votes
    Loading...

    #9 - Last of the Red Hot Vampires

    Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 11/19/1987

    An old time movie vampire is falsely accused of murdering his cast and crew.

    Director: Bill Bixby

    Writer: Alan Spencer

  • They Call Me Mr. Trunk
    7.8/1098 votes
    Loading...

    #10 - They Call Me Mr. Trunk

    Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 12/17/1987

    Trunk must solve the puzzle of why the army has surrounded the entire precinct before the entire staff dies.

    Director: Seymour Robbie

    Writer: Rod Ash

  • Here's to You, Mrs. Hammer
    7.8/10127 votes
    Loading...

    #11 - Here's to You, Mrs. Hammer

    Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 2/12/1988

    Sledge's ex-wife marries his best high school friend & forces Sledge to think about his lifestyle.

    Director: Bill Bixby

    Writer: N/A

  • Hammer Gets Nailed
    7.7/10188 votes
    Loading...

    #12 - Hammer Gets Nailed

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/26/1986

    A reporter spends a day with Hammer and gets more than he bargained for, and Hammer gets fired. Guest Stars Ronnie Schell as Phil Gumm

    Director: Charles Braverman

    Writer: Al Jean, Mike Reiss

  • Vertical
    7.7/10107 votes
    Loading...

    #13 - Vertical

    Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 10/29/1987

    While suffering from vertigo, Sledge must protect the girlfriend of a mobster.

    Director: Reza Badiyi

    Writer: David Ketchum

  • Hammeroid
    7.7/10112 votes
    Loading...

    #14 - Hammeroid

    Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 11/26/1987

    After breaking nearly all his bones, Sledge encases himself in a robotic suit to stop a robot.

    Director: Gary Walkow

    Writer: Ron Friedman

  • Model Dearest
    7.7/10101 votes
    Loading...

    #15 - Model Dearest

    Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 1/7/1988

    Dori poses as a model to get the dirt on a white slavery ring.

    Director: Dick Martin

    Writer: David Ketchum

  • Witless
    7.6/10170 votes
    Loading...

    #16 - Witless

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/3/1986

    After a mobster puts out a “one week only” million-dollar contract on Hammer, every killer in the city, and some financially strapped cops, tries to claim the prize. After an attempted hit takes place in Capt. Trunk' s office, Hammer is ordered to spend the week in a small "Hamish” village. Hammer proceeds to disrupt the lives of this pacifistic community. By the time the hired gunmen arrive, the formerly peaceful farmers, who Hammer corrupted into the ways of violence, assist him.

    Director: Jackie Cooper

    Writer: Alan Spencer

  • Magnum Farce
    7.6/10143 votes
    Loading...

    #17 - Magnum Farce

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/22/1986

    When a group of vigilante cops begin killing criminals who have gotten off due to legal technicalities, Hammer is assigned to infiltrate the group. To test his loyalty the rogues assign him the task of killing a female district attorney who is out to stop them. While this same D.A. tries to seduce Hammer in her home, Sledge learns that she is really the leader of the vigilantes and plans to kill him.

    Director: Charles Braverman

    Writer: N/A

  • Miss of the Spider Woman
    7.6/10129 votes
    Loading...

    #18 - Miss of the Spider Woman

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/20/1986

    Hammer is poisoned by a mysterious woman and learns that he has only twelve hours to live. Hammer learns that the only cure for the poison is held by a group of monks in the Andes who have taken a vow of silence. Severely weakened, Hammer must hunt down the perpetrators before it’s too late… made worse by the fact that it’s also daylight savings time.

    Director: Charles Braverman

    Writer: Al Jean, Mike Reiss

  • State of Sledge
    7.6/10137 votes
    Loading...

    #19 - State of Sledge

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/10/1987

    When Hammer arrests the leader of a Satanic cult, Internal Affairs insists that the cultist be allowed his one phone call. Soon after the cultist makes the call, the precinct headquarters is surrounded by hundreds of demented devil worshippers. With communications to the outside cut off, Hammer devises a risky plan to lift the state of siege.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Al Jean, Mike Reiss

  • Jagged Sledge
    7.6/10129 votes
    Loading...

    #20 - Jagged Sledge

    Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 4/21/1987

    Hammer goes on trial for the murder of the city's leading crime boss. Capt. Trunk and Dori are called upon to give damaging testimony against Hammer and everyone is convinced he’s guilty, including Hammer himself.

    Director: Reza Badiyi

    Writer: Chris Ruppenthal

  • Dressed to Call
    7.6/10102 votes
    Loading...

    #21 - Dressed to Call

    Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/5/1987

    Sledge must discover who's making threatening calls to a radio psychologist.

    Director: Jackie Cooper

    Writer: N/A

  • Icebreaker
    7.6/10102 votes
    Loading...

    #22 - Icebreaker

    Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 12/10/1987

    Sledge finds himself competing with a British cop.

    Director: Bill Bixby

    Writer: Rod Ash

  • Suppose They Gave a War and Sledge Came?
    7.6/10101 votes
    Loading...

    #23 - Suppose They Gave a War and Sledge Came?

    Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 1/22/1988

    To investigate the death of a prominent businessman, Sledge joins a weekend war gaming organization.

    Director: Dick Martin

    Writer: Chris Ruppenthal

  • They Shoot Hammers, Don't They?
    7.5/10158 votes
    Loading...

    #24 - They Shoot Hammers, Don't They?

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/17/1986

    An escaped convict wrecks havoc in the city, promising even more destruction unless Hammer agrees to meet him in an old west style showdown. The convict is John Kogan, Hammer's childhood rival as well as former partner in the police department. Kogan is also the only man faster on the draw than Hammer… a fact that Sledge is well aware of.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Alan Spencer

  • Haven't Gun, Will Travel
    7.5/10127 votes
    Loading...

    #25 - Haven't Gun, Will Travel

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/17/1987

    A gang of silver thieves, working in cahoots with an unscrupulous police psychiatrist, destroys Hammer's psyche when they steal his beloved 44 Magnum… effectively crippling the crime fighter.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Gerald Gardner