8.0/10 148 votes#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
7.9/10 115 votes#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
7.9/10 101 votes#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
7.8/10 256 votes#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
7.8/10 155 votes#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
7.8/10 140 votes#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
7.8/10 114 votes#7 - 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
7.8/10 97 votes#8 - 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
7.8/10 124 votes#9 - 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
7.7/10 187 votes#10 - 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
7.7/10 140 votes#11 - 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
7.7/10 113 votes#12 - 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
7.7/10 111 votes#13 - 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
7.7/10 100 votes#14 - 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
7.6/10 169 votes#15 - 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
7.6/10 142 votes#16 - 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
7.6/10 128 votes#17 - 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
7.6/10 136 votes#18 - 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
7.6/10 128 votes#19 - 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
7.6/10 116 votes#20 - A Clockwork Hammer
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/17/1987
Vile Video Concepts conditions cops not to testify against a mobster; Hammer meets a computerized version of himself.
Director: Reza Badiyi
Writer: Chris Ruppenthal
7.6/10 106 votes#21 - 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
7.6/10 101 votes#22 - 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
7.6/10 100 votes#23 - Icebreaker
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 12/10/1987
Sledge finds himself competing with a British cop.
Director: Bill Bixby
Writer: Rod Ash
7.6/10 100 votes#24 - 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
7.5/10 158 votes#25 - 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
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 series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character. Al Jean and Mike Reiss, best known for their work on The Simpsons, wrote for the show and worked as story editors.
Genres:ComedyCrime
Network:ABC
Top Episode Ratings Summary
The best episode of "Sledge Hammer!" is "The Spa Who Loved Me", rated 8/10 from 148 user votes. It was directed by Jackie Cooper and written by Robert Wuhl. "The Spa Who Loved Me" aired on 4/28/1987 and is rated 0.1 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Hammer Hits the Rock (a.k.a. Sledge on the Rock)".