7.9/10261 votes#1 - 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
7.8/10191 votes#2 - 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
7.6/10171 votes#3 - 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
7.5/10160 votes#4 - 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
7.8/10156 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
7.3/10148 votes#6 - To Sledge, with Love
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/31/1986
Hammer is asked to straighten out some young hoods that have taken over their high school. He discovers that the gang is working for a local car theft ring. Hammer convinces the teens to put their violent nature to good use by training them to become cops.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/10155 votes#7 - All Shook Up
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/6/1986
Hammer and Dori are assigned to locate a serial killer who is bumping off Elvis impersonators. In order to flush out the killer Hammer attends The Famous School For Elvis Impersonators where all the victims were once students. Complete with sequins and pompadour, Hammer enters an Elvis contest and sings The Battle Hymn of the Republic… setting himself up as bait.
Director: Jackie Cooper
Writer: Alan Spencer
7.8/10141 votes#8 - 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
7.6/10144 votes#9 - 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
7.3/10132 votes#10 - If I Had a Little Hammer
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/29/1986
Hammer and Dori pose as a couple wanting to adopt a baby in order to discover who is kidnapping infants from a hospital maternity ward. They learn that the hospital’s head nurse and her brother are behind the abductions, which lead to an incongruous shootout in a baby supply warehouse.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: N/A
7.4/10139 votes#11 - To Live and Die on TV
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/13/1986
After a winning game show contestant is murdered, Hammer investigates. He learns that the show’s host did the killing, obscuring the fact that he’d also embezzled the prize money. Hammer signs on as a contestant to make the host try to kill again.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/10131 votes#12 - 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
7.3/10139 votes#13 - The Old Man and the Sledge
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/3/1987
Hammer gets to meet his idol, a retired police detective with a reputation for old school toughness, and gets him a job as a security guard at a local jewelry store. When the store is robbed, the old man is wounded and ends up at a retirement home. Hammer feels responsible for what happened and vows to get revenge on the thieves… not realizing he’s also giving the old man one last shot at glory.
Director: Charles Braverman
Writer: N/A
7.6/10139 votes#14 - 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
7.5/10129 votes#15 - 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
7.5/10129 votes#16 - The Color of Hammer
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/24/1987
When Hammer's favorite hanging judge dismisses charges against a local mobster, Hammer investigates. The judge is found murdered with the only clue leading to a shady pool hall. Sledge poses as a pool shark to uncover the racketeer who has been blackmailing city officials.
Director: Bruce Bilson
Writer: N/A
7.4/10131 votes#17 - Brother, Can You Spare a Crime?
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/31/1987
When a handsome jewel thief is arrested, he manages to convince Hammer that he’s his long-lost brother… enlisting Sledge’s aid in his rehabilitation.
Director: Charles Braverman
Writer: Gerald Gardner
7.8/10142 votes#18 - 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
7.4/10126 votes#19 - Sledgepoo
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 2/14/1987
Hammer's search for a jewel thief leads to an upscale beauty salon, where henchmen rob the society matrons’ homes during their hair appointments. Hammer goes undercover as a hairdresser in order to stop the British thieves who are after the ladies' jewels.
Director: Thomas Schlamme
Writer: N/A
7.5/10130 votes#20 - Comrade Hammer
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 2/21/1987
Hammer is assigned to protect a Russian scientist who is being pursued by the KGB, leading to a cross country train journey fraught with peril.
Director: Bruce Bilson
Writer: David Ketchum
7.6/10130 votes#21 - 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
8.1/10149 votes#22 - 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
The Best Episodes of Sledge Hammer! Season 1
Every episode of Sledge Hammer! Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Sledge Hammer! Season 1!
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
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Under the Gun" is the best rated episode of "Sledge Hammer!" season 1. It scored 7.9/10 based on 261 votes. Directed by Martha Coolidge and written by Alan Spencer, it aired on 9/23/1986. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Hammer Gets Nailed".