Sledge Hammer! (1986)

Action · Comedy

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.

IMDb rating: 8.1 (8,810 votes)
Episode average: 7.5 -0.6 vs IMDb
Seasons: 2
Streaming (US): Amazon Prime Video
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Declining trajectory: each season no better than the last. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well. See every Declining show in the explorer →

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 2 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1986)

7.56 avg 22 episodes 7.7 → 7.9 24 min avg

Rebound

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Under the Gun	7.7	346
2	Hammer Gets Nailed	7.7	258
3	Witless	7.6	227
4	They Shoot Hammers, Don't They?	7.5	205
5	Dori Day Afternoon	7.8	203
6	To Sledge, with Love	7.3	190
7	All Shook Up	7.4	199
8	Over My Dead Bodyguard	7.8	182
9	Magnum Farce	7.6	183
10	If I Had a Little Hammer	7.3	170
11	To Live and Die on TV	7.5	174
12	Miss of the Spider Woman	7.6	166
13	The Old Man and the Sledge	7.3	169
14	State of Sledge	7.6	172
15	Haven't Gun, Will Travel	7.5	158
16	The Color of Hammer	7.5	157
17	Brother, Can You Spare a Crime?	7.3	158
18	Desperately Seeking Dori	7.9	170
19	Sledgepoo	7.4	154
20	Comrade Hammer	7.5	158
21	Jagged Sledge	7.6	159
22	The Spa Who Loved Me	7.9	183

Season 2 (1987)

7.34 avg 19 episodes 7.2 → 7.8 24 min avg

Big finale

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	A Clockwork Hammer	7.2	148
2	Big Nazi on Campus	6.9	144
3	Play It Again Sledge	7.4	145
4	Wild About Hammer	7.4	146
5	Death of a Few Salesmen	7.1	135
6	Vertical	7.4	136
7	Dressed to Call	7.3	129
8	Hammer Hits the Rock	7.6	145
9	The Last of the Red Hot Vampires	7.5	147
10	Hammeroid	7.5	143
11	Sledge in Toyland	7.1	130
12	Icebreaker	7.3	132
13	They Call Me Mr. Trunk	7.5	127
14	Model Dearest	7.4	130
15	Sledge, Rattle 'n' Roll	7.0	130
16	Suppose They Gave a War and Sledge Came?	7.2	129
17	The Secret of My Excess	7.3	119
18	It Happened What Night?	7.6	130
19	Here's to You, Mrs. Hammer	7.8	156

Sledge Hammer! (1986)

Cast

Seasons

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