Kurt Paul – Through the Shattered Lens

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing SLEDGE HAMMER!, a cop comedy which ran on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The entire series can be found on Prime!

This week, Sledge goes on television.

Episode 1.11 “To Live and Die on TV”

(Dir by Daniel Attias, originally aired on December 13th, 1986)

The Million Dollar Question is the most popular game show on television. Hosted and produced by Bob Kenny (Peter Marshall), the show is famous for the fact that no one has ever won the million dollars. That’s a good thing because Bob doesn’t actually have a million dollars to give anyone. When one contestant gets too close to winning the top prize, Bob has him murdered.

Sledge Hammer and Doreau does some research and discover that Bob has a history of declaring bankruptcy. Doreau also figures out that only stupid-looking people are cast on The Million Dollar Question in order to ensure that they won’t win. Naturally, this leads to Sledge Hammer going undercover as a contestant. With Doreau secretly supplying him with the answers, Sledge gets closer and closer to the million. Bob comes up with a plan to kill Sledge on live television….

This episode was fairly amusing satire of game shows. The Million Dollar Question successfully predicted Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Of course, nowadays, it’s a lot easier to be a millionaire than it was back in 1986 or even 2000. One million dollars in 1986 is the equivalent of three million dollars today. It seems a bit odd that Bob Kenny couldn’t afford to pay that but, then again, the whole point of the episode was that game show hosts are not to be trusted.

I enjoyed Doreau giving Hammer the answers to some of the easiest questions ever asked. Peter Marshall seemed to be having as the sleazy Bob and, as always, David Rasche was amusingly clueless. When he’s told that Trivial Pursuit is a game the requires brains, Hammer replies that the only thing he pursues is justice and all that requires is bullets.

This was a good episode that reminded me that being a millionaire used to mean something.

Trust him. He knows what he’s doing.

Episode 1.7 “All Shook Up”

(Dir by Jackie Cooper, originally aired on November 7th, 1986)

15 Elvis impersonators have been murdered in the city. Doreau wonders how anyone can be so evil. Sledge Hammer wonders about the person who draws the chalk outlines at crime scenes. “What type of life is that?”

Captain Trunk, who spends this episode dealing with a migraine, is upset that there aren’t more clues as to the identity of the murderer. Hammer suggests that it will be easier to solve the case once more Elvises have been murdered. To Trunk’s disappointment, Hammer turns out to be right. A woman witnesses the 16th murder and reports that the killer was not only dressed like Elvis but he was also carrying a golden microphone!

It’s time for Sledge Hammer to go undercover! Doreau enrolls him in a school for Elvis impersonators and then accompanies him to the National Elvis Impersonator Semi-Finals. The highlight of the episode is Sledge Hammer imitating Elvis. He can’t do the voice and he can’t do the dance moves but he’s totally convincing when he draws a gun and shoots it. Later, he shows off his karate moves and wins a trophy.

As for the murderer, he turns out to be the janitor (Raymond Ma) at the Elvis school. He feels that he’s the best Elvis in the world. Unfortunately, for him, he’s electrocuted when he accidentally holds his golden microphone too close to a live wire. With the city safe for Elvis impersonators, Sledge announces that he’s going to Graceland.

This week’s episode was just ludicrous enough to work. Between the Elvis puns and all of the bad singing and dancing, it kept me laughing (or, at the very least, smiling). As usual, David Rasche’s enthusiastic performance more than made up for any jokes that didn’t quite land. This was also a good episode for Anne-Marie Martin, who played Doreau’s relationship with Hammer with just the right combination of frustration and affection.

Sledge Hammer has left the building but he’ll be back next week.