SLEDGE HAMMER SEASON TWO - EPISODE 26


“Wild About Hammer” (Airdate: Oct, 8, 1987). Hammer's deft display of machismo gains him an instant admirer in a psychotic new officer who sets her sights on him. When he rejects her advances the woman threatens to murder Dori unless Hammer changes his mind.

Guest Cast: Beverly Leech as Elizabeth Jenkins.

Writer: Alan Spencer.

Director: Gary Walkow.

Trivia: This episode, evocative of “Play Misty For Me”, featured a memorable turn by Beverly Leech.

At one point, the demented Jenkins inhales from an oxygen mask… a spoof of Dennis Hopper’s villain from “Blue Velvet”. Since the film was only in a limited “art house” release, many clueless viewers called the network complaining about the “insensitivity of mocking people with asthma”.

The humor magazine “Cracked” was a great fan of “Sledge” and featured the show on one of their covers. Turnabout’s fair play, so “Cracked” was featured on a tabletop in the character of Jenkins’s apartment.

The coda to this show was a satire on “colorization”… a controversial topic at the time. Nevertheless, many viewers didn’t understand what was going on and fought with their tint controls or phoned their local station in confusion.

Andy Kaufman would have been proud.