SLEDGE HAMMER SEASON ONE - EPISODE 7

“All Shook Up”
(Airdate: Nov. 7, 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.

Guest Cast: Kurt Paul as the coroner, Raymond Ma as Yamamoto, Tom McFadden as Mr. P, Lee Shael as the emcee, Viveca Parker as Madge, Jonathan Von Brana as Elvis in lineup, Mark Lowenthal as the sketch artist, Pete Willcox as the third Elvis impersonator, Robert Wexler as the nerd.

Writer: Alan Spencer.

Director: Jackie Cooper.

Trivia: “Sledge Hammer!” creator Alan Spencer was a friend of the late Andy Kaufman, whose impersonation of Elvis was rumored to be a favorite of the King himself, and intended this episode as a tribute to the bygone “The Man on the Moon”.

No actual Elvis songs were allowed to be used as Colonel Parker was reportedly outraged by the premise of this episode.

“All Shook Up” featured a sarcastic jab towards “Hammer’s” lead-in at the time, the sitcom “Mr. Belvedere”, and caused a subsequent feud between the two shows. This bad blood carried over to “The Tonight Show” where “Belvedere” star Bob Ueker, one of the great thespians of all time, made a wisecrack about “Sledge Hammer” while on panel… and would lead Spencer to hurl an even more vicious insult at “Belvedere” in a later episode.

“All Shook Up” introduced the recurring character of coroner Norman Blates, modeled after Anthony Perkins’ ultimate “mama’s boy” from the movie “Psycho”. Actor Kurt Paul learned from the best, having performed as the late Perkins’ stand-in during the latter sequels to the Hitchcock classic. A pleasant dividend took place, as “Sledge” creator Alan Spencer became not only a good friend of Kurt Paul… but Anthony Perkins as well.