I'm extremely excited about SF Sketchfest's 30th "Hammerversary", a celebration of the prescient television comedy Sledge Hammer! this Sunday, January 17th at 2pm!
A few weeks ago I wrote about revisiting Sledge Hammer! Somehow, Alan Spencer, the show's creator, ran across the post and dropped me a note. We've been chatting a bit about the show, how he managed to come up with something that was so hilarious on-target in 1986, and how today's political climate and current events have brought it back into the limelight.
While I'm sadly amazed by the turns America's police climate have taken, since the mid-80s, Alan has been able to predict it,"This bizarre, fantasy law enforcement and iron clad vigilante justice has its seeds planted in the Reagan Era." At a time when we had a President quoting Dirty Harry, the ends seemed to always justify the means, and thus Detective Sledge Hammer was born.
Sledge was always intended to be very smart political satire, far more a comedic take on the attitudes that made movies like Lethal Weapon, and tv shows like Hunter or the A-Team so popular. Too often, for Alan, Sledge is grouped with Police Squad, which relied on word-play and sight gags, and didn't have the same satirical edge. I think I'm most likely to compare it to the late 70's sitcom Soap, which humorously, and brilliantly, dealt with so many social issues of the time.
Sledge Hammer! has frequently been ripped off. TBS's new Angie Tribeca sounds to have liberally borrowed from it. Until recently, Alan didn't think Sledge was worth revisiting, but in the last few years as our country has been desperately struggling with its police culture, he feels the American public might want to see him again. "If you heard about a police officer talking to their gun, today, you probably wouldn't bat an eye." Alan said.
This Sunday Alan will be joined by cast members Anne-Marie Martin, who played Detective Dori Doreau, Harrison Page, the awesome Captain Trunk, and the amazing David Rasche, who brilliantly played the titular Detective Sledge Hammer.
If you are in the San Francisco area and a fan, do not miss it!
Sunday January 17, 2016 2:00pm – 3:30pm
Eureka Theatre (215 Jackson Street, San Francisco, CA 94111)
