Editing Sledge Hammer! (section)

===Ratings and second season===
Despite critical acclaim<ref name="auto4"/> and garnering high ratings in a special time slot just for the debut,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/23/arts/2-new-series-matlock-and-sledge-hammer.htmll|title=2 NEW SERIES, 'MATLOCK' AND 'SLEDGE HAMMER'|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 23, 1986}}</ref> ''Sledge Hammer!'' struggled in the ratings partly due to being repeatedly bounced around ABC's fall schedule.<ref name="auto"/>

During the same season ''Sledge Hammer!'' made its debut, ABC scheduled a high-profile comeback vehicle for a then 75-year-old [[Lucille Ball]] entitled ''[[Life with Lucy]]'' that was not well received by critics or audiences. After only eight episodes aired, Ball's show was canceled and ''Sledge Hammer!'' was given her timeslot.<ref name="auto4"/>

''Sledge Hammer!'' attracted weekly viewership of nineteen million viewers who followed the show religiously through its many time slot shifts. The fact that the series appealed to key target demographics also kept it on the schedule.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moviesinfocus.com/interview-sledge-hammer-creator-alan-spencer/|title=Interview: SLEDGE HAMMER! Creator Alan Spencer|work=Movies in Focus|date=March 10, 2012|access-date=January 16, 2023|archive-date=January 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116042310/https://www.moviesinfocus.com/interview-sledge-hammer-creator-alan-spencer/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Because ABC intended to cancel the series, the last episode of the first season ends with Hammer accidentally destroying the city when he attempts to disarm a stolen [[nuclear warhead]]. This episode received much better than expected ratings, in large part because the network had moved the show to a better time slot. ABC changed its mind and renewed the show for a second season.<ref name="cracked"/>

The second-season premiere perfunctorily explained that it and following episodes were set "five years before" the explosion, though Doreau is Sledge's partner in the second season, despite being introduced to him in the pilot, and despite the presence of references to contemporary events, rather than those of five years earlier.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=dan&p=116&item=T:18655|title=SLEDGE HAMMER!: A CLOCKWORK HAMMER {SECOND SEASON PREMIERE} (TV)|work=[[Paley Center for Media]]|date=September 17, 1987}}</ref>

The second season suffered from another extremely undesirable time slot (this time against ''[[The Cosby Show]]''), a reduced budget, and lowered filming standard (they went from [[35mm movie film|35 mm]] in season 1 to [[16mm film]] in season 2).{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} The cutbacks contributed to the show not being renewed for a third season.<ref name="avclub" />