Magnum Farce
Encyclopedia
"Magnum Farce" is the ninth episode of the television series Sledge Hammer!
. It originally aired on ABC
in the United States on November 22, 1986. The episode is a parody of the 1973 film Magnum Force
.
), who demands to see Trunk. Seeing that Hammer is on his way to Trunk's office, she follows him until she realizes he led her to the men's restroom.
At Trunk's office, Hammer exchanges words with Collins until she tells Trunk that the three victims were mobsters who were each gunned down the day after they were exonerated of their crimes. She then points out that drug pusher Rudy Medwick (Jay Rasummy) is next, as he was just cleared of his charges.
Hammer and Doreau track down Medwick to a massage parlor, where he is relaxing in a sauna. Medwick refuses police protection as he argues with the duo, who are then summoned out of the sauna room by a phone call. Two police officers in motorcycle gear enter the sauna and gun down Medwick. Hammer returns to the sauna and sees Medwick barely alive, but unable to speak. Before dying, Medwick mimes to Hammer the assailants, which Hammer does not understand.
Back at the precinct, Trunk shows Hammer the bullet casings found at the murder scenes. Hammer takes a bite on one and immediately identifies it as police-issue. They suspect that rogue policemen are behind the murders. Seeing that Hammer is the perfect man to infiltrate their secret organization, Trunk and Hammer stage a fight to attract the vigilantes' attention. Officers Jackson (David Leisure
) and Braddock (Mark Rolston
) see the fight and a potential recruit in Hammer.
Later after the fight, Hammer receives an invitation by the vigilantes and passes it to Trunk. He returns to his apartment and meets Jackson and Braddock, who blindfold him and take him to their hideout. There, they tell him his initiation rite is to kill Collins.
He heads to Collins' office, where she reveals herself to be mastermind of the vigilantes. He already figured it out when he smelled her perfume while he was blindfolded at the hideout earlier on. She invites him over to her home, where they dance and he admires her gun collection. He asks her for the list of vigilantes, but she walks out of the living room to change her clothes. While searching around the room for the list, she calls him upstairs, where she invites him in the hot tub. Upon acquiring the list in the room, he draws his gun at her, but she attacks him with a spear gun. While being chased by Collins, Hammer shoots at her, forgetting that he loaded his gun with blanks for the prior initiation. She is armed with a shotgun, but has a bad aim and misses Hammer during the chase. He is cornered when Doreau appears and points her gun at Collins. Doreau tells Hammer she followed him and she was not convinced by the fight he staged with Trunk. However, Jackson and Braddock appear behind her and force her to drop her gun. Trunk suddenly arrives on the scene and disarms the two vigilantes. He reveals to Hammer that he lives next-door and happened to hear gunshots. While being arrested, Collins requests to give a final word to Hammer. She punches Hammer in the face before being taken away.
Back at the precinct, it is revealed that Collins conducted her own defense and was released on a technicality. Upon leaving Trunk's office, Hammer is confronted by Collins, who points a gun at him. But due to her bad sense of aiming, she misses, and is arrested promptly.
and actress Kathleen Bailey went to school together in the 1970s. Spencer did not realize Bailey pursued acting until the day she auditioned for her role.
Not too long after this episode aired, David Leisure became Joe Isuzu
, the lying salesman in the Isuzu
commercials. He returned to this show as a prison guard in the season 2 episode "Hammer Hits the Rock
".
Sledge Hammer!
Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character,...
. It originally aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the United States on November 22, 1986. The episode is a parody of the 1973 film Magnum Force
Magnum Force
Magnum Force is a 1973 American police thriller film and the second to feature Clint Eastwood as maverick cop Harry Callahan after the 1971 film Dirty Harry. Ted Post, who also directed Eastwood in TV's Rawhide and the feature film Hang 'Em High, directed the second film in the Dirty Harry series...
.
Plot summary
Hammer is drying his hair when he hears on the radio that a man had just been gunned down by an unknown vigilante, which marks the third such incident. Upon arriving at the precinct, he meets District Attorney Evelyn Collins (Janice LyndeJanice Lynde
Janice Lynde in Houston, Texas and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is an American actress.Lynde began her professional career at ten years old, playing piano and singing solos with the Dallas Symphony. She attended college at Indiana University, studying music, and then the University of...
), who demands to see Trunk. Seeing that Hammer is on his way to Trunk's office, she follows him until she realizes he led her to the men's restroom.
At Trunk's office, Hammer exchanges words with Collins until she tells Trunk that the three victims were mobsters who were each gunned down the day after they were exonerated of their crimes. She then points out that drug pusher Rudy Medwick (Jay Rasummy) is next, as he was just cleared of his charges.
Hammer and Doreau track down Medwick to a massage parlor, where he is relaxing in a sauna. Medwick refuses police protection as he argues with the duo, who are then summoned out of the sauna room by a phone call. Two police officers in motorcycle gear enter the sauna and gun down Medwick. Hammer returns to the sauna and sees Medwick barely alive, but unable to speak. Before dying, Medwick mimes to Hammer the assailants, which Hammer does not understand.
Back at the precinct, Trunk shows Hammer the bullet casings found at the murder scenes. Hammer takes a bite on one and immediately identifies it as police-issue. They suspect that rogue policemen are behind the murders. Seeing that Hammer is the perfect man to infiltrate their secret organization, Trunk and Hammer stage a fight to attract the vigilantes' attention. Officers Jackson (David Leisure
David Leisure
David Russell Leisure is an American actor best known for his role as Charley Dietz in the sitcom Empty Nest from 1988 to 1995 and fictional automotive "pitch man" Joe Isuzu in a series of North American television commercials for Isuzu from 1986 to 1990, and again from 1999 to 2001.Additional...
) and Braddock (Mark Rolston
Mark Rolston
-Career:Rolston played PFC M. Drake in Aliens , Hans in Lethal Weapon 2 , Stef in RoboCop 2 , Bogs Diamond in The Shawshank Redemption , J. Scar in Eraser , Chief Dennis Wilson in Daylight , Wayne Bryce in Hard Rain and Special Agent in Charge Warren Russ in Rush Hour...
) see the fight and a potential recruit in Hammer.
Later after the fight, Hammer receives an invitation by the vigilantes and passes it to Trunk. He returns to his apartment and meets Jackson and Braddock, who blindfold him and take him to their hideout. There, they tell him his initiation rite is to kill Collins.
He heads to Collins' office, where she reveals herself to be mastermind of the vigilantes. He already figured it out when he smelled her perfume while he was blindfolded at the hideout earlier on. She invites him over to her home, where they dance and he admires her gun collection. He asks her for the list of vigilantes, but she walks out of the living room to change her clothes. While searching around the room for the list, she calls him upstairs, where she invites him in the hot tub. Upon acquiring the list in the room, he draws his gun at her, but she attacks him with a spear gun. While being chased by Collins, Hammer shoots at her, forgetting that he loaded his gun with blanks for the prior initiation. She is armed with a shotgun, but has a bad aim and misses Hammer during the chase. He is cornered when Doreau appears and points her gun at Collins. Doreau tells Hammer she followed him and she was not convinced by the fight he staged with Trunk. However, Jackson and Braddock appear behind her and force her to drop her gun. Trunk suddenly arrives on the scene and disarms the two vigilantes. He reveals to Hammer that he lives next-door and happened to hear gunshots. While being arrested, Collins requests to give a final word to Hammer. She punches Hammer in the face before being taken away.
Back at the precinct, it is revealed that Collins conducted her own defense and was released on a technicality. Upon leaving Trunk's office, Hammer is confronted by Collins, who points a gun at him. But due to her bad sense of aiming, she misses, and is arrested promptly.
Production notes
Creator Alan SpencerAlan Spencer
Alan Spencer is an American television writer and producer, known for creating the 1980s satirical police series Sledge Hammer!. He was one of the youngest people ever to join the Writers Guild of America, writing for television at the age of fifteen...
and actress Kathleen Bailey went to school together in the 1970s. Spencer did not realize Bailey pursued acting until the day she auditioned for her role.
Not too long after this episode aired, David Leisure became Joe Isuzu
Joe Isuzu
Joe Isuzu was a fictional spokesman used in a series of television advertisements for Isuzu cars and trucks. Created by the ad agency Della Femina, Travisano, and Partners, the segments aired on American television in 1986-90, reaching their zenith in 1987 after the character was featured during...
, the lying salesman in the Isuzu
Isuzu
, is a Japanese car, commercial vehicle and heavy truck manufacturing company, headquartered in Tokyo. In 2005, Isuzu became the world's largest manufacturer of medium to heavy duty trucks. It has assembly and manufacturing plants in the Japanese city of Fujisawa, as well as in the prefectures...
commercials. He returned to this show as a prison guard in the season 2 episode "Hammer Hits the Rock
Hammer Hits the Rock
"Hammer Hits the Rock" is the 30th episode of the television series Sledge Hammer! and the eighth episode of the series' second and final season...
".