Ads frequently used the unrelated song "Sledgehammer" by British pop musician Peter Gabriel, which was released the same year as this series began. The producers did approach Gabriel's people about using the song for the show's theme. They said it was fine...just pay them a million dollars every time an episode airs! The producers got the hint.
Sledge was originally meant to shoot straight at the camera at the end of the opening credits, but the network forced them to change it to Sledge looking and shooting toward the side because they felt audiences would be too disturbed to see someone shooting at them from their TV.
Early episodes had a Laugh Track added by the studio because the executives felt the show was too violent without it. It was removed from the DVD release.
No Budget: The second season's budget was pared down to the bone. Among other cost-cutting measures, the show had to switch from shooting on 35mm film to 16mm film, resulting in a noticeable drop in image quality.
Real-Life Relative: Heather Lupton, David Rasche's real-life wife, played Sledge’s ex-wife Susan Hilton in the final episode, "Here's to You, Mrs. Hammer".
Screwed by the Network: Discussed in the main article. Amusingly, despite all the screwing, ABC ended up commissioning another show from New World Television, The Wonder Years.
You Look Familiar: Mark Blankfield played three different characters in three different episodes — a professor, a henchman, and the leader of a devil-worshipping cult.
What Could Have Been: Alan Spencer's original plan was to pitch the show to HBO and developed a script that was full of profanity. Everything had to get cleaned up significantly when it got picked up for a broadcast network instead.
