If I Had a Little Hammer

"If I Had a Little Hammer" is the tenth episode of the television series Sledge Hammer!. It originally aired on ABC in the United States on November 29, 1986.^[1] The episode title is a play on the song "If I Had a Hammer".

Plot summary

Hammer and Doreau enter the squad room to see scores of parents crying and filing complaints. Trunk briefs them that dozens of babies were kidnapped from a hospital nursery as part of a baby-smuggling ring. The duo are then assigned to the case - much to Hammer's disgust. A married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Yates (Burton Collins and Jeannie Elias, respectively), enters Trunk's office and pleads for their help. Hammer gets a description of their baby as part of his police report, and Doreau makes a promise to get their baby back.

At the hospital, Hammer barges into the delivery room to question Senior Nurse Levina Robbins (Michele Marsh). He turns his head away when he realizes there is a patient giving birth in the room. Nurse Robbins then tells Hammer to leave, but not before he notices the squeaky shoes she is wearing.

The next day, Hammer tells Doreau he has a lead from his informant Shy Eddie (Dennis Fimple). They meet him at a car wash; unfortunately, Hammer forgets to mention that the windows of his car do not roll up. As they are being drenched in the car wash, Shy Eddie tells them that the Bayside Adoption Agency is involved in the baby-smuggling ring. After Shy Eddie leaves, Doreau proposes she and Hammer pose undercover as a married couple.

They go to the adoption agency, where they meet Mrs. Calder (Margaret Must) and discuss about adopting a child. Despite offering a stack of money to her, Mrs. Calder orders them out of her office. Hammer and Doreau figure the agency is legitimate, but they are approached by the receptionist (Sherri Stoner), who tells them about the smuggling ring. They arrange a meeting at Hammer's apartment with a man named Felix (Brion James), who runs a baby supply company called Ridel. After getting the description of their ideal baby, Felix informs them it will cost them $50,000 and to meet him at the Ridel warehouse.

Felix returns to his office and tells Nurse Robbins - his partner and sister - to pick up the Yates child. She tells him that baby has already been sold, to which he tells her to "repossess" it.

Hammer and Doreau receive a metal briefcase with $50,000 inside for the sting operation. Trunk warns Hammer not to lose sight of the briefcase at all costs. They meet Felix at the warehouse to make the exchange, but Nurse Robbins walks by and suddenly recognizes Hammer. She hits the lights before making her escape with Felix. While Felix and Hammer exchange gunfire, Nurse Robbins attempts to run Doreau over with a forklift. Hammer and Doreau finally subdue Felix and Nurse Robbins and take them to the station, with Hammer remembering to return the money.

Back in Trunk's office, the Yates couple thank Hammer and Doreau for returning their child. As a token of appreciation, they want to name their child after Hammer, so they ask him his first name. Upon learning his first name being Sledge, they reconsider that decision and ask him to hold their baby to have their picture taken with him. A furious Hammer then tells them to take their baby back upon realizing he has wet his diaper.

Production notes

This was one of two guest appearances by the late Brion James. He later on appeared in the season 2 episode "Model Dearest".

In the scene where Doreau is cornered by Nurse Robbins in a forklift, she yells, "Get away from me, you witch!" This is a parody of the scene in the film Aliens, where Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) confronts the Alien Queen with an exosuit cargo loader.

References