BAYWATCH

'''Baywatch''' is a popular American television series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the crowded beaches of Los Angeles County, California. The show ran from 1989 to 2001. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, ''Baywatch'' is the most watched TV show in the world of all time, with over 1.1 billion viewers.^[1]
Gregory J. Bonann worked as a Los Angeles County lifeguard, and started up a motion picture project about lifeguards that eventually became ''Baywatch''. ''Baywatch'' premiered on NBC in 1989, but was cancelled after only one season because of the high cost of producing it and low ratings. Feeling the series still had potential, David Hasselhoff revived it for the first-run syndication market in 1991, investing his own money and additionally functioning as executive producer. The show was hugely successful, especially internationally. The show led to a spin-off: ''Baywatch Nights'' and a reunion movie, ''.
In 1999, an Australian version was planned and cast members travelled to Sydney for filming. The idea was to have the established stars appear in the pilot, interacting with a local life saving organisation, and thus help launch "Baywatch Downunder." A pilot was filmed but the series was stopped when residents of Avalon put forth strong objections, including potential damage to a fragile ecosystem. Avalon council permanently barred all future filming, and the pilot remained unbroadcast for over a year, only to be panned by critics and viewers.
In Season 10, the location of the show was changed to Hawaii and the show's name was changed to '''Baywatch Hawaii'''.

Contents

Plot

Casting

Cast members/characters

Baywatch 1989-1999

Baywatch Hawaii 1999-2001

Theme song

Crew members

Episodes

Theatrical release

Movie cameos

DVD releases

International airings

See also

References

External links

Plot

The show starred David Hasselhoff, of ''Knight Rider'' fame, as Mitch Buchannon, who was the only mainstay on the show, besides Michael Newman, for 10 of the 11 seasons. ''Baywatch'' was centered around the work of a team of lifeguards and their interpersonal relationships, with plots usually centering on dangers related to beach and other activities pertinent to the California (later Hawaii) beach lifestyle. Everything from earthquakes to shark attacks to serial killers, and even nuclear bombs, served as plot conflicts on the show. Saving people from drowning tended to be one of the most typical situations used in the shows. Thus a trademark of the show was slow motion shots of the attractive lifeguards running, most notably done by Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, and David Charvet along with Hasselhoff during the height of the show.
After the 1997-1998 season, many cast members decided to leave as the writing staff for Baywatch began to recycle storylines used in earlier seasons.

Casting

Many different actors and actresses were featured on the show over its long run with most appearing for only a few seasons. Some of the other stars who became famous were Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra, Traci Bingham, Donna D'Errico, Nicole Eggert, David Chokachi, Gena Lee Nolin, Jaason Simmons, and Kelly Slater, a pro surfer, among many others. Erin Gray, former star of Silver Spoons and Buck Rogers, was among the cast.
The eleven seasons of the series dealt with a crew of tanned, muscular male and mostly large-breasted female lifeguards. It was one of the first network TV shows that featured frequent close-up shots of the large breasts.
''Baywatch'' was most notable—some might say 'notorious'—for most of its female cast members dropping their lifeguard swimsuits for ''Playboy''. Most of the female stars appeared in ''Playboy'' at the height of their fame on Baywatch, while Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra had already appeared before joining the show. Yasmine Bleeth, who played lifeguard Caroline Holden, was at least one ''Baywatch'' actress who was offered $750,000.00 in 1998 to pose nude, but refused, vowing that she never would.

Cast members/characters

:Main see ''Cast of Baywatch''

Baywatch 1989-1999

★ David Hasselhoff - Mitch Buchannon (seasons 1-9)

★ Parker Stevenson - Craig Pomeroy (season 1, recurring seasons 8-9)

★ Shawn Weatherly - Jill Riley (season 1)

★ Billy Warlock - Eddie Kramer (seasons 1-3)

★ Erika Eleniak - Shauni McClain (seasons 1-3)

★ Gregory Alan Williams - Garner Ellerbee (seasons 1-5)

★ Peter Phelps - Trevor Cole (season 1)

★ Brandon Call - Hobie Buchannon (season 1)

★ Monte Markham - Don Thorpe (seasons 1-2)

★ Holly Gagnier - Gina Pomeroy (season 1)

★ John Allen Nelson - John D. Cort (season 1, recurring seasons 2, 4-5)

★ Jeremy Jackson - Hobie Buchannon (seasons 2-9)

★ Tom McTigue - Harvey Miller (season 2)

★ Richard Jaeckel - Ben Edwards (season 2, recurring seasons 3-4)

★ Pamela Anderson - C.J. Parker (seasons 3-7)

★ Alexandra Paul - Stephanie Holden (seasons 3-7)

★ David Charvet - Matt Brody (seasons 3-5, recurring season 6)

★ Nicole Eggert - Summer Quinn (seasons 3-4)

★ Kelly Slater - Jimmy Slade (season 3, recurring season 4)

★ Yasmine Bleeth - Caroline Holden (seasons 5-7, recurring season 8)

★ Jaason Simmons - Logan Fowler (seasons 5-6, recurring season 7)

★ David Chokachi - Cody Madison (seasons 6-9)

★ Gena Lee Nolin - Neely Capshaw (seasons 6-8)

★ Michael Newman - Mike "Newmie" Newman (seasons 7-9, recurring seasons 1-6)

★ Nancy Valen - Samantha Thomas (season 7)

★ Jose Solano - Manny Gutierrez (seasons 7-8, recurring season 9)

★ Donna D'Errico - Donna Marco (seasons 7-8)

★ Traci Bingham - Jordan Tate (seasons 7-8)

★ Michael Bergin - J.D. Darius (seasons 8-9)

★ Carmen Electra - Lani McKenzie (season 8)

★ Kelly Packard - April Giminski (seasons 8-9)

★ Marliece Andrada - Skylar Bergman (season 8)

★ Angelica Bridges - Taylor Walsh (season 8)

★ Brooke Burns - Jessie Owens (season 9)

★ Mitzi Kapture - Alex Ryker (season 9)

Baywatch Hawaii 1999-2001

★ David Hasselhoff - Mitch Buchannon (season 1)

★ Brooke Burns - Jessie Owens (season 1)

★ Michael Bergin - J.D. Darius (seasons 1-2)

★ Jason Brooks - Sean Monroe (seasons 1-2)

★ Brandy Ledford - Dawn Masterson (season 1)

★ Simmone Jade Mackinnon - Allie Reese (season 1)

★ Jason Momoa - Jason Ioane (seasons 1-2)

★ Stacy Kamano - Kekoa Tanaka (seasons 1-2)

★ Krista Allen - Jenna Avid (season 2, recurring season 1)

★ Charlie Brumbly - Zach McEwan (season 2)

★ Brande Roderick - Leigh Dyer (season 2)

Theme song

The original NBC theme was "Save Me," performed by Peter Cetera, with Bonnie Raitt on guitar and Richard Sterban, bass singer for The Oak Ridge Boys, as one of the background vocalists.
For the syndicated series, a new theme, "I'm Always Here," performed by Jimi Jamison, the one-time lead singer for the rock band Survivor, replaced "Save Me."
When the NBC episodes started to air five times a week with all the other syndicated episodes, the opening theme was changed to a shorter version of "I'm Always Here," with some images of the original NBC opening retained.
In 2006, remixes of the official ''Baywatch'' theme, "I'll Be Ready," were released as singles by Naughty Boy and Sunblock. The Naughty Boy version "Phat Beach (I'll Be Ready)" reached #36 on the UK Charts, while Sunblock's version "I'll Be Ready" entered the UK charts at number four a week later.
Also a highly popular version of "I'm Always Here," by Andrew Spencer feat. Pit Bailay was released in 2005/2006.
On the DVD edition of the first season, the original main title theme is replaced by the song "Strong enough", performed by Evan Olson (from his album Audio).

Crew members

★ Anson Williams was a frequent director. Williams is best known for playing Warren "Potsie" Weber on ''Happy Days''.

Episodes

Main articles: List of Baywatch episodes

Theatrical release

In 2004, DreamWorks announced they had bought the rights to create a new theatrical ''Baywatch'' movie.^[2] Jessica Simpson was officially cast as C.J. Parker.^[3] The movie was slated for release in 2006 but it never materialized. There is no word on the future of the movie.

Movie cameos

★ Pamela Anderson^[4]

DVD releases

'USA:' Seasons 2 and 3 were released on October 31, 2006. Each set features a Disc with Season 1 episodes on it. Fans will need to purchase Seasons 2-7 to complete Season 1, then they will be able to send away to First Look for a box to hold the 6 discs. These releases do not contain the original theme song they have been removed due to copyright agreements.^[5] On February 11 2007 Ashleigh Evan was named The Official Baywatch DVD Babe by voters at www.BaywatchOnDVD.com.
'Germany:' Seasons 1 to 9 have so far been released with the tenth due out in October 2007. These releases are presented exactly as they originally aired, albeit with German language credits.

International airings

Baywatch was very popular in foreign markets and still airs in many today.

★ Australia - Airs on FOX Classics.

★ Austria - Aired on ORF

★ Brazil - Aired on Rede Globo.

★ Bulgaria - Previously aired on BNT Channel 1, currently on Diema Family

★ Czech Republic - Aired on TV Nova.

★ Canada - Airs on Drive-In Classics and TVA Quebec .

★ Chile - Aired on Canal 13 and on Chilevisión.

★ Croatia - Aired on HRT

★ Denmark - Previously shown on TV3, currently on Kanal 5.

★ Dominican Republic - Aired on Telesistema 11.

★ Estonia - Aired on TV3.

★ France - Airs on TF1.

★ Germany - Aired on ARD, Sat.1 and kabel eins, currently on Premiere and Das Vierte.

★ Greece - Aired on ANT1, currently on Alpha TV

★ Hungary - Airs on Viasat 3 (Season 9) and on TV2 (Season 10).

★ Indonesia - Airs on RCTI and Lativi.

★ India - Airs on Star World.

★ Iceland - Aired on Sjónvarpið.

★ Ireland - Airs on UKTV G2.Originally aired on RTE and UTV.

★ Italy - Airs on Italia 1.

★ Lithuania - airs on BTV

★ Latin America - Airs on FX.

★ Malaysia- Previously aired on 8TV and Star World

★ New Zealand - Previously shown on TV3, not currently airing.

★ Norway - Previously aired on TV 2 and TV 3.

★ Philippines - Previously aired on ABS-CBN, then on the Star World networks.

★ Poland - Airs on Polsat, previously on TVP1.

★ Portugal - Airs on TVI.

★ Serbia - Previously aired on Pink TV.

★ Slovakia - Aired on the public network Slovak Television in the early 1990s - first two seasons, then aired on TV Markiza with several re-runs.

★ Slovenia - Previously aired on POP TV.

★ Spain - Shown first run on Antena 3 and it's now being aired on Canal Sur.

★ Sweden - Shown first run on TV3; has been repeated on TV4, ZTV and currently airs on TV4 Guld.

★ UK - Currently airs on UKTV G2 (Season 8 currently). Most recently aired on UKTV Gold. Previously on Trouble TV. Originally aired on ITV.

★ USA - Previously shown on Spike TV, not currently airing.

See also

★ (Baywatch movie)

★ (Baywatch movie)

★ Baywatch Nights (Baywatch spin-off)

★ Son of the Beach (Baywatch parody)

References

1. "Largest Audience For A TV Series"
2. "Baywatch" Swims Into Theaters
3. Simpson Lands Anderson ‘Baywatch’ Movie Role
4. Anderson to Make Cameo in ‘Baywatch’ Movie
5. News for Baywatch

External links

★ Baywatch Official Site

★ Baywatch DVD Promotional Website

★ Baywatch | The Ultimate Source

★

★

★ Baywatch at Wikia

★ Baywatch: First Look schedules 2 seasons for October

★ The Official Los Angeles City Lifeguard Website

★ Huntington Beach USA Lifeguards