Baywatch

Baywatch
File:Baywatch logo.jpg Baywatch title logo
Genre	Action drama
Created by	Michael Berk Douglas Schwartz Gregory J. Bonann
Starring	See cast section
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	11
No. of episodes	242 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Michael Berk Douglas Schwartz Gregory J. Bonann David Hasselhoff
Production locations	Santa Monica, California (1989–2000) Hawaii (2000–2001)
Running time	45–48 minutes
Production companies	GTG Entertainment (1989–1990) Pearson All-American Television (1997–2001) The Baywatch Company (1991–2001) Tower 12 Productions (1991–2001) Tower 18 Production Company (1996–2001)
Original release
Network	NBC (1989–1990) first-run syndication (1991–2001)
Release	NBC September 22, 1989 (1989-09-22) – April 6, 1990 (1990-04-06) Syndication September 23, 1991 (1991-09-23) – May 14, 2001 (2001-05-14)
Related
Baywatch Nights

David Hasselhoff as the character Mitch Buchannon.

Pamela Anderson as C. J. Parker.

File:Erika-eleniak-baywatch.jpg

Erika Eleniak as Shauni McClain.

Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, during which it was not in production. From 1999–2001, with a setting change and large cast overhaul, it was known as Baywatch Hawaii. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Baywatch was the most watched TV show of all time, with over 1.1 million viewers around the world each week.

Baywatch premiered on NBC in 1989, but was canceled after only one season due to low ratings and also because the studio, GTG, went out of business. Feeling the series still had potential, Hasselhoff along with creators and Executive Producers Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz and Greg Bonann revived it for the first-run syndication market in 1991. Hasselhoff was given the title of Executive Producer for his work on bringing the show back. The series was hugely successful, especially internationally. The show led to a spin-off: Baywatch Nights, and a reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.

In 1999, with production costs rising in Los Angeles, and the syndication market shrinking, the plan was to move the show to Australia and launch Baywatch Down Under. A pilot was filmed but the series was stopped when residents of Avalon put forth strong objections, including potential damage to a fragile ecosystem. Pittwater Council permanently barred all future filming. This pilot finally aired as a two-part episode of Baywatch.

As an alternative to Australia, Hawaii offered the producers large financial incentives to move the show to the islands instead, and in Season 10, Baywatch Hawaii was launched.

Baywatch filmed for two season in Hawaii, from 1999 until 2001. The deal to relocate Baywatch to Hawaii required the production to film in the state for at least two years, guaranteeing 44 episodes, at a cost of about $870,000 an episode of which 60 percent was to be spent in Hawaii.

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 revolved 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 and 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 lifeguards running, most notably done by Erika Eleniak, Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, and David Charvet along with Hasselhoff during the height of the show. Each show would feature one or two montages, often only superficially related to the plot.

Cast

Main article: Cast of Baywatch

Baywatch (1989–1999)

Actor	Character	Years
David Hasselhoff	Mitch Buchannon	1989–1999
Parker Stevenson	Craig Pomeroy	1989–1990, recurring thereafter
Shawn Weatherly	Jill Riley	1989–1990
Billy Warlock	Eddie Kramer	1989–1992
Erika Eleniak	Shauni McClain	1989–1992
Peter Phelps	Trevor Cole	1989–1990
Brandon Call	Hobie Buchannon	1989–1990
Holly Gagnier	Gina Pomeroy	1989–1990
Monte Markham	Don Thorpe	1989–1992, recurring thereafter
John Allen Nelson	John D. Cort	1989–1990, recurring thereafter
Gregory Alan Williams	Garner Ellerbee	1989–1990, 1992, 1993–1995, recurring otherwise
Jeremy Jackson	Hobie Buchannon	1991–2000
Tom McTigue	Harvey Miller	1991–1992
Richard Jaeckel	Ben Edwards	1991–1992, recurring thereafter
Nicole Eggert	Summer Quinn	1992–1994
David Charvet	Matt Brody	1992–1995
Pamela Anderson	C. J. Parker	1992–1997
Kelly Slater	Jimmy Slade	1992–1993
Alexandra Paul	Stephanie Holden	1992–1997
Yasmine Bleeth	Caroline Holden	1994–1997, recurring thereafter
Jaason Simmons	Logan Fowler	1994–1996
David Chokachi	Cody Madison	1995–1999
Gena Lee Nolin	Neely Capshaw	1995–1998
Donna D'Errico	Donna Marco	1996–1998
José Solano	Manny Gutierrez	1996–1998
Traci Bingham	Jordan Tate	1996–1998
Nancy Valen	Samantha Thomas	1996–1997
Michael Newman	Michael Newman	1996–1999, recurring previously
Carmen Electra	Lani McKenzie	1997–1998
Kelly Packard	April Giminski	1997–1999
Michael Bergin	J.D. Darius	1997–1999
Angelica Bridges	Taylor Walsh	1997–1998
Marliece Andrada	Skylar Bergman	1997
Mitzi Kapture	Alex Ryker	1998–1999
Brooke Burns	Jessie Owens	1998–1999

Baywatch Hawaii (1999–2001)

File:BaywatchHawaiicast.jpg

Simmone Jade Mackinnon (L), Brooke Burns (C), and Stacy Kamano (R).

Actor	Character	Years
David Hasselhoff	Mitch Buchannon	1999–2000
Brooke Burns	Jessie Owens	1999–2000
Michael Bergin	J.D. Darius	1999–2001
Brandy Ledford	Dawn Masterton	1999–2000
Michael Newman	Michael Newman	1999–2000, recurring thereafter
Simmone Mackinnon	Allie Reese	1999–2000
Jason Momoa	Jason Ioane	1999–2001
Stacy Kamano	Kekoa Tanaka	1999–2001
Jason Brooks	Sean Monroe	1999–2001
Brande Roderick	Leigh Dyer	2000–2001
Charlie Brumbly	Zach McEwan	2000–2001
Krista Allen	Jenna Avid	2000–2001

Theme songs

• 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. The song is from Cetera's 1988 album One More Story.
• On some DVD releases of the first series "Save Me" was replaced with "Above The Waterline" by Kim Carnes.
• For the syndicated series, the new theme "I'm Always Here" (performed by Jimi Jamison of Survivor) replaced "Save Me". An instrumental version of "I'm Always Here" was used as the ending theme of seasons 6 to 9. A different instrumental version was used as the theme for season 10 (the first season of Baywatch Hawaii).
• 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. An instrumental version of the song appears in the episode "Battles" of the UK television programme Spaced. The Swedish electronic musical group Sunblock remixed the song and released it as a single. A Soundalike version was used in an episode of Hey Arnold over the end credits.
• David Hasselhoff sang "Current of Love" as the ending theme of Seasons 2–4. Together with Laura Branigan he sang "I Believe" as the ending theme of Season 5.
• 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).
• The theme for season 11 (the second season of Baywatch Hawaii) was "Let Me Be The One" by Fiji and Glenn Medeiros.
• The spin-off series, Baywatch Nights theme song was performed by saxophonist Alfonzo Blackwell. "The Nights Will Never Be The Same" (Baywatch Nights Theme) was also featured on his 1996 sophomore CD release. Alfonzo Blackwell was featured with David Hasselhoff each week at the ending credits of the TV series.

Episodes

Main article: List of Baywatch episodes

Theatrical release

In 2004, DreamWorks announced they had bought the rights to create a new theatrical Baywatch movie. Jessica Simpson was rumored to be cast as C.J. Parker. The movie is slated for release in 2012.

The film version is reported to be a comedy, written and directed by Jeremy Garelick. Garelick's previous successes include the rewrite of The Hangover.

DVD releases

Baywatch Nightmare Bay/River of No Return DVD

Australia: Seasons 1–4 have been released in collector's edition boxsets.

Finland: Seasons 1–3 have been released by Futurefilm.

Germany: Seasons 1 to 11 have been released. These releases are presented exactly as they originally aired, albeit with German language credits (These are also available in the U.K. from amazon as imports). The reunion movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding was translated to German language as Baywatch: Hochzeit auf Hawaii and have been released.

Italy: Seasons 1 and 2 have been released by Koch Media, season 5 and 6 have been released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Netherlands: Season 3 has been released.

Sweden: Seasons 1–3 have been released.

UK: Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 have been released. Season 6 is scheduled for release on April 2, 2012.

USA: In June 1999 a single disc DVD was released featuring two 2-part episodes from the show's original run ("Nightmare Bay" part 1 and 2 from Season 2, and "River of No Return" part 1 & 2 from Season 3). These episodes are absent from the U.S. box sets of their respective seasons mentioned below.

Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding, the reunion movie on DVD

France: The reunion movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding was translated to French language as Alerte à Malibu: Mariage à Hawaï and have been released.

First Look Studios released the first three seasons on DVD in 2006/2007. Although the box sets are labeled "Season 1," "Season 2," et cetera, the sets actually feature episodes of the following season (i.e. the "Season 1" box set contains the episodes of the literal second season (1991–1992) of the show). The second and third sets were released on October 31, 2006. Each set features a disc with Season 1 episodes on it. These releases also do not contain any of the original music as it appeared when the episodes aired. They have been removed due to copyright agreements. However, these releases have been discontinued and are now out of print.

See also

• Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding
• Baywatch: Forbidden Paradise
• Baywatch Nights (Baywatch spin-off)
• Son of the Beach (Baywatch parody).
• Babewatch is a satirical term sometimes used in connection with the series, which has been used by Mad Magazine, commentators, as well as used as the title for a series of adult films with crossover characters which ran up between 1994–1999 to become a tridecology.

External links

• Official website
• Baywatch at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• The Los Angeles County Lifeguards