While his previous series Knight Rider was a weekly platter of cheese, too, creator David Hasslehoff’s Baywatch
was something else – almost a 42-minute video-clip that got hold of
your brain every week and transfixed you to the box. It was seemingly,
well, out of our hands; kinda like what happened in Josie and the Pussycats
when the general public found themselves secretly seduced into buying
things because of the subliminal messages in music. This was a little
different in that the main thing we were buying into was the fact that
a tall, hairy chubby guy could rescue anyone and everyone at a moment’s
notice - and that not one cheeky kid on the beach tried to go for
gropes on Pammy. Still, same kind of thing.
Granted, the first season of Baywatch
wasn’t as heavy on the cheese or boobs – you can hear the network
screaming down the phone come season 2 renewal “More cheese, More
boobs!” – as the latter seasons were; in fact, it was almost a pretty
decent show. Some of the storylines made sense, and though the
performances were never fabulous – some of the gang this season were
quite OK. Erika Eleniak, Billy Warlock, and most notably, Australia’s
Peter Phelps, were the standouts that season – they all end up leaving
around the time the network ordered the extra “cheese” and extra
“boobs” (Enter Pamela Anderson). It was another of these shows that
started out as something, and in order to continue, was forced to
change its format a tad. Whatever works, I guess?
EXTRASThe entire first season - yep, all the “classic” episodes; including
the rare network pilot “Panic at Malibu Pier” – is here. There’s also
an episode from Season 2 on here, too.
Re-live the unfathomable craze that was Baywatch. Conclusion:
Movie 60% Extras: 50% 
|
