{"id":280232,"date":"2019-09-22T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/b1075146"},"modified":"2019-09-22T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-22T10:00:00","slug":"30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/music-news\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch\/","title":{"rendered":"30 Bonkers Secrets About Baywatch"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"block-0-img\" data-hook=\"scrollable-block\" data-swiftype-index=\"false\" readability=\"31\">\n<div class=\"post-content__image\" readability=\"32\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image--full\" src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019810\/rs_1024x759-190910120857-1024.baywatch.ct.091019.jpg?fit=inside|900:auto&amp;output-quality=90\" border=\"0\" title=\"Baywatch, cast\" alt=\"Baywatch, cast\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"759\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"image__credits\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"photo-txt-0\" data-hook=\"scrollable-block\" readability=\"38.124054462935\">\n<section data-textblock-tracking=\"text-block-photo-text\" readability=\"19.062027231467\">\n<p>Once upon a time, 30 years today, <em>Baywatch<\/em> bounced into our consciousness.<\/p>\n<p>From the slow-motion running and idyllic beach scenery to the glistening torsos and iconic red swimsuits, the soapy prime-time drama had everything it took to both entertain the masses and not be taken one bit seriously.<\/p>\n<p>Which isn&#8217;t to say that the show, which&nbsp;renewed&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/david_hasselhoff\">David Hasselhoff<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;s&nbsp;momentum post-<em>Knight Rider<\/em> and turned <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/pamela_anderson\">Pamela Anderson<\/a><\/strong> into a household name, wasn&#8217;t a certain kind of classic in its own right.<\/p>\n<p>It ran for 11 years, after all, withstanding a mind-boggling number of cast changes, increasingly improbable plots and the fact that NBC canceled it after&nbsp;one season.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"text-2\" data-hook=\"scrollable-block\" readability=\"61\">\n<section data-textblock-tracking=\"text-block-text-only\" data-swiftype-index=\"false\" readability=\"12\">\n<p>Hasselhoff recalled&nbsp;on the&nbsp;<em>E! True Hollywood Story<\/em>, which did a deep dive into the series in 2001,&nbsp;being &#8220;not surprised&#8221; to get the ax. &#8220;The show was taking a completely wrong direction.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But the creative team behind <em>Baywatch<\/em>&nbsp;wouldn&#8217;t take no for an answer\u2014and what they did was rescue their own show from the one-and-done dustbin of TV history.<\/p>\n<p>Here are 30 things you should know about how&nbsp;<em>Baywatch<\/em>&nbsp;came together, almost fell apart and ultimately stayed afloat for all those years:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div data-hook=\"scrollable-block\" data-textblock-tracking=\"vertical-gallery\" readability=\"50.740874296198\">\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"42.5\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033521\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920122138-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033521\" alt=\"Baywatch \"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"51\">\n<p>1. The title &#8220;Baywatch&#8221;&nbsp;refers to the rescue boats that have been patrolling Southern California beaches for decades.<\/p>\n<p>2.&nbsp;The original idea for <em>Baywatch<\/em> came from <strong>Greg Bonann<\/strong>, a real-life lifeguard who&nbsp;started doing his part to keep&nbsp;L.A. County beaches safe in 1970, when he was 17. One day he told fellow lifeguard <strong>Michael Newman<\/strong>, as Newman remembered it on a 2001 episode of&nbsp;<em>E! True Hollywood Story<\/em>, &#8220;&#8216;You know, Mike, would it be a great television show about what we did today?&#8217; He goes, &#8216;If that show <em>CHiPs<\/em> could make it, we could make a show about lifeguarding!'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>3. Bonann pitched the show wherever he could get a meeting for 10 years. While still working part-time as a lifeguard, he joined a sports marketing firm and fatefully ended up directing segments featuring Olympians doing their thing in slow-motion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"39.5\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033512\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"877\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_1024x759-190920113856-1024x759-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033512\" alt=\"Baywatch - Douglas Schwartz, producer Michael Berk, producer Gregory J. Bonann\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Ron Galella, Ltd.\/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"43\">\n<p>4. Serendipitously,&nbsp;Bonann&#8217;s sister got engaged to TV writer <strong>Doug Schwartz<\/strong>, who with his cousin and production partner <strong>Michael Berk<\/strong> had made a dozen TV movies. Bonann brought the guys to watch the annual Lifeguard Games and, as Schwartz recalled to E!, &#8220;the show was born in that moment.&#8221; They shot a bunch of crowd footage on the beach featuring&nbsp;Mike Newman on the job.<\/p>\n<p>5. NBC President <strong>Brandon Tartikoff<\/strong> was the executive who finally got it. In 1988 he ordered a TV movie that would serve as a pilot. Bonann, Berk and Schwartz wrote it in three months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"38.5\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033488\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"877\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_1024x759-190920110329-1024x759-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033488\" alt=\"Baywatch - Lorenzo Lamas, Adrian Paul \"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images, Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives\/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"39\">\n<p>6. Among the actors originally considered for former&nbsp;Navy SEAL turned Lieutenant Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon were <em>Falcon Crest<\/em> heartthrob&nbsp;<strong>Lorenzo Lamas<\/strong>, <em>The<\/em>&nbsp;<em>Dukes of Hazzard<\/em> star <strong>Tom Wopat<\/strong>, and British actor <strong>Adrian Paul<\/strong>, who&#8217;d go on to star in the <em>Highlander<\/em>&nbsp;TV series. Tartikoff is the one who suggested they look at Hasselhoff, who had starred in NBC&#8217;s <em>Knight Rider<\/em> for four seasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content post-content--interstitial clear\" data-block-type=\"ad\">\n<div class=\"v-gallery__interstitial clearfix\">\n<p class=\"v-gallery__continue-text\">Article continues below<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"39.5\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033501\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920112456-634-david-hasselhoff-baywatch.cl.092019.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033501\" alt=\"Baywatch - David Hasselhoff\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"45\">\n<p>7. Hasselhoff, who had legendarily become a singing sensation in Germany and Austria, said he initially didn&#8217;t want to do <em>Baywatch<\/em>, dismissively calling it &#8220;<em>Knight Rider<\/em> in a bathing suit.&#8221;&nbsp;They eventually won him over.<\/p>\n<p>8. The series&#8217; producers intended to make a show about the day-to-day adventures of lifeguards. But NBC wanted a murder mystery, with lifeguards solving crimes that washed up on their beach. Original cast member&nbsp;<strong>Parker Stevenson<\/strong>, meanwhile, was picturing a <em>Hill Street Blues<\/em>-on-the-water type of show.&nbsp;They&nbsp;ended up with a firefighter-cop-doctor-rescue procedural all in one.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"43.91864608076\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033480\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"877\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_1024x759-190920105316-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033480\" alt=\"Baywatch - Teri Hatcher, Neve Campbell, Alicia Silverstone\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Jim Smeal\/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, Moviestore Collection\/Shutterstock, Ron Galella\/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"48.233285917496\">\n<p>9.&nbsp;NBC almost fired <strong>Erika Eleniak<\/strong>&nbsp;after finding out she had just posed nude for <em>Playboy<\/em>. Producers insisted they keep her, having picked her over, among others, <strong>Teri Hatcher<\/strong>, <strong>Neve Campbell<\/strong> and <strong>Alicia Silverstone<\/strong>. Casting director <strong>Susan Glicksman<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/interviews\/a13372\/baywatch-cast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/interviews\/a13372\/baywatch-cast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Esquire<\/a>&nbsp;<\/em>in 2012, &#8220;<strong>Sandra Bullock<\/strong> definitely was scheduled to come in,&#8221; but she passed on the role before actually coming in.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>10.&nbsp;<strong>Shawn Weatherly<\/strong> was cast as Jill Riley as a last-minute replacement for <strong>Pamela Bowen<\/strong>, who\u2014as the crew found out when they went to shoot her first ocean scene\u2014was afraid of the water. After she panicked on set, a doctor ordered her to stay away from the water for two weeks, and she was uninsurable after that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"44.51526032316\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033469\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920103458-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033469\" alt=\"Baywatch - Season 1, Billy Warlock, Erika Eleniak, Parker Stevenson, David Hasselhoff, Shawn Weatherly\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"55.38064516129\">\n<p>11. Even in Los Angeles, shooting the pilot movie <em>Baywatch: Panic at Malibu Pier<\/em>&nbsp;in the dead of January in 49-degree water wasn&#8217;t working, so they moved the production to Hawaii. That proved much warmer, but there were sharks in the water, so guys with stun guns were called in to guard the lives of the lifeguards.<\/p>\n<p>12. They shot an, <em>ahem<\/em>,&nbsp;enhanced pilot for European markets that featured actual nudity. &#8220;We cast a girl named <strong>Hope Marie Carlton<\/strong> who did a topless scene,&#8221; Berk <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/interviews\/a13372\/baywatch-cast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told <em>Esquire<\/em><\/a> in 2012, &#8220;and the show opened with the lifeguards all gathering around with binoculars trying to see a photo shoot on the beach. So there were two nude scenes in that pilot that never saw the light of day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>13.&nbsp;After finding out they&#8217;d been picked up for 12 episodes&nbsp;in 1989, Bonann was with fellow producers and writers at Venice Beach scouting locations when a boy ran up and said his brother was drowning. Bonann ran into the water, found the boy, gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and saved him\u2014a rescue for which he was&nbsp;awarded the Lifeguard Medal of Valor from the county.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content post-content--interstitial clear\" data-block-type=\"ad\">\n<div class=\"v-gallery__interstitial clearfix\">\n<p class=\"v-gallery__continue-text\">Article continues below<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"40\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033481\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920105512-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033481\" alt=\"Baywatch - Shawn Weatherly\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"46\">\n<p>14. Shawn Weatherly soon tired of the run-first, speak-later (or not at all) plot lines for Jill, so she decided she&#8217;d leave after one season. The episode in which Jill is fatally mauled by a shark\u2014the price she paid for being let out of her contract\u2014was a ratings winner.<\/p>\n<p>15. Sadly, the&nbsp;ocean&nbsp;was apparently so full of garbage and other suspect substances, medics would disinfect the actors as soon as they got out of the water, spraying &#8220;every orifice you could find,&#8221; <strong>Billy Warlock<\/strong>, who played Eddie Kramer, recalled on the&nbsp;<em>E! True Hollywood Story<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"43.435406698565\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033432\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920094959-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033432\" alt=\"Baywatch\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"53.65306122449\">\n<p>16.&nbsp;Despite being NBC&#8217;s highest-rated show in the Friday 8 p.m. time slot since&nbsp;<em>Knight Rider<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>Baywatch<\/em> didn&#8217;t meet expectations (critically or commercially), they were canceled after 22 episodes. In a double whammy, the studio behind the production, GTG (owned by former NBC exec and <em>Mary Tyler Moore Show<\/em> producer Grant Tinker) was shutting down. Warlock insisted to&nbsp;<em>Esquire<\/em> that ratings had nothing to do with the cancellation; rather, &#8220;we just didn&#8217;t have the money. It was a big show.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>17.&nbsp;Berk and Schwartz&#8217;s uncle, <strong>Sherwood Schwartz<\/strong>, the creator of <em>Gilligan&#8217;s Island<\/em> and <em>The Brady Bunch<\/em>, advised his nephews to buy the rights to their show from GTG. Which they did, for $10. &#8220;If we weren&#8217;t successful at the end of that year, they got <em>Baywatch<\/em> back,&#8221; Schwartz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/04\/movies\/how-baywatch-went-from-an-early-belly-flop-to-the-big-screen.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told the <em>New York Times<\/em><\/a> in 2017. &#8220;If we were successful they got $5,000 an episode.&#8221; They asked Hasselhoff to take a 50 percent pay cut in exchange for an executive producer role. The Hoff&#8217;s popularity in Germany helped them secure $300,000 an episode from &#8220;continental Europe&#8221; as part of a first-run syndication deal, Berk told <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/interviews\/a13372\/baywatch-cast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Esquire<\/a><\/em>. And at the height of its popularity,&nbsp;<em>Baywatch<\/em>&nbsp;reached a weekly audience of 1.1 billion people in 142 countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"38.5\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033447\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920100254-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033447\" alt=\"Baywatch\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"43\">\n<p>18. As Shauni and Eddie, Eleniak and Warlock were love interests onscreen and off\u2014and it was rumored that their salary demands contributed to their farewells in season three, episode 2, &#8220;River of No Return: Part 2.&#8221; They both insist that they just didn&#8217;t like the creative direction the show was taking.&nbsp;And while Eddie and Shauni tied the knot and moved to Australia, Billy and&nbsp;Erika ultimately fizzled.&nbsp;Warlock later returned to the fold to star on <em>Baywatch Nights<\/em> and the 2003 TV movie <em>Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding&nbsp;<\/em>(in which, sadly, Eddie is separated), but Eleniak was done. &#8220;I was really still interested in pursuing a serious career,&#8221; she told&nbsp;<em>Esquire<\/em>.&nbsp;&#8220;A theatrical career. That&#8217;s what I wanted to do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content post-content--interstitial clear\" data-block-type=\"ad\">\n<div class=\"v-gallery__interstitial clearfix\">\n<p class=\"v-gallery__continue-text\">Article continues below<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"38.548192771084\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033441\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920095824-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033441\" alt=\"Baywatch\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"44.652933832709\">\n<p>19. &#8220;My swan song was <strong>Pamela Anderson<\/strong>&#8216;s introduction,&#8221; Eleniak said, &#8220;and they couldn&#8217;t have asked for a better goddess to fulfill what they wanted and needed.&#8221; Hasselhoff&nbsp;disagreed. &#8220;I said, &#8216;I don&#8217;t&nbsp;want anybody from <em>Playboy<\/em>. This is a family show,'&#8221; he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/04\/movies\/how-baywatch-went-from-an-early-belly-flop-to-the-big-screen.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told the <em>New York Times<\/em><\/a>. Actually meeting her changed his mind immediately, and Anderson as C.J. Parker proved the quintessential &#8220;<em>Baywatch<\/em> babe.&#8221; He also denied ever worrying that her mere physical presence would upstage him, though he certainly wasn&#8217;t alone in being upstaged.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>20. When Anderson&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/919118\/tommy-lee-s-tumultuous-family-life-a-look-at-his-rocky-history-with-pamela-anderson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">infamous sex tape<\/a> with then-husband <strong>Tommy<\/strong> <strong>Lee<\/strong> surfaced in the mid-&#8217;90s, some foreign markets and network affiliates demanded the show be canceled. At the same time, <em>Baywatch<\/em> got its highest ratings ever while the tape remained in the news.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"47.983584738243\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033468\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"877\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_1024x759-190920103040-1024x759-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033468\" alt=\"Baywatch - Brandon Call, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Jackson\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Bob D&#8217;Amico\/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images, Darlene Hammond\/Getty Images, Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"56.326108374384\">\n<p>21. <strong>Brandon Call<\/strong>, who went on to play J.T. Lambert on <em>Step by Step<\/em>, played Mitch&#8217;s son, Hobie, in season one. According to Michael Berk, <strong>Leonardo DiCaprio<\/strong> was &#8220;ready to be cast&#8221; for syndication, but &#8220;David wanted a younger son,&#8221; he told the <em>Times<\/em>, &#8220;so it wouldn&#8217;t age him.&#8221; The Hoff disagreed with that recollection, but did say he felt that Leo, who was around 15, was &#8220;way, way, way too old&#8221; at the time. Leo, naturally, &#8220;was brilliant and fabulous,&#8221; Glicksman told <em>Esquire<\/em>. &#8220;If he had been two years younger,&#8221; she cracked, &#8220;his whole career would have been ruined. He would&#8217;ve been on <em>Baywatch<\/em>.&#8221;&nbsp;Ultimately 10-year-old <strong>Jeremy Jackson<\/strong> got the part.&nbsp; And it did hurt his career. &#8220;I quit just before my eighteenth birthday,&#8221; Jackson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/interviews\/a13372\/baywatch-cast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told <em>Esquire<\/em><\/a>. &#8220;I was partying so much, I passed on a lot of really big movie offers, and rather than cleaning up my act, I decided to say screw it all and go further into the dark side&#8230;It was kind of actually a big blowup on the set where I quit in the middle of a filming day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"45.397058823529\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033525\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920122324-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033525\" alt=\"Baywatch - Yasmine Bleeth\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"57.560975609756\">\n<p>22. He wasn&#8217;t the only cast member who struggled. The show and&nbsp;<strong>Yasmine Bleeth<\/strong>, another instant pin-up idol from the series, parted ways in 1997 when, according to multiple people who spoke to&nbsp;<em>Esquire<\/em>, her drug problem got out of hand. She quickly found a new job, on the detective series&nbsp;<em>Nash Bridges<\/em>&nbsp;with <strong>Don Johnson<\/strong>,&nbsp;and went to rehab\u2014where she met her husband of now 17 years, <strong>Paul Cerrito<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>But she largely fell off the radar following&nbsp;an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/42469\/bleeth-charged-in-coke-bust\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">arrest<\/a>&nbsp;for cocaine possession and driving under the influence in September 2001 (she took a plea deal that November and was sentenced to probation), and her most recent screen credit is 2003&#8217;s&nbsp;<em>Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;By the end of 1999, I&#8217;d stopped looking like myself,&#8221; Bleeth <a href=\"https:\/\/doyouremember.com\/41834\/real-reason-dont-hear-yasmine-bleeth-anymore\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared with <em>Glamour<\/em><\/a> in 2003. &#8220;I&#8217;m a fleshy girl, very curvy and round, but I&#8217;d lost my softness. My friends said I looked like an alien, that my eyes were bulging out of my face. I wasn&#8217;t anorexic-looking, but instead of being a size 6 with a 29-inch waist, I was 110 pounds and a size 0.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content post-content--interstitial clear\" data-block-type=\"ad\">\n<div class=\"v-gallery__interstitial clearfix\">\n<p class=\"v-gallery__continue-text\">Article continues below<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"36.5\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033527\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"877\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_1024x759-190920122731-1024x759-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033527\" alt=\"Baywatch - Mila Kunis \"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Pearson All-American Television<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"39\">\n<p>23.&nbsp;<strong>Mila Kunis<\/strong> was on the show twice, once in 1994 as a girl who ran for help when her friend was drowning, and again in 1995 as one of several blind students who needed saving from a fire. (And her whole family came with her, Kunis recalled on <em>The Howard Stern Show<\/em>, hoping for a glimpse of Pam Anderson.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"36.5\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033475\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920103914-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033475\" alt=\"Baywatch - Gena Lee Nolin\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"39\">\n<p>24. The eventual second Mrs. Mitch Buchannon, Neely Capshaw, was played by three actresses: <strong>Heather Campbell<\/strong>, <strong>Gena Lee Nolin<\/strong> and <strong>Jennifer Campbell<\/strong>. Nolin&nbsp;easily became the most culturally resonant of the three, and was name-checked for posterity in the classic &#8220;Love Songs&#8221; ad campaign for Coors Light that debuted in 2012: &#8220;I love football on TV\/shots of Gena Lee\/ hanging with my friends\/and twins.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"42.097902097902\">\n<div id=\"photo-804960\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"877\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2017324\/rs_1024x759-170424081640-1024.Baywatch-Original-Cast-JR-042417.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"804960\" alt=\"Baywatch Original Cast\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Getty Images<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"54.80971659919\">\n<p>25. Each red swimsuit was tailored differently, whether the straps were skinny or wide, the legs cut higher, or some necklines more plunging than others, to accentuate the actress wearing it. &#8220;I wanted them to be real and practical and actually work in the surf,&#8221; Bonann told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/08\/17\/style\/baywatch-swimsuit-pamela-anderson.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>New York Times<\/em><\/a> in 2019. TYR, a competitive swimwear company, helped with the original design. Added Berk, &#8220;We never tried to be sexy intentionally. It was all about athletes and functionality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The coverage got skimpier as the years went by, however, and by the time <strong>Kelly Packard<\/strong> joined the show, &#8220;my swimsuit was so far up my butt, that I started crying,&#8221; she told E!. She was duly outfitted in another suit that was previously worn by <strong>Alexendra Paul<\/strong>. And that wasn&#8217;t the only time they reused suits originally worn by others. &#8220;They give you this red suit and inside\u2026it says &#8216;PAM,'&#8221; <strong>Traci Bingham<\/strong> told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/interviews\/a13372\/baywatch-cast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Esquire<\/em><\/a>. &#8220;I thought, &#8216;Oh my god, this is amazing\u2014they&#8217;re actually letting me wear one of her suits.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content post-content--interstitial clear\" data-block-type=\"ad\">\n<div class=\"v-gallery__interstitial clearfix\">\n<p class=\"v-gallery__continue-text\">Article continues below<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"38.669962917182\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033443\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920100017-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033443\" alt=\"Baywatch\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"44.019230769231\">\n<p>26. Wearing the suit\u2014or showing off a body that could wear the suit\u2014was part of the audition. Shawn Weatherly recalled in the <em>E! True Hollywood Story<\/em> unexpectedly being asked to take her clothes off, while <strong>Carmen Electra<\/strong>, who went right to her audition from the set of MTV&#8217;s <em>Singled Out<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/08\/17\/style\/baywatch-swimsuit-pamela-anderson.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told the <em>NY Times<\/em><\/a> that she hoped no one noticed her unshaved legs. &#8220;I have my suit framed and when people come over to the house, they get really excited,&#8221; Electra revealed. &#8220;It just has this effect on people. It was empowering.&#8221;&nbsp;While she was shooting <em>Baywatch<\/em>, however,&nbsp;Electra&#8217;s mother was ill, her schedule wasn&#8217;t working out and she didn&#8217;t feel it was right for her, so she only stayed for one season\u2014but her Lani returned for the 2003 reunion movie,&nbsp;<em>Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"48.752937336815\">\n<div id=\"photo-352095\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/201398\/rs_634x1024-131008101811-634.baywatch.cm.10813.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"352095\" alt=\"Baywatch Cast\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">NBC<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"68.537303664921\">\n<p>27. &#8220;There was a clause that said you couldn&#8217;t gain more than 5 pounds over the weight you were cast at,&#8221; Alexandra Paul, who originally auditioned for C.J. and ended up playing Stephanie Holden\u2014a character created specially for her\u2014for five seasons, <a href=\"https:\/\/toofab.com\/2014\/09\/24\/alexandra-paul-baywatch-exclusive-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told toofab in 2014<\/a>. &#8220;And I read that and was like &#8216;What, why do they have this for the women?,&#8217; but the producers said it was for everyone.&#8221; To&nbsp;<em>Esquire<\/em>, Paul said, &#8220;Do I like that it defines my career? I don&#8217;t hate it. If I had been on <em>ER<\/em>, that would have defined my career. Is that better or worse? I don&#8217;t know. I wish no one thing defined my career, but if it&#8217;s going to be the number-one show in the world, okay, I&#8217;ll take it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>28.&nbsp;<strong>Nicole Eggert<\/strong>, however,&nbsp;has expressed regret on numerous occasions about joining&nbsp;<em>Baywatch<\/em> in the first place. The <em>Charles in Charge<\/em> star&nbsp;only played Summer Quinn for two seasons, but she&nbsp;agreed to do the reunion movie&nbsp;years later, she explained to&nbsp;<em>Esquire<\/em>, because&nbsp;by then &#8220;it was kind of good to be able to go back comfortable in your skin, knowing you look good, knowing you look better.&#8221; What she and the producers could agree on, though, was that she did&nbsp;<em>not<\/em> get breast-enhancement surgery because they asked her to.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I did the breast implants on my own. That was all me,&#8221; Eggert <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/nicole-eggert-baywatch_n_6896838\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said on <em>Oprah: Where Are They Now<\/em>?<\/a> in 2015.&nbsp;&#8220;They never asked me to do that.&#8221; Still, &#8220;a&nbsp;year later, I had them reduced quite significantly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We never asked anybody to get a boob job, even though several of them did,&#8221; Berk told&nbsp;<em>Esquire<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"38\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033448\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"402\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_634x1024-190920100453-634x1024-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033448\" alt=\"Baywatch\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"42\">\n<p>29. Anderson left in 1997 and <em>Baywatch Nights<\/em>, featuring Hasselhoff&#8217;s Mitch Buchannon moonlighting as a private detective, was canceled after two seasons. &#8220;<em>Baywatch<\/em> never got that other time slot back\u2014we were losing our channels, our ratings were down, we were losing revenue, and we had to cut budgets,&#8221; Berk told&nbsp;<em>Esquire<\/em>. Facing the threat of cancellation, in November 1998 they moved the production to Australia\u2014where they were met by protestors who didn&#8217;t want a &#8220;Baywatch invasion&#8221; down under.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content post-content--interstitial clear\" data-block-type=\"ad\">\n<div class=\"v-gallery__interstitial clearfix\">\n<p class=\"v-gallery__continue-text\">Article continues below<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content__image post-content__image--centered\" readability=\"41.377008652658\">\n<div id=\"photo-1033470\" class=\"v-gallery__post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" class=\"image--full lazy-load__img js-lazy-load\" data-width=\"877\" data-height=\"650\" data-src=\"https:\/\/akns-images.eonline.com\/eol_images\/Entire_Site\/2019820\/rs_1024x759-190920103634-1024x759-baywatch-gj-9-20-19.jpg?fit=inside|900:650&amp;output-quality=90\" data-id=\"1033470\" alt=\"Baywatch - HAWAII - 2000\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"image__credits image__credits--right\">Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<div class=\"v-gallery__text\" readability=\"49.230769230769\">\n<p>30. The last two seasons of the show were&nbsp;shot in Hawaii, hence the switch to <em>Baywatch Hawaii<\/em>,&nbsp;featuring the lady lifeguards in yellow one pieces\u2014because just as official L.A. County lifeguards really do wear red, they wear yellow in the Aloha State. &#8220;I like to mimic the real lifeguard uniform wherever we set the show,&#8221; Bonann told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/blogs\/tv-news\/-baywatch---who-inspired-that-iconic-red-swimsuit-185803578.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yahoo! Style<\/a> in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Hasselhoff&nbsp;went along for the first of those two seasons, but after deciding he was done, they re-edited the last episode so that Mitch is presumed dead after an explosion. &#8220;Hasselhoff didn&#8217;t even know it,&#8221; Berk told&nbsp;<em>Esquire<\/em>.&nbsp;&#8220;It was his own stunt guy that said, &#8216;Guess what? We&#8217;ve been killed off.&#8217; It didn&#8217;t go over well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Yet Mitch resurfaced alive and well on&nbsp;<em>Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding<\/em>. Never&nbsp;<em>presume<\/em> anything.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"text-4\" data-hook=\"scrollable-block\" readability=\"71.461813842482\">\n<section data-textblock-tracking=\"text-block-text-only\" data-swiftype-index=\"false\" readability=\"34.498806682578\">\n<p><em>Baywatch<\/em>&nbsp;may have been one of the cheesier shows in modern TV history, but it&#8217;s also unarguably one of the most successful\u2014and it is going to be the show, as Alexandra Paul said, that almost every person who was on it is going to be most remembered for.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I loved being active\u2014running in the sand, working out, being in the ocean,&#8221; Pamela Anderson told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/blogs\/tv-news\/-baywatch---who-inspired-that-iconic-red-swimsuit-185803578.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Esquire<\/em>, per Yahoo<\/a>. &#8220;A lot of the people that came on to the show before or after me weren&#8217;t really comfortable in the ocean, and I grew up on an island, Vancouver Island, and I&#8217;d swam in a lot colder ocean than California, so I was like, &#8216;This is easy! This is great! Are you sure you want to pay me for this?&#8217; I <em>was<\/em> <em>Baywatch<\/em>. I was that girl growing up. I was really, really lucky to get that job, and everything else has just kind of been&#8230; not as good.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Added Paul, &#8220;People would criticize <em>Baywatch<\/em> for being a fluffy show, and we never pretended to be doing brain surgery. We <em>were<\/em> a fluffy show. Everyone else seemed so disappointed and shocked about it\u2014our show did do a lot of good things, especially in places like China or Iran, where people saw women wearing bathing suits and it was OK. To me, in a way, culturally, we did a lot of good. I think people don&#8217;t give us credit for that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"html-external-5\" data-type=\"async\" data-hook=\"scrollable-block\" data-swiftype-index=\"false\" readability=\"44.95652173913\">\n<section data-textblock-tracking=\"text-block-html-text\" data-swiftype-index=\"false\" readability=\"32.787934186472\">\n<p>&#8220;For a while it was just Baywatch that was really penetrating the international market, so we had some rock-star status,&#8221; <strong>David Chokachi<\/strong>, who played Cody Madison for four seasons, recalled to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/interviews\/a13372\/baywatch-cast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Esquire<\/a><\/em>. <strong>Traci Bingham<\/strong> (Jordan Tate, two seasons) estimated she definitely made more than&nbsp;$1 million from <em>Baywatch\u2014<\/em>not in salary but from her connection with the show.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was like being on <em>Baywatch<\/em> was a cash cow,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>For his part, despite some well-publicized <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2016\/05\/20\/david-hasselhoff-broke-pamela-bach-divorce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">financial issues<\/a> down the road, Hasselhoff&#8217;s&nbsp;<em>Baywatch<\/em>&nbsp;haul was once estimated at around $100 million.<\/p>\n<p>Yet&nbsp;even The Hoff has admitted that there were some trade-offs involved. Gleefully taking pride in steering Leo DiCaprio down another path in life, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/david-hasselhoff-baywatch-profile\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told&nbsp;<em>GQ<\/em> in 2017<\/a>, &#8220;You make a lot of money and you get worldwide fame&#8230;but when it comes to parts, they go, &#8216;Uh, no, not you.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said yes to appearing in the 2017&nbsp;<em>Baywatch&nbsp;<\/em>movie with <strong>Dwayne Johnson<\/strong> and <strong>Zac Efron<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8220;because it&#8217;s <em>Baywatch<\/em>,&#8221; Hasselhoff said. &#8220;It&#8217;s part of my legacy. And it would be stupid not to.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tune-in-6\" data-hook=\"scrollable-block\" readability=\"33\">\n<p class=\"tune-in__text\" data-swiftype-index=\"false\"><em>E! True Hollywood Story<\/em> returns Sunday, Oct. 6 at 10 p.m.!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1075146\/30-bonkers-secrets-about-baywatch?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&#038;utm_source=eonline&#038;utm_medium=rssfeeds&#038;utm_campaign=rss_topstories\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: E! Online<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fremantle Media\/Shutterstock Once upon a time, 30 years today, Baywatch bounced into our consciousness. From the slow-motion running and idyllic beach scenery to the glistening torsos and iconic red swimsuits, the soapy prime-time drama had everything it took to both entertain the masses and not be taken one bit seriously. Which isn&#8217;t to say that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-280232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-music-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-21 17:14:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIDN - The Lift FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}