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1* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail:
2** The executives, producers, and story editors at Creator/{{NBC}} all thought a show about lifeguards was a dumb idea with a limited premise, leading to a lot of ExecutiveMeddling in the first season to try and salvage it. NBC cancelled the show after its first season due to disastrous ratings (it placed 73rd out of 103 shows) after its only network season, seemingly proving their point. The show seemed doomed when its high costs at the time put its small production company out of business. However, a couple of fortunate circumstances came together at once. One, the show had been very popular overseas and the European distributor, Fremantle Media, requested a second season and was willing to pay for part of it. Creator/DavidHasselhoff and the show's creators started a new, smaller production company to get ''Baywatch'' made on a fraction of its old budget and then distributed through first run syndication, at the exact moment that the first-run syndication market exploded in popularity. Most of its budget came from excessive ProductPlacement and foreign investment. Of course, to film at less than half of the budget meant proper scripts and even basic retakes were jettisoned, making the show very different past its first season. ''Baywatch'' would go on to become one of the most successful shows in the world, though [[BestKnownForTheFanservice its success clearly didn't come from good stories or interesting characters.]] Amusingly, in 1994 (during the peak of the show's syndicated popularity), NBC took out an ad in the ''Hollywood Reporter'', admitting that they made a mistake when they cancelled the show 4 years earlier.
3** On a less grand scale, Fremantle Media's attempts to sell the HD remaster of the show went poorly at first. In addition to fan complaints about issues with the recent remaster, the ''Baywatch'' brand seemed utterly obsolete by the mid-2010s and the failure of the 2017 movie left them with a fully funded, ready-to-air remaster and no buyers. However, once again, a few good circumstances came together. Namely, Creator/JasonMomoa, who at the time he appeared on ''Baywatch Hawaii'' was one of their many cheap, unknown actors, headlined ''[[Film/Aquaman2018 Aquaman]]'' in 2018 and blew up the box office, giving them a chance to finally sell the remaster. Then the pandemic happened in 2020, and suddenly a ''lot'' of people had a ''lot'' of free time and streaming services really needed content. By 2021, ''Baywatch'' was one of the most streamed shows in the world and the remaster was sold to over 120 countries.
4* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
5** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyHa6VfNPR4 That theme song]] (Jimi Jamison's powerful voice and the piano solo are pretty awesome).
6** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH3zhMDw_nI And the one on the spin-off]].
7** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK9-XZIu2kg "Save Me"]], the theme song of Season 1, is epic in its own right.
8** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbS_hYXmbeM "Current of Love"?]]
9** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olfPszEk6xI "All My Life'']], played during the wedding of Eddie and Shauni; both awesome and heartwarming in essence.
10* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Without a doubt, the thing the show is most remembered for is slow-motion shots of attractive lifeguards (both male and female) running across the beach on their way to rescue a civilian in need. ''Website/TheAgonyBooth'' once noted that ''Baywatch'''s decline in popularity coincided with the rise of home broadband internet, joking(?) that ''Baywatch'' was only popular because it was PoorMansPorn and accessible [[TheInternetIsForPorn internet]] making legitimate porn more accessible made ''Baywatch'' obsolete.
11* CriticalDissonance: Was frequently torn apart by critics during its run but became the most-watched show in the world with a massive international audience.
12* CompleteMonster (both from ''Nights''):
13** "Vengeance": [[SpreeKiller Johnny Larkin]] was a vicious killer who was caught by Garner Ellerby and his partner, Lea Broussard. During his trial, Johnny swore that [[RageAgainstTheLegalSystem he would get back at everyone involved in his conviction]], and while in prison, he made a deal with a crime lord named Mohammed Aziz. Aziz would help Johnny get out of jail and provide him with everything that he would need for his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, and in exchange Johnny would eliminate a snitch named Ernie Watts. After murdering Watts, Johnny goes on a killing spree: He beats a judge to death with his own gavel after shooting the man's bailiff; crushes the throat of an ADA with a barbell; [[CopKiller guns down two police officers]] before drowning a jury member in his own aquarium; and shoots Lea's guard in the back of the head before abducting Lea [[IHaveYourWife as bait for Garner]], who he had previously assaulted while taunting him over how powerless he was to do anything other than "keep score" as Johnny rampaged through Los Angeles. During a subsequent gun battle with Garner, Johnny mocks him over how he will die being unable to save Lea from a DrowningPit.
14** "Possessed": [[SerialKiller Richard Kempler]] was a charismatic sadist who was suspected of murdering over fifty women, with his final victim being the wife of Dr. Arnold Block. Kempler had converted his home into a blood-drenched TortureCellar, which he decorated with [[CreepySouvenir parts of his victims, photographs of them being mutilated and tortured]], and [[HollywoodSatanism an altar dedicated to Satan]]. After dying in a pile-up, Kempler began [[DemonicPossession possessing]] anyone who was exposed to his blood, with his first host being a man named Steven Buckland. Kempler turns Buckland's home into an exact recreation of his own house of horrors, and uses his body to butcher up to a dozen women before dying again in a shootout with the LAPD. Kempler proceeds to take over Donna Marco, who he has nearly kill a hitchhiker, before moving into a SWAT officer named Ray Reegun. Annoyed by Mitch Buchannon interfering with his possession of Donna, Kempler abducts his partner, Ryan [=McBride=], and takes her to one of his old hideouts, where he amuses himself by disorienting Mitch with booby-traps before trying to murder him in front of Ryan.
15* EnsembleDarkhorse:
16** Newmie, for some, given that there was an official Newmie fanclub back in the day, and even moreso now thanks to Creator/AllisonPregler and her ''WebVideo/{{Baywatching}}'' series.
17** Out of all the "hot, young male" lifeguards used in the show's ever changing main cast, Matt Brody is probably the best known due to him being there the longest and his name being used for Creator/ZacEfron's [[InNameOnly character]] in the [[Film/Baywatch2017 2017 film]].
18** Garner Ellerbee, who was only featured on the first and third through fifth seasons. He and Mitch had a good comedic chemistry and he brought a unique element to the series due to not being a lifeguard. Sadly, he left the series after season 5, did a single season of ''Baywatch Nights'' where it was clear the original premise was meant to lean more into the existing chemistry between Garner and Mitch... and for '''some''' reason, he chose not to stick around for the second season retool into a paranormal thriller.
19* FanNickname: Babewatch, for the show itself. This name was rather commonly used in contemporary press as well.
20* FranchiseOriginalSin: ''Baywatch Nights'' is rightly ridiculed for adding explicitly supernatural elements to a franchise about ''lifeguards'', but people often ignore that the original show had plenty of ridiculous supernatural elements too. There are several episodes where characters have unexplained precognitive visions, one that ends with an alien abduction, and several involving ghosts.
21* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
22** Why else do you think the series got a complete DVD release (and "Baywatch Nights" too) in UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} and not the U.S.?
23** It was also extremely popular in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} United Kingdom]] as well. In fact, when NBC canceled the program due to low ratings, [[NetworkToTheRescue London Weekend Television stepped in to help save it.]] At that time, the show had aided Creator/{{ITV}} (London Weekend had [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the weekend ITV franchise in London and most of the Home Counties]]) to regain the ratings war from Creator/TheBBC in its time slot.
24* GrowingTheBeard: It's generally agreed that the show improved quite a bit with the new cast in season 3- besides the obvious BreakoutCharacter C.J. (Creator/PamelaAnderson), there was Mitch's old flame in Stephanie providing some WillTheyOrWontThey, and David Charvet as Matt and Nicole Eggert as Summer were improvements over Eddie and Shauni in seasons 1 and 2.
25* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
26** Creator/DavidHasselhoff actually gave a pretty powerful performance in the two-part episode "Shattered," but was unfortunately let down by the ludicrous script and the obscene ProductPlacement.
27** Likewise, season 5's "Seize the Day" has him showing true chops when Mitch deals with [[spoiler: his new love Tracy dying of cancer. The scene of him holding her in her last moments to see a sunset together is powerful.]]
28* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: A nerdy Secret Service agent spends the entire episode getting on everyone's nerves, capped off by him breaking a kid's toy after throwing himself over it (he thought it was a bomb). He's humiliated until Mitch lifts his spirits by pointing out that he didn't ''know'' it was a toy when he jumped on it, meaning he was completely willing to sacrifice himself to save the president and countless innocent people and is therefore a ''terrific'' agent.
29* HilariousInHindsight:
30** In "Money, Honey", Mitch gets cast in a film about a Life Guard who is also a private eye. This later became the premise to the spin-off "Baywatch Nights"! Bonus points for the fact that Dorian Gregory, who would later play Diamont Teague in Season Two of "Baywatch Nights", plays a crowd extra in the same episode!
31** "A Little Help" has CJ training for a dancing competition, which doesn't end too well for her (see WardrobeMalfunction on the main page). 17 years later, Creator/PamelaAnderson competed in the Fall 2012 season of ''Series/DancingWithTheStars''...and was the first one eliminated.
32** Creator/{{NBC}} ditched the show, thinking that people wouldn't find a show about lifeguards interesting. Fast forward 30 years and shows about first responders--''Series/ChicagoFire'', ''Series/NineOneOne'', etc., are ''huge'' ratings hits. Both shows are have been on for over a ''decade''!
33* HoYay: Inevitable on a show where most of the men are often hanging around together while shirtless, but the standouts are probably Mitch and Garner. Fans have also joked that despite being in a LoveTriangle with Summer, Matt and Jimmy also had way more chemistry with each other.
34* HypeBacklash: While the show was wildly popular across the globe during TheNineties, it also made the #21 spot in Magazine/TVGuide's Top 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time.
35* ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars: Creator/PamelaAnderson famously stated (paraphrasing) that the show wasn't high art, and wasn't trying to be, so you should just enjoy it for what it is. Given that it came off from a cast member themselves, it also counts as SelfDeprecation.
36--> '''Pamela:''' Everyone loved ''Baywatch'' ... if the sound was off.
37* JustHereForGodzilla: Plots? Who cares about the plots or subplots? Just show us the slow-motion shots of the lifeguards running with their boards. And the pecs/bouncing jugs.
38* MainstreamObscurity: ''Baywatch'' remains to this day the most widely viewed show in the world, with over a billion viewers a week at its peak. It's also one the [[LongRunner longer lasting shows]] with 242 episodes over 12 years and 11 seasons. However, most people know nothing about ''Baywatch'' aside from it being a lifeguard show where attractive people in undersized swimsuits run across the beach in slow motion.
39* MemeticMutation: Oh, those red lifeguard swimsuits and trunks. And that orange thing they always carry.
40* {{Narm}}:
41** Almost any attempt at serious drama was ruined by corny writing, cheesy subplots, hammy or amateurish acting, and unsubtle product placement. A good example of this would be the episode where it's revealed Stephanie has skin cancer, which was used as the b-plot of the Wrestling/{{WCW}} tie-in episode where Wrestling/HulkHogan and Wrestling/RandySavage had to win a wrestling match on the beach in order to save the local youth center from being demolished by Wrestling/RicFlair, Wrestling/KevinSullivan, and Wrestling/{{Vader}}.
42** ''Baywatch Nights'' is narmy just as a concept, especially Season 2. The show wants to be taken seriously but the very idea that Mitch Buchannon has a side job as a detective where he battles crooks and paranormal threats is laughter inducing, not to mention how silly the actual episodes themselves often were.
43* NarmCharm: Of course, that said, the second season where the team gets recruited into fighting one no budget cheesy B-Movie plot right after the other is so absurd that it can be amusing if you go in with the right expectations. A worthy contemporary to ''Series/TheXFiles''? It is not. A hilarious live-action adaptation of something like ''WesternAnimation/ArchiesWeirdMysteries,'' on the other hand? It definitely is.
44* NeverLiveItDown: The shots of the lifeguards running down the beach in slow motion became the only thing the show is known for even though they were only used in the intro and the [[{{Padding}} montage segments]].
45* OnceOriginalNowCommon: While it's now the target of derision and overused jokes (not to mention confusion from younger viewers over what the big deal is), there was nothing like it when it debuted. Certainly, there were no other shows where the main cast was in swimsuits most of the time, and no other show chronicled the occupation of lifeguards - a premise that really hasn't been explored much since. And while the fanservice and titillation has been surpassed since the early [[TheNineties '90s]], [[PoorMansPorn it was also a big draw back then.]]
46* PeripheryDemographic:
47** Surprisingly, at least two thirds of ''Baywatch'''s average viewing audience were not guys trying to gawk at Pamela Anderson (or the other women), but young women who liked how the cast was full of strong female characters (and also that it had hot guys besides the hot women).
48** It was also popular with some families, hence why Creator/DavidHasselhoff was always struggling with some of the other producers about how fanservice-y it should be. Hasselhoff's attitude was that it should be more family friendly, while other producers wanted more titillation because (paraphrased) "adult men are our audience too".
49* RetroactiveRecognition:
50** Creator/CarrieAnneMoss is in an episode as a woman with a SplitPersonality.
51** Creator/MilaKunis appears in two episodes as two different little girls.
52** Creator/DavidSpade appeared as a ''heavy'' of all things.
53** Creator/BryanCranston as a yacht driver with a drinking problem.
54** Creator/MariskaHargitay as a spoiled rich girl.
55** Hobie hung out with Creator/CharismaCarpenter in one episode.
56** Creator/WilliamFichtner appeared in a Season 1 episode as the drug dealer ex-boyfriend of Eddie's GirlOfTheWeek.
57** Creator/JasonMomoa as rookie lifeguard [[TheDanza Jason]] Ioane during the final two seasons as ''Baywatch Hawaii''. The show was his first acting job, he was discovered in a surf board shop in Hawaii by Greg Bonann.
58** Nicole Eggert (Summer Quinn) was previously Jamie Powell on ''Series/CharlesInCharge''.
59** Kelly Packard (April Griminski) was previously Tiffani Smith on ''Series/CaliforniaDreams''.
60** Brandon Call (Hobie Buchanan #1) later went on to play J.T. Lambert on ''Series/StepByStep''.
61** Billy Warlock (Eddie Kramer) later went on to play A.J. Quartermaine on ''Series/GeneralHospital''.
62** Creator/AngieHarmon started her career playing Ryan [=McBride=] for ''Baywatch Nights.'' She was discovered on a plane by Hasselhoff.
63** Creator/GregGrunberg briefly shows up in "The Red Knights" as nightclub host.
64** Future ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' and ''Series/TheGoldbergs'' star Jeff Garlin appeared in an episode as a radio DJ who had a crush on Pamela Anderson's character.
65** Craig's StalkerWithACrush in the pilot is a pre-''Series/TwinPeaks''/''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' Mädchen Amick.
66** A.J. Langer (Rayanne from ''Series/MySoCalledLife'') appears in two episodes (as different characters).
67** Creator/MichelleWilliams made her screen debut in "Race Against Time: Part 1."
68** In addition to their work on ''Baywatch'', creators and executive producers Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann also served as creators and executive producers of ''Series/ThunderInParadise''. On their own, Berk and Schwartz served as co-creators and co-executive producers of ''Series/TheWizard'', and Schwartz, on his own, also served as co-developer and co-executive producer of ''Series/{{Sheena 2000}}''.
69** Gus Trikonis directed 22 episodes. Trikonis previously played Indio in ''Theatre/WestSideStory''.
70** Parker Stevenson directed nine episodes and played Craig Pomeroy. Stevenson previously played Frank Hardy in ''Series/TheHardyBoysNancyDrewMysteries''.
71** Anson Williams directed three episodes. Williams previously played "Potsie" Webber on ''Series/HappyDays''.
72** Gillian Horvath wrote three episodes and served as executive story editor. Horvath served as developer and executive producer of ''Series/PrimevalNewWorld''.
73** Ernie Wallengren wrote two episodes and served as executive producer. Wallengren also served as co-developer and co-executive producer of ''Series/{{Flipper}}'' (the one with Creator/JessicaAlba, not the original).
74** Kate Boutilier also wrote two episodes. Boutilier served as co-developer and co-producer of ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp''.
75** Elroy Schwartz wrote the ''Series/GilligansIsland'' episode. Schwartz previously served as co-creator and producer of ''Series/DustysTrail''. Both Schwartzes are related to ''Series/GilligansIsland'' creator Sherwood Schwartz so this explains a lot.
76** Grant Rosenberg also wrote an episode. Rosenberg served as co-creator and co-executive producer of ''Series/TimeTrax''.
77** Rick Husky also wrote an episode. Husky served as creator and supervising producer of ''Series/TJHooker''.
78** Michael Sloan also wrote an episode. Sloan served as creator and executive producer of ''Series/MasterNinja'' and co-creator and executive producer of ''Series/TheEqualizer''.
79* StockFootageFailure: The Season 4 episode "Lover's Cove" reuses footage of a car plunging into the ocean from the Season 2 episode "If Looks Could Kill." The problem? The car crash victim in Season 2 was a murderer who had a wrapped up corpse in her backseat, which is still visible when the clip is reused in Season 4.
80* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: When Garner rides his horse in "Sky Rider", the music that accompanies it is suspiciously similar to "William Tell Overture".
81* TearJerker:
82** "Lover's Cove": Hobie finding out that [[spoiler:Lauren]], the girl he's taken a liking to, whose life he saved and who in turn saved him when he was stung by a jellyfish at Lover's Cove, is dying from aplastic anemia and only has a year to live.
83** "Seize the Day": Mitch having to deal with [[spoiler:his new love Tracy dying of cancer, with him holding her in her last moments to see a sunset together.]]
84** "Charlie": The death of April's 12-year-old younger brother Charlie from leukemia and his funeral at the end of the episode, with the entire Baywatch staff in attendance and Mitch giving the eulogy.
85* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
86** The show is a time capsule of mid-[[TheNineties '90s]] culture, including technology such as primitive e-mail and internet and bulky cell phones, '90s fashions, and more. Regarding the latter, the particular style of swimsuit used by the female lifeguards became forever associated with the show (being often called simply the "''Baywatch'' swimsuit"), but was only in vogue during the show's peak.
87** The show also displays its age quite readily with some of the musical guests it featured, including Music/NewOrder (who were at the peak of commercial stardom at the time and were in the middle of promoting their album ''Music/{{Republic}}'', itself strongly influenced by '90s house music) and Music/TheBeachBoys (who had experienced a massive commercial comeback in the late [[TheEighties '80s]] and early '90s, though were already on their way out again by the time they appeared on the show in 1995).
88* ValuesDissonance: "Summer of 85" reveals that Eddie lost his virginity at 15 to an [[MrsRobinson older woman]], who he bumps into and is trying to clear her name for allegedly murdering her husband. The fling is treated as innocent fun, but nowadays with growing awareness of consent, Eddie can be seen as the victim of pedophilia.
89* ViewerGenderConfusion: Joey from "Silent Night, Baywatch Night". Doesn't help that Joey is a gender neutral name.
90%%* WheelchairWoobie: Jason in "Shattered".

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