Baywatch

History

Baywatch premiered on NBC in 1989, but was canceled after only one season, when it placed 73rd out of 103 shows in the seasonal 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 three direct to video films: Baywatch the Movie: Forbidden Paradise; Baywatch: White Thunder at Glacier Bay; and Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.

Baywatch Down Under

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.

Baywatch Hawaii

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 seasons in Hawaii, from 1999 until 2001. The proposal to relocate Baywatch to Hawaii rather than Australia was initiated by April Masini in a telephone call to executive producer Greg Bonann. The deal to provide the incentives necessary to secure the series was presented to Governor Ben Cayetano by Al Masini and April Masini, Tony Vericella, president of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, and Cayetano's executive assistant, Joe Blanco. The agreement required the production to change its name from Baywatch to Baywatch Hawaii, hire local leads, and film in the state for at least two years, guaranteeing 44 episodes, each at a cost of about US$870,000, 60% of which was to be spent in Hawaii.

Plot

Baywatch revolved around the work of a team of lifeguards and their interpersonal relationships, with plots usually centering on dangers related to the beach and other activities pertinent to the California (later Hawaii) beach lifestyle. Everything from earthquakes and shark attacks to serial killers served as plot conflicts on the show. Saving people from drowning tended to be one of the most typical situations used in the shows.

Theme songs

Other versions of "I'm Always Here" include:

Film adaptation

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

In September 2012, it was announced that Reno 911! co-creator and star Robert Ben Garant will direct the film version of Baywatch for Paramount Pictures.

In October 2014, it was announced that Paramount is moving forward with its big-screen adaptation of Baywatch and has loosely attached Dwayne Johnson to the project. The studio has also hired Justin Malen to rewrite and has attached the comedy writing team of Sean Anders and John Morris to direct.

In July 2015, it was announced Seth Gordon would direct with Damian Shannon and Mark Swift having written the latest script with Dwayne Johnson still attached to star.

On August 10, 2015, it was announced that Zac Efron had been cast in the film. Johnson also announced that the film will be R-Rated. The report stated, "The story centers on a by-the-book and very serious Lifeguard (Johnson) who is forced to team up with a young rule-flouting hothead (Efron) in order to save their beach from environmental destruction at the hands of an oil tycoon." That same month, reports were saying that Kelly Brook was in contention to star in the film as C.J. Parker, with Kate Upton and Charlotte McKinney also on the shortlist, but Brook denied the rumor the following day on Instagram. Brook later confirmed that she had read the script but was still uncertain if she would appear.

On November 9, 2015, it was reported that several actresses, including Alexandra Daddario, Nina Dobrev, Ashley Benson, Alexandra Shipp, Shelley Hennig, Bianca Santos and Denyse Tontz, were in the running for the female lead, with the possibility that some of them could join the film in different roles and other unnamed actresses could be in the running as well. On November 18, 2015, Johnson confirmed Daddario (who previously worked with Johnson on San Andreas) for the role of Summer, originally played by Eggert in the TV series, and revealed the casting of C.J. and other roles would soon be announced. On January 4, 2016, Johnson announced that actress and model Kelly Rohrbach was cast as C.J. for the film. On January 11, 2016, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Priyanka Chopra is in talks to appear in the film in a villainous role. On February 16, 2016, Priyanka Chopra and Dwayne Johnson released a video to confirm her participation in the above-mentioned role. On January 20, 2016, Ilfenesh Hadera joined the cast as Stef, the love interest of Dwayne Johnson's character and a release date of May 19, 2017 was announced. On January 27, 2016, Variety reported that Jon Bass was cast as Ronnie, described as funny, awkward and a skilled disco dancer who falls in love with C.J. at the beach.

DVD releases

First Look Studios released the first three seasons on DVD in 2006/2007. Although the box sets are labeled "Season 1", "Season 2", etc., 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.