Baywatch en Español

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Baywatch is recognized by some as one of the most popular shows on television, playing to a weekly worldwide audience in excess of one billion. It is about a group of lifeguards in Malibu Beach whose dangerous jobs and sizzling personal lives offer compelling drama and heart-stopping adventure. It's truly amazing that a canceled network weekly drama could turn into an international phenomenon seen by a combined total of one billion viewers in more than 140 countries and 195 cities throughout the U.S. every week!

Baywatch is the brainchild of Michael Berk and Douglas Schwartz, cousins and partners since the age of thirteen. When they first floated their idea of a TV series about lifeguards on a California beach, the general response was, "How many times can you do CPR?" Somehow the partners succeeded in convincing the Grant Tinker-Gannett company to put up $40,000 for them to shoot a beach montage as a pitch tool. Thus, the first episode of Baywatch was born.

It started off as a 2-hour TV movie called "Baywatch: Panic At Malibu Pier", aired on April 23, 1989, which became a ratings winner. The main cast consisted of David Hasselhoff, Parker Stevenson, Shawn Weatherly, Peter Phelps, Billy Warlock, Erika Eleniak, Monte Markham, Holly Gagnier, Michael Newman and Brandon Call. The movie's success led to an order for the 1990 debut series that would become Baywatch, that promises a weekly dose of pure action.

The series did only modest ratings on NBC in relation to the high cost of producing it. It was canceled after the first season. But as Berk recounts,"We didn't want to let the show go. It had just been sold in Europe and had started airing there as a hit right at the same time that NBC canceled it." Then a chance meeting between Schwartz and producer Al Burton gave birth to the idea that Baywatch should move into syndication. With revenues from sales of the show in Europe amounting to $450,000 per episode, Berk and Schwartz realized they could re-launch Baywatch using foreign revenues as their springboard.

And so the second season of Baywatch was produced, due to air in 1991. Most of the main cast in Season One were retained. Among those who left were Shawn Weatherly (her character Jill was attacked and killed by a shark in 'Shark Derby' of Season One), Parker Stevenson and Peter Phelps. On the other hand, Brandon Call left the set for a sitcom "Step By Step". The young Jeremy Jackson was hired to fill in the role of Hobie Buchannon, who stayed on for the next eight seasons, ultimately graduating to a full-fledge lifeguard. The late actor Richard Jaeckel was also added to the cast, playing the role of Capt. Ben Edwards and Tom McTigue as Harvey Miller. Recurring roles went to "Weird Science" genie Venessa Angel, who guest starred in 'The Trophy' and 'The One That Got Away' as marine biologist Megan. Also, Pamela Bach made her debut appearance as a reporter Kay Morgan in the pilot episode. She later returned in Season Eight as a demented nanny in 'Diabolique'. Gregory Alan-Williams continued to play Sgt. Garner Ellerbee and Michael Newman stayed on in his role as the experience lifeguard Newmie. The highlight of this season is the blossoming romance between Eddie Kramer and Shauni McClain. The couple had such superb screen chemistry that stole the hearts of many audience.

Unfortunately, it was announced that Billy Warlock and Erika Eleniak had decided not to renew their contract after Season Two, as both wanted to pursue other projects instead of performing CPR indefinately. Season Three opened with the two-part pilot 'River of No Return', shot in Northern California, in which Eddie finally wedded Shauni, hung up their red suits in Malibu and went off to Australia.

With these two anchor cast member gone, there was an urgent need to replace the couple and ex-playboy model Pamela Anderson and French model cum actor David Charvet were roped in to play C.J. Parker and Matt Brody respectively. Pamela Anderson was chosen as they needed a blond to fill the shoes of Eleniak, not to mention her ability to fill the swimsuit. Added on to the list of main cast were Nicole Eggert as Summer Quinn and talented actress Alexandra Paul as Lt. Stephanie Holden. Four-time World Professional Surfing Champion Kelly Slater also joined in as surfer Jimmy Slade. The two-part episode 'Shattered' touched many hearts when it was shown. Mitch was paralyzed in one of his daring rescues and lost the use of his legs. It was an episode that stretched the acting skills of both David Hasselhoff and Jeremy Jackson. It seemed that a relationship between Jimmy and Summer in this season was possible too.

This led the audience to Season Four. In 'Sky Rider', Jimmy returns after his run with surfing competitions only to find out that Summer and his best friend Matt are dating. The conclusion was brought to 'Tentacles', where Slade lost Summer to Matt, which also happens to be Kelly's exit from Baywatch. In addition, the supernatural theme was introduced in 'Coronado Del Soul', where Summer was haunted mysteriously by the ghost of a man. When the romance between Matt and Summer were starting to draw interest among viewers, Nicole Eggert announced her decision to quit Baywatch.

Nicole Eggert, who played Summer Quinn, was bailed from the show entirely in Season Five. "She said she wanted to do more important storylines, or more significant work, something like that," signs Hasselhoff. "We should have seen it coming. The first time we put her in the water, she said,'It's cold!' Also, Nicole trashed the show on TV and in interviews, and that wasn't cool. We have a saying on this show, 'If you pout, you're out.'"

So, what's the other side of the story? Eggert says, "I quit the show because I'm scared of being typecast as a bimbo. There are a lot of boobs and butts in the show. All the girls run around in their bikinis far too much. There is more to life than flaunting yourself on a beach. I have had some sleazy offers but I have turned them all down. But whatever happens there is no way I'll be going back to Baywatch."

And so, off she went and in came the beautiful Yasmine Bleeth as Caroline Holden, Stephanie's sister. Also new to the main cast was Australian strapping blond, Jaason Simmons, playing the role of cocky lifeguard Logan Fowler. His character never went down too well with audience, both as an irresponsible boyfriend and a scheming person.

Alexandra Paul sported a new look in this season too, having cropped her hair above shoulder length, lending a fresh new look for the new season. The character of Neely Capshaw played by Heather Campbell was introduced in 'Wet N'Wild'. Her relationship with Matt never worked out well, with the former suing the latter for sexual harrassment. With Summer gone, a relationship soon evolved between Matt and C.J. The season ended with an exciting two-part episode shot in Hawaii, 'Forbidden Paradise', originally a released to video movie for Season Five.

Season Six sailed in with two added new cast, both blonds - David Chokachi as Cody Madison and Gena Lee Nolin, replacing Heather Campbell as Neely Capshaw. David Charvet prepared his exit from Baywatch and guest starred in several of the season's episodes. His departure from Baywatch also meant the end of Brody's relationship with C.J. But this season also focussed on Stephanie's love life when she engaged to Tom, her doctor treating her for skin cancer. Kelly Packard also guest starred in the pilot episode as a rich businessman's daughter, who would later return as a new character to join the main cast in the later season.

Jaason Simmons decided to call it quits in Season Seven. His character Logan left the guard post to try his hand at directing and producing movies. This season also saw the introduction of four new cast members, Donna D'Errico as Donna Marco, Traci Bingham as Jordan Tate, Jose Solano as Manny Gutierrez and the beautiful Nancy Valen as Capt. Samantha Thomas.

Jenny McCarthy, who has her own MTV sitcom "Jenny", guest starred in 'Beach Blast'. Marliece Andrada also guest starred as a mermaid. Donna's real life was brought into reel in the episode 'Buried', where her character posed for Playboy magazine leading to her suspension by the Chief.

The real high point of this season is 'Chance of a Lifetime', where Stephanie Holden was crushed to death by the mast of a ship. It came as a blow to Alexandra Paul's fans, and certainly one of the most moving of all episodes.

In real life, Alexandra Paul left Baywatch because she felt that it was time to move on to other movie projects. There is absolutely no room for her character to return to the series. On the brighter side of things, romance blossomed between Cody and C.J., as well as Mitch and Sam.

More cast members were added in Season Eight, which consisted of Calvin Klein model Michael Bergin as J.D, from California Dreams Kelly Packard as April Giminski, model Angelica Bridges as Lt. Taylor Walsh, Marliece Andrada, no longer a mermaid but lifeguard Skylar Bergman and MTV presenter Carmen Electra as Lani McKensie.

Parker Stevenson returned in 'Homecoming' as Craig Pomeroy. Pamela Bach returned in 'Diabolique', not as reporter Kay Morgan but this time as a demented nanny Sara Conion.

Nancy Valen left after only one season but the greatest loss was Pamela Lee Anderson, the undisputed trademark of Baywatch. The buxom blonde, who has played lifeguard C.J. Parker on the show for five years, intends to refocus her career on movies and other projects. "I just want to continue working in all areas of the entertainment business and continue to be involved with high-quality projects," Anderson Lee said in a statement. There is no denying, however, that Baywatch owes much of its success to the actress and her ability to fill a swimsuit. Rumours were that the actress' career change has something to do with her sputtering marriage with Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. C.J. disappeared from the series entirely in Season Eight with no guest appearances whatsoever. Lani was in to fill her shoes as Cody's girlfriend, and it was through her enquiries on C.J.'s whereabouts that Cody revealed about C.J.'s marriage to 'a rock star with tattoo and nose-rings'.

Another major loss was Yasmine Bleeth, who returned to the season as guest appearances to tie up loose ends. Her character has decided to take up an acting career after securing a role in the soap opera "Shannon's Hope". In real life, Yasmine Bleeth joins the cast of "Nash Bridges" in 1998 as Internal Affairs Officer Caitlin Cross.

The season finale is a three-part episode beginning with 'Bon Voyage' and ending with 'White Thunder at Glacier Bay'. The cast and crew were taken aboard the Dawn Princess to Alaska, where filming took place. Mitch and Neely finally tied the knot aboard the cruise ship which brought the season to a fairy-tale ending.

Behind all these facade, the cruel trend of company downsizing has reached out to rip five lifeguards, namely Carmen Electra, Donna D'Errico, Traci Bingham, Marliece Andrada, and Angelica Bridges. Gena Lee Nolin also decides to hand in her Speedo after three seasons of slow-motion beach running. She says, "How long can Neely Capshaw, the runaround Sally, bake cookies and take care of babies?" Nolin insists that her departure has nothing to do with the housecleaning that resulted in the departure of five cast members.

Jennifer Lynn Campbell was hired as the third Neely in Season Nine, which also saw the introduction of Mitzi Kapture from "Silk Stalkings" and Brooke Burns from "Out of the Blue". The other main cast members that survived the axe are David Chokachi, Michael Bergin, Kelly Packard, Jeremy Jackson and Jose Solano.

Baywatch originally planned to move its base to Australia in the new season. However, negotiations failed and with the Australians not in their favour, Baywatch has announced its plan to move to Hawaii instead.

In the Season 10, Stacy Kamano, Jason Momoa, Brandy Ledford, Jason Brooks and Simmone Mackinnon with David Hasselhoff, Michael Bergin, Brooke Burns and Michael Newman was the cast.

Now Baywatch is filming the Season 11 and the cast are Jason Brooks, Stacy Kamano, Jason Momoa, Michael Bergin, Charlie Brumbly, Alicia Rickter, Krista Allen and Brande Roderick.

Baywatch Hawaii is filming on Oahu Hawaii.

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