DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 4

 

The fourth season of Baywatch aired during the 1993-1994 tv season. The show brought back most of the regular cast, although there was (again) a bit of a shakeup with Kelly Slater starting out as a series regular and then being downgraded to a guest star for a couple of episodes, and then eventually being written out (despite the clip of him surfing still being used in the opening credits). The show followed the same format as being a procedural drama/prime-time soap opera. For the most part, the episodes were stand-alone but there were a few two-part episodes during this season and a flashback episode that brought back some prior guest stars. Toward the end of the season, there is a great episode entitled "Rescue Bay" that pretty much breaks the fourth wall and makes fun of the series and the fact that it was canceled by NBC after its first season.

The show continued to get quite a few recognizable guest stars this season including Michelle Williams (in her first acting role), Wendie Malick, Mary Lou Retton (playing herself), Carrie Ann Moss (from the Matrix movies), Martina McBride, Kassie DePavia (who starred on the daytime soap One Life to Live for years). Old-school wrestling fans will also recognize Giant Gonzalez and Jimmy Hart, and this season would be the first appearance of Yasmeen Bleeth (who would eventually become a series regular), as Stephanie's sister. This season would also mark the final appearance of Richard Jaeckel, who was definitely experiencing health issues. John Allen Nelson also made his yearly appearance as Court, although the writers put him in a storyline that could end up writing the character out of the series.

The show is what it is. It is a very tongue-in-cheek drama. The actors and writers have no problem poking fun at themselves and not taking things too seriously. The show does an okay job juggling the large ensemble cast, but the episodes do generally tend to focus on one or two characters, and there are several episodes in which Pamela Anderson is absent and even an episode in which Hasselhoff does not appear I would classify most of the episodes as okay and a couple of really good episodes in which the acting and writing were done extremely well. And, there are a couple of really dumb episodes. So, it was a mix. But, we did get a clip of Hoff in concert when Mitch was daydreaming of being a rock star, so there is that. Ultimately, if you accept the show for what it is and what it is not, you will probably enjoy it, even the parts that are so bad they are good.