The seventh season of Baywatch aired during the 1996-1997 TV Season. This season would see yet more cast turnover with Donna D'Errico joining the cast (coming over from the series Baywatch Nights) and Traci Bingham, Jake Salano, and Nancy Valen all joining the cast as well. Jasson Simmons and Alexandra Paul left as series regulars, although both would make several appearances during the season. And, Michael Newman, the only real lifeguard on the show would be promoted to a series regular.
The show again was mostly a story-of-the-week procedural that occasionally referred back to prior storylines or episodes. There were some special episodes, including an MTV-themed episode in which MTV personalities, including Jenny McCarthy made an appearance, as well as an episode at Seaworld. The slate of guest stars was less prolific than the show had in the past, but Connie Stevens, Erik Estrada, Barbara Mandrell, Jay Leno, Denise Crosby, and wrestler Shawn Michaels, all guest-starred this season.
The acting and writing on the show this season were pretty much on par with what it had been. Most of the time, both were pretty bad, but occasionally, the writers would put out a decent script that gave the actors something to work with. The writers did try to do some character development, even with some of the established characters, to give them a bit more depth. Hasselhoff was still splitting time between the main show and Baywatch Nights, so while he did appear in every episode, there were some in which he was barely in. As has been the case in each of the prior seasons, not every cast member appears in every episode, not even Pamela Anderson who was still getting second billing behind Hasselhoff.
Ultimately, if you do not expect the series to be more than it is, a kind of tongue-in-cheek primetime soap opera, it is enjoyable, even when it is dumb. I would not call it a show that is hard to stop watching, and while you can binge it, it is something that can easily be on in the background while you are doing other things and you will not miss much.
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