DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch: Season 9

 

The ninth season of Baywatch was the final season of the original version of the series and aired during the 1998-1999 TV season. This season, the show returned to its roots as being a story-of-the-week procedural in which the vast majority of the storylines were contained and resolved in a single episode. This was due, in large part, to even more cast turnover in which most of the female cast members, including Gena Lee Nolin, Carmen Electra, Angelica Bridges, and Traci Bingham left the show. Only Kelly Packard was brought back and Brooke Burns and Mitzi Kapture were brought in as new series regulars. Jeremy Jackson was also a part of the cast member shakeup going from a series regular to a recurring character. Nolan's exit required the character of Neely to be recast and then essentially written out to get out of the Neely-Mitch marriage that ended season 8. 

In the DVD set, the 22 episodes are spread over six discs and there are no extras. The season was the weakest of the show's run, mainly because there was no time (or attempt) to really establish the new characters. The show did not have as many recognizable guest stars this season but did get Kerr Smith (who would star on Dawson's Creek) and Alex Trebek (playing himself). Parker Stevenson also reprised his role as Craig for a couple of appearances, and Jeff Altman made another appearance. 

Mostly, the writing was horrible and the acting was not much better. There were a couple of good moments in the season, including a nod to Baywatch Nights in an episode featuring voice-over narration by Mitch and an episode that breaks the fourth wall by joking about the cancelation by NBC and the show being successful in syndication. The best storyline of the season was one of the few multi-episode arcs involving child abuse that would be written very differently today than it was back in the late 1990s.  Unfortunately, the series never got a proper finale. The final episode just had the feel of any regular episode, and none of the really big names (like Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, etc.) from the series were brought back. The season is not a must-watch by any means.