Baywatch is the massively popular procedural primetime soap opera about a group of lifeguards in Los Angeles that aired from 1989 to 1999 and starred David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Donna D'Errico, Alexandra Paul, Yasmine Bleeth, Nicole Eggert, Erika Elaniak, Gena Lee Nolan, Brooke Burns, and Carmen Electra (among others). The show was so popular that it also spun off two series, Baywatch Nights and Baywatch Hawaii, and a TV movie. This set only contains the nine seasons of the original series, not the two spin-off series or the Hawaiian Wedding special.
The set has 36 discs, which are packaged in three sleeve cases inside a large keep case. That packaging is much better than having the discs stacked on top of each other on protrusions. The sleeve cases prevent the discs from coming loose and getting scratched up. The A/V quality of the blu-rays is very good, and the remastered episodes look wonderful in HD. They are a huge step up in A/V quality from the original DVD releases. The video upgrade is so good that it is much easier to tell when the cast members are performing in a pool as opposed to being in the ocean. One thing that I did notice is that some of the episodes on the discs are not in broadcast order, especially in the early seasons. Since, however, the vast majority of the storylines (aside from the occasional multi-part episodes) were self-contained within a single episode, the order of the episodes did not matter as much. Some of the original music did have to be replaced because of licensing issues, but the episodes do have the music montages. The licensing issue only really impacted one episode that had to be cut down to 30 minutes because it featured performances in the show by musical guests singing songs that they no longer had the rights to.
Ultimately, the show was what it was. It was never going to get an Emmy for acting or writing. It was a cheesy soap opera with a ridiculously good-looking cast that never took itself too seriously. In fact, there were a few episodes in which the writers broke the fourth wall by making jokes about the show. The writing and acting were definitely nothing to write home about. In fact, the writing could be downright stupid, and many times, the actors were hamming it up for the camera (especially Hasselhoff). The show did get a ton of very recognizable guest stars, even launching the careers of some), including Bryan Cranston, Danny Trejo, Mila Kunis, David Spade, Mariska Hargitay, Michelle Williams, Carrie Anne Moss, and Charisma Carpenter (to name just a few). The blu-ray set does not have any extras, just the episodes themselves. The episodes do have English captions, and you can play them in a "play all" mode and pick up where you left off. The set does come with a poster and a booklet that has some random facts about the series and the actors that appeared in it. But there are no commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes interviews, or the like. The show is absolutely dated now, and some of the storylines would never be written the same way these days as they were when the show originally aired. But, if you watched the show growing up or were just a fan of the various "babes" on the show (which many people called Babewatch) it is a nostalgic blast from the past.
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