Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Baywatch: The Complete Series (Remastered)

 

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.

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.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch: Season 8

 

The 8th season of Baywatch consisted of 22 episodes and aired in syndication during the 1997-1998 TV season. The show yet again had a lot of cast turnover. Pamela Anderson left the show after season 7 and the show left the cliffhanger ending open until the fourth episode of the 8th season revealing that CJ met a tattooed rock star and got married. This was also the season in which Yasmine Bleeth left the show (she was fired because of her drug use) but the writers actually did give her a sendoff. She appeared in a handful of episodes (though she was never shown in the main credits), but as the show often was, the episodes were not aired in the order of her storyline, so she kind of just randomly popped up until she didn't. Parker Stevenson, who left the show after season one returned for a few episodes to have a mini-storyline, and the series added Carmen Electra, Kelly Packard, Michael Bergen, Marilice Andrada, and Angelica Bridges as series regulars. The show did not get as many notable guest stars but Jeff Altman returned to the show as yet another character, radio host Shadoe Stevens guest starred, Gregory Allan Williams reprised his role as Elerbee, and David Hasselhoff's wife, Pamela Bach, played a totally different character than the recurring role she played in the early seasons of the show.

In the DVD set, the 22 episodes are spread across 6 discs. There are no extras or subtitles. By the 8th season, the show pretty much gave up on continuity. Some of that was on the showrunners and part of it was on whomever selected the order to air the episodes. For example, they had Mitch's mother in an episode this season but totally abandoned the Alzheimer's storyline, and the show's romances rarely made any sense (and this season is no exception). The season ends with a three-part finale that leaves the direction of the show totally open, and of course, there are the music montages to show off the ridiculously good-looking cast. Carmen Electra dancing accounts for several of the montages this season. Overall, the series is what it is. A prime-time story-of-the-week soap opera. The acting and writing are spotty at best (to be kind), but if you can accept it for what it is and don't expect any more than that, it can be entertaining.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Nights Seasons 1 and 2 (German Import)

 

Baywatch Nights was the first series to be spun off from the massively popular syndicated series, Baywatch. The series aired for two seasons from 1995 to 1997. The first season was a pretty standard procedural crime drama. The premise was that Elerbee (played by Gregory Alan Williams) got sick of being a beach cop and bought a private detective agency in which Mitch (David Hasselhoff) was going to be an investor. Mitch ends up joining him as a private detective, along with Angie Harmon's character, Ryan McBride. 

In the first season, Lisa Stahl, who had a small recurring role on the main show reprised her character Destiny as a series regular for about half the season, and Lou Rawls played a completely new character named Lou Raymond, the owner of a club above which Mitch, Ryan, and Elerbee had their office. About halfway through the season, Stahl left and Donna D'Errico and Eddie Cribrian joined the cast.

In the second season, the show took a weird, and frankly kind of stupid, turn, basically turning into a paranormal thriller, trying to capture some of the popularity of the X-Files. In season 2, Rawls left the show entirely, Williams left save for a role in the series finale, and D'Errico (who had moved over to the main series) and Cribrian's roles were largely reduced (to the point of being non-existent). Dorian Gregory (who would later go on to be a supporting character in the original Charmed series) joined the cast playing Diamont Teague, a paranormal expert who helped Mitch and Ryan with their cases.

The DVD set is a German Import. They are Region Free discs, however, so you can play them on a US blu-ray or DVD player.  There are 12 discs (6 per season) all in a big keep case. Unfortunately, it is the kind of case in which two discs have to be stacked on top of each other and some discs fall off of the tabs very easily while others are very hard to get off the tabs. The DVD menus are in German and the audio defaults to German, but you can switch to the English audio track. There are no captions, however. On discs 6 and 12 there are bonus features. Most of the bonus material specific to the show, including behind-the-scenes featurettes and trailers for each of the season 1 episodes are on disc 6. On disc 12, there are a couple of trailers for the second season of the show and a photo gallery. Then, on both discs 6 and 12, there are trailers for other movies and TV shows. The bonus features specific to Baywatch Nights are in English and the other trailers are in German. Also of note, the episodes are not remastered, so the A/V quality is pretty low. 

Overall, the show alternates between bad and horrible. The first season shows are kind of cheesy but are pretty similar in quality to what you got in the parent show. The second season is trash. Just awful, garbage, made even worse by Hasselhoff's overacting. Occasionally, characters from the main show (such as Yasmine Bleeth and Michael Newman) did appear on Nights, but for the most part, there was very little crossover (or continuity) between the two shows. This is absolutely not a must-watch, even if you are a fan of the main Baywatch series, but it is interesting in a morbid curiosity kind of way.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Nights: Season 2 (German Import)

 

Season 2 of Baywatch Nights, the first spin-off of the wildly popular lifeguard show, Baywatch, aired in syndication during the 1996-1997 TV season. In season 2 the show was taken in a completely different direction from season 1. Unfortunately, that direction was totally off the rails from hot, but somewhat entertaining garbage, to complete garbage. The entire premise of the show was switched from a crime drama to a paranormal thriller. Essentially, the show tried to do something similar to X-Files, but because the writing and acting (mainly due to Hasselhoff's hammy overacting) were so bad, the show never came near the quality of X-Files. It was just cheesy, not thrilling, suspenseful, or scary.

There was quite a bit of cast turnover this season. Both Gregory Alan Williams and Lou Rawls left the show (although Williams did have a guest appearance in the finale), and the roles of Donna D'Errico and Eddie Cribrian were very reduced. In D'Errico's case, she had moved over to the main show as a series regular, but Cribrian was absent from many of the second-season episodes and when he was included, his character had very little to contribute. The big addition to the cast in season 2 was Dorian Gregory (best known for his role in the original Charmed series), who plays Diamont Teague, a paranormal expert, who helps Mitch and Ryan with the cases. The only notable guest stars during season 2 were the very recognizable character actor Erick Avari, and Alexandra Paul, reprising her role as Stephanie Holden. 

There are different DVD sets out there. Mine is a German import that requires either a Region 2 or Region Free DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch it. The DVD menu, titles of the episodes, and end credits are all in German. While the audio does default to playing in German, you can play the English audio track by switching the audio in your player's settings or options. There are a handful of extras included, two of which are specific to the show (two trailers and a photo gallery), and the rest (trailers for other movies and TV series). The trailers for the show itself are in English and the other trailers are all in German (and do include some nudity).

Season 2 is horrible. Unlike the first season, you cannot really say it's so bad it's good. The stories are dumb and there is little to no continuity with the main show. For example, Mitch and Ryan continue their on-again-off-again relationship tease, but on the main show, during season 7 (which aired the same year as season 2 of Nights), Mitch was in a relationship with Nancy Valen's character for a good portion of the season. The only good thing was Angie Harmon being willing to be in skimpy outfits from time to time, but that was not enough to save the show and it was thankfully canceled after this season. It does seem like the show was canceled after the season ended since it did not really wrap up the characters' arcs in any meaningful way. The only reason to get the DVD set is to maintain a collection, and there is really no reason to actually watch the episodes other than morbid curiosity.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch: Season 7

 

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. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Nights: Season 1

 

Baywatch Nights was the first series that was spun off from the massively popular series, Baywatch. The first season aired during the 1995-1996 TV season and starred David Hasselhoff as Mitch Buchannan and Gregory Alan Williams (billed for some reason as GregAlan Williams in the credits) as Garner Elerbee reprising their characters from the main series, and Angie Harmon (in her first major series role) as Ryan McBride. Early in the season, Lisa Stahl was billed as a series regular, reprising her recurring character from the main series, Destiny. Lou Rawls was also billed as a series regular, playing a totally different character than he played in his guest-starring role in Baywatch. About 1/3 of the way into the season, Stahl left the series and Donna D'Errico and Eddie Cribrian joined as series regulars, playing Donna Marco and Griff Walker respectively.

The premise of the show is that Garner gets tired of being a cop and decides to become a private detective. Mitch is an investor in the business and ends up becoming a partner, along with Ryan. The first season is pretty much a straight crime-drama case-of-the-week procedural, with a different case that was solved by the end of the episode. I would say that the show was not as cheesy as the parent show, but it did have some cheesy moments. And, because it was still set during the events of the parent show with Hasselhoff splitting his time between the two series, the writers had to do things like coming up with excuses for why Hobie would never be home in any scenes set in Mitch's house. The series was mostly stand-alone from the main series, but there was a crossover episode in which Yasmine Bleeth appeared, and Newmie (Michael Newman) appeared in a couple of episodes. The series also brought back Billy Warlock, who was a regular in the first couple of seasons of Baywatch in a guest-starring role. Other notable guest stars this season included Jason Hervey (from The Wonder Years), Michael Winslow (from the Police Academy movies), Geraldo Rivera, Stephen Culp, Carmen Electra (in a totally different role than she would play when she joined the main series), Lisa Boyle, and Christopher Mayer (billed as Chip Mayer) who fans of the Dukes of Hazard will recognize as Vance Duke from "that" season.

This DVD set is a German import and will not play on Region-1 (US and Canada) DVD or Blu-Ray players. I do not believe it is available on DVD in Region-1, so if you want it, you have to get an imported set. You will need either a Region-2 or Region-Free player to watch this if you live in the US. The 22 episodes are spread over six discs, and the sixth disc has the extras. Those include trailers for each episode that would play at the end of each episode to tease what was going to be on the next week's episode, a promotional trailer for the series, and a promotional reel that was made to pitch the series which was narrated by Hasselhoff in character, and featured Hasselhoff, Williams, and Stahl (who was playing a character named Dana, which would eventually turn into Harmon's character). Some of the scenes from the promo reel did make it into one of the regular episodes. All of those extras are in English, and then there are a bunch of trailers for other movies and tv-series that are in German. The DVD menus are all in German (but easy to navigate), and the audio tracks on the episodes default to German, but you can switch to the English language track when you watch the first episode on the disc and it will stay on the English audio track for the rest of the episodes until you eject the disc.

Overall, the first season is okay, but not great. It definitely has the feel of the 90s show and some of the plots that it used would probably not be used in a series today (at least not in the way they were written back then). They also made the weird choice to air what should have been the pilot episode, which introduced the character of Ryan and set up how the group came together, as the 8th episode. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 6

 

The sixth season of Baywatch aired during the 1995-1996 TV season. Yet again, the show had a lot of cast turnover with David Charvet mostly leaving the series (save for a few episodes), David Chokachi joining the cast as a new lifeguard and Olympic hopeful named Cody, and Gena Lee Nolan joining the cast taking over the role of Neely (continuing the storyline from the prior season). This season is the one in which the spinoff show, Baywatch Nights began, which took Gregory Alan Williams from the Baywatch cast and definitely reduced Hasselhoff's time on the main show. Although Hoff was still the lead actor, there were definitely episodes in which his screen time was very reduced or that he barely appeared in. This was also the season that Pamela Anderson became Pamela Lee after marrying Tommy Lee. The one notable absence is that this is the first season in which John Allen Nelson did not return as Court. 

The show did continue to get a good slate of guest stars. This season's guest stars included Mila Kunis (again) in a totally different role than she played in Season 5, The Beach Boys, Richard Moll (from Night Court), Ashley Gorell who played the young delinquent, Joey in the prior season, Hulk Hogan (and most of the mid-1990s WCW roster including Ric Flair, Macho Man, Vader, and Kevin Sullivan), Jenny McCarthy, Angie Harmon (who was a regular on Baywatch Nights), Heidi Mark (who was a 1995 Playboy Playmate), and Pamela Bach (who was Hoff's wife at the time). 

The show continued to be a prime-time soap opera that was a blend of story-of-the-week procedural and serial storytelling. It is mostly a drama but does mix some humor in as well (such as with an episode that is part spoof, part homage, to the show Charlie's Angels). Because the show aired in syndication, however, some episodes were clearly aired in a much different order than they were shot, so the storylines would be all over the place. For example, early in the season, Charvet's character Matt is essentially written out of the show, and then he shows up as a guest star about 1/3 of the way into the season. Then, at the end of the season, there is a two-part episode that was clearly supposed to be aired early in the season, if not be a two-part season premiere, in which Matt is basically a regular cast member again. And, as a result, CJ goes between dating (or pining over Matt) to dating Cody and back again. There is also a cancer storyline that starts in a couple of episodes, seems to get totally abandoned, then brought back. And, Caroline and Logan's relationship, which is hot and cold anyway, makes absolutely no sense this season.

Ultimately, by now you know what the show is and is not. It is a show with a ridiculously good-looking cast (making liberal use of music montages to show them off). The show definitely leans in on the hot cast at the total expense of good writing and storytelling. Because the writing is mostly bad, the acting is usually (but not always) pretty bad as well. If you can accept the show for what it is, it is entertaining, sometimes in a "so bad it is good" way. If you expect anything more than that, you will be sorely disappointed.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch: Season 5

 

The fifth season of Baywatch aired during the 1994-1995 TV season, and probably represented the height of the show's popularity. There were again more cast changes with Nicole Eggert leaving the show (the character of Summer was essentially written off during the two-part season premiere), and Yasmine Bleeth returning to the show as a series regular, playing Stephanie's sister, Caroline. Pamela Anderson was bumped up to second billing, behind Haslehoff, and they finally dropped using her middle name in the credits as she was probably the most famous cast member (at least in the US) in the entire show. They also added Jaason Simmons, to play Logan Fowler, a character very similar to Peter Phelps' character in season one. The character of Neely Capshaw was also introduced at the end of the season but was not played by the same actress who would take over the role the following season.

This season saw many very recognizable guest stars, including a very young Mila Kunis, Wendie Malick (reprising her role as Mitch's ex-wife), Charisma Carpenter (who was was 23 or 24, playing a love interest for Hobie). Jeremy Jackson was 13 or 14 in real life and got to kiss Carpenter, which was probably a high point for him. Carpenter actually looked about 16 or 17 (the age that Cordelia was supposed to be in Buffy, which Carpenter played when she was 27), but definitely did not look like a 13 or 14-year-old, and she was a head taller than Jeremy Jackson, so it was an interesting casting choice. Other notable guest stars included Geraldo (in a very silly role), John Allen Nelson (reprising Court in his yearly episode), Dr. Joyce Brothers, Mike Piazza, Richard Branson, Debbie Dunning (who played the tool girl on the series Tool Time after Pamela Anderson left that show), Little Richard, and Gladys Knight. 

This season the storylines on the show became much more of a blend of serial and procedural. There were definitely still stand-alone storylines, but the show often referenced things that happened in prior episodes (or seasons), and there were more multi-part episodes. And, there was a lot less of an extra being introduced as a great friend of one of the main characters, never to be seen again. The show did juggle the large cast very similar to the way it did in prior seasons, with some characters (even Anderson) being absent for multiple shows in a row. The writing was okay, but still not great. Even when the writers attempted to include more serious topics, they were not done very well, and the attempts at comedy could be very cheesy.

If you can accept the show for what it was, and don't expect more out of it than it gives you, namely a ridiculously good-looking cast on a show about lifeguards, it is entertaining. If you are expecting award-winning writing and acting, it will sorely disappoint you.

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. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 3

 

Season three of Baywatch aired during the 1992-1993 TV season, and was another transitional season for the show. This was really the season that the show became a huge hit with Erika Elaniak, Billy Warlock, Tom McTigue, Monte Markham, and Richard Jaeckel leaving the show. Jaeckel did appear a couple of times toward the end of the season using a cane and seemed to be far less mobile than he was in season two. Elaniak and Warlock did appear in the two-part season premiere but then were written out of the show at the end of the second episode. Gregory Alan Williams was bumped back up to a series regular, and the big cast additions were Alexandra Paul, Nicole Eggert (best known for the series Charles in Charge up to that point), Kelly Slater, David Chokachi, and probably the biggest addition to the cast in the entire run of the series, Pamela Anderson as C.J. Parker.

The show continued to be a procedural drama with most of the episodes (with the exception of some two-part episodes) being self-contained and not tied into earlier episodes at all. The storylines could go from horribly bad and downright stupid to okay. It is not what I would call a well-written, award-winning masterpiece, and as a result, the acting could be pretty cheesy as well. The show still continued to use the music montages, which were again mostly to show off the ridiculously good-looking cast for a couple of minutes without any actual dialogue. The show did get some recognizable guest stars this season including a returning Danny Trejo (in a completely different role than he had in season two), Elizabeth Berkley, coming off her role on Saved by the Bell, and Lou Rawls. 

Ultimately, you know what you get with Baywatch (or Babewatch). About 45 minutes of a very good-looking cast, most of the time a dumb story, and a couple of what amount to music videos that interrupt the story. The show was not ever really interested in continuity, making a lot of sense (for example having Hasselhoff's character in the hospital nearly paralyzed in one episode and kickboxing in the next), or being an award-winning drama. If you can accept it for what it is, it can still be entertaining. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 2

 

The second season of Baywatch sees a lot of turnover for the show. First, it had been canceled after one season (the 1989-1990 tv season) on NBC and off the air for over a year. It was revived and aired in syndication starting in the 1991-1992 TV season with many cast departures including Parker Stephenson and Holly Gagnier (about 2/3 of the way through the season we find out that they moved out East and Craig returned to practicing law full time), as well as Brandon Coll. Jeremy Jackson was cast as Hobe and the character was de-aged from 13 years old to 10 years old. Gregory Alan Williams was brought back as a recurring character and John Allen Nelson basically left the show (making only a single appearance in season two). Tom McTigue and Richard Jaekel joined as series regulars and Monte Markham did return along with Billy Warlock and Erika Elaniak. And, of course, Hasselhoff returned as the lead and an Executive Producer.

Aside from the cast changes, the format of the show pretty much remained the same. It is the quintessential procedural drama with a weekly story (some were okay others were very bad) that was resolved by the end of the episode. There was very little continuity between the episodes with new characters coming in that the regulars were good friends with who were never previously mentioned and were never to be seen again and you really did not have to see a prior episode to know what was going on in the episode you were watching. 

The show did have many recognizable guest stars again this season including Vanessa Angel, Danny Trejo (in his first-ever acting role in which he still looked older than everyone else on the show), a young Nikki Cox (who would eventually go on to star in the show Unhappily Ever After), Shannon Tweed (who basically played a version of her 80s and 90s b-movie characters without showing her tits), and Wendy Malick (who returned as Mitch's ex-wife for an episode). Bob Denver and Dawn Mitchell also guest starred in a Gilligan's Island tribute episode playing Gilligan and Mary-Anne in a clever twist of writing.

Overall, you know what you get with the show. The writing is mostly bad, and a lot of what they did would never fly in 2023, and as a result, the acting is not all that great either. You still get the silly music montages that randomly spring up throughout the episodes that are mainly there to show off the good-looking cast members and extras. I did not watch the show when it was originally on the air, so I do not know what songs were used when it was broadcast, but given the age of the show, it is very likely that some of the music had to be replaced because of licensing issues. And, there are no extras, just the episodes themselves. Ultimately, if you do not expect award-winning material the show is entertaining, but if you are expecting it to be a well-written and well-acted drama, then you will probably be very disappointed. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 1

 

The first season of Baywatch (or Babewatch as pretty much every teenage boy in the late 80s and early 90s called it) aired on NBC during the 1989-1990 season. It is basically a prime-time soap opera about a group of lifeguards in Southern California, led by Mitch Buchannan, played by David Hasselhoff.  Hasselhoff was a couple of years removed from the popular series Knight Rider, and was definitely the big star of the series, especially during the first couple of seasons. The main cast in the first season included Hasselhoff, Parker Stevenson, Shawn Weatherly, Billy Warlock, Erika Eleniak, Peter Phelps, Brandon Call, Holly Gagnier, and Monte Markham. Later in the season, John Allen Nelson would join as a series regular and Gregory Alan Williams would be promoted to a series regular. Eleniak and Weatherly were the first "babes" that would become what the show was known for, and Elaniak was actually the first member of the cast to pose for Playboy, although she did so shortly before the show aired. 

The show was pretty much a story-of-the-week procedural. In the first season, the stories were almost all laughably bad (like a group of hooligans using an illegal version of a jet ski to terrorize swimmers and boaters), and even when the show tried to tackle a deeper subject (like domestic violence) it was often cringe-inducing. And of course, there were the totally silly and often out of place (and out of nowhere) music montages that just spontaneously popped up once or twice an episode. The writers did try to balance the large ensemble cast, but there were many episodes in which some of the main cast members were totally absent, and Peter Phelps just disappeared in the second half of the season. 

The season did feature a lot of guest stars, many of whom would go on to be A-Listers, who basically got their start on the show as their first major role. Some of them included Mariska Hargitay (who would go on to be the lead on Law and Order SVU), David Spade, William Fichtner, Bryan Cranston (who would go on to be the lead on Breaking Bad), and Madchen Amick (who would be a series regular on Twin Peaks the next year). 

The first season was really about the show finding its footing and developing the main characters. It was definitely not a great show in terms of being an award-winning drama. It was a great show in terms of being so bad it was good, and of course, had a ridiculously good-looking cast. It will definitely be a nostalgic blast from the past for those who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. There are some DVD sets out there that label Season 2 as Season 1. NBC actually canceled the show after Season 1, after which it aired in syndication for the rest of its run. So, make sure to pay attention to the description. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Baywatch

 

Baywatch is a 2017 movie that partly pays homage to and partly spoofs the long-running 1990s TV show of the same name. The movie stars Dwyane Johnson (a.k.a. The Rock) as Mitch Buchannon, the leader of a team of lifeguards in Emerald Bay that includes veterans Stephanie Holden (played by Ilfenesh Hadera) and C.J. Parker (played by Kelly Rohrbach, taking over the role played by Pamela Anderson in the show). The team holds tryouts for three open positions, that ultimately are filled with characters played by Alexandra Daddario, John Bass (who is pretty much the comic relief of the movie), and Zach Efron, who plays a former Olympic swimmer named Matt Brody, and is the butt of Mitch's constant jokes.

The plot of the movie involves the team having to solve a murder that involves a wider criminal plot. The other cast members include Priyanka Chopra, Rob Huebel, Hannibal Buress, and Oscar Nunez, and does have cameo appearances by Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff. You can watch the rated/theatrical version or the unrated/extended edition (which does not really add much to the story, just has a few more jokes.

For those who get the 4k set, there are two discs, a UHD disc, which just includes the movie, and a regular blu-ray disc with the movie and the bonus material. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding. Both the picture and sound are great, especially if you have a large screen and a decent sound system. There are a handful of extras which include a 21-minute feature on the various characters, a 10-minute feature on a look at the show's legacy and how the movie tried to pay homage to that, a 10-minute feature on the stunts, and then about 10 minutes of deleted and extended scenes.

The movie is basically an action-comedy, with the comedy being on the more raunchy side. So, it is definitely not a movie that will appeal to everyone. It has a bunch of ridiculously good-looking people in it, which is really the main attraction. It is definitely not an award-winner by any stretch of the imagination. But, if you take it for what it is, and do not expect it to be more than what it is, it is enjoyable.