Baywatch Television Program

"Baywatch" has become the latest television series to rise from the ashes of cancellation. The drama about Los Angeles County lifeguards, starring David Hasselhoff, will resume production next year with new episodes scheduled to begin airing in October. "Baywatch" was canceled last spring by NBC after ending its first season ranked 74th among the 111 series to have aired on the three major networks, averaging a 10.5 rating, or about 9.6 million households, per episode.

SHE was known, in the opening credits, as Pamela Denise Anderson. Note the girl-next-door quality of the middle name, how it conjures the bombshell as a former tomboy on the Canadian prairie, her mother ordering her inside for dinner: "Pamela Denise, put down the BB gun and get in here for supper!" When did she lose the Denise? OK, I digress, for "Baywatch" is finally out on DVD. No, I didn't realize it either. But it's here, all right, the first two seasons in syndication.

For seven years now, it has been a ritual religiously observed by millions of British males, young and old. It starts at 4:45 on Saturday afternoons, when they nestle in front of their TV screens to catch the nation's soccer scores. And immediately afterward, they segue into a little light lechery--ogling the babes from "Baywatch." But no more.

How do you explain the rapid growth and global appeal of beach volleyball? Put aside the charts, the graphics and the theory of the game. The answer is on television. Mike O'Hara, who has been around the indoor and beach games almost his whole life, either playing or promoting, explains in one word: "Baywatch." O'Hara ran the volleyball venue at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and one of his volunteers showed him a script for a series. O'Hara read it and told the writer to stick with it.

"Less is more," said David Hasselhoff, mouthing one of the cost-cutting slogans uttered often around "Baywatch" headquarters. He is not talking about bikinis or speedos. The fact is that hands wring and heads roll in television circles these days as network audiences shrink, prime-time ad revenue drops and pressure increases to reduce production budgets. But TV always seems to find a way, even in a recession. Behold, the "Baywatch" solution. "When you pout, you're out," said Hasselhoff.

It should have been a moment of triumph for the Beach Boys, dropped from their record label but now taking center stage on one of the most popular television shows in the world, "Baywatch." On the Santa Monica Pier, David Hasselhoff was praising the Hawthorne-spawned combo for virtually inventing the imaginary beach realm that "Baywatch" celebrates with babes, hunks and flaky New Age philosophizing.

Thank goodness MTV has shifted its two most controversial characters to a later time slot. That means viewers will no longer have to make an agonizing choice at 7 p.m. between "Beavis and Butt-head" and the second half of "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour." MTV announced Monday that the 7 p.m. weeknight edition of "Beavis and Butt-Head," its fabulously absurd cartoon about two destructive brain-dead teen-agers, would relocate to 10:30, with a second installment continuing to air at 11 p.m.

How do you explain the rapid growth and global appeal of beach volleyball? Put aside the charts, the graphics and the theory of the game. The answer is on television. Mike O'Hara, who has been around the indoor and beach games almost his whole life, either playing or promoting, explains in one word: "Baywatch." O'Hara ran the volleyball venue at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and one of his volunteers showed him a script for a series. O'Hara read it and told the writer to stick with it.

SHE was known, in the opening credits, as Pamela Denise Anderson. Note the girl-next-door quality of the middle name, how it conjures the bombshell as a former tomboy on the Canadian prairie, her mother ordering her inside for dinner: "Pamela Denise, put down the BB gun and get in here for supper!" When did she lose the Denise? OK, I digress, for "Baywatch" is finally out on DVD. No, I didn't realize it either. But it's here, all right, the first two seasons in syndication.

If you're a struggling actor, maybe you shouldn't read this. Upon graduating from Yale last year with a 3.4 grade-point average, Eva Zakrzewski was relaxing at her parents' house in Mission Viejo, trying to choose between law school and medical school. Then, one fine day, a producer spotted Zakrzewski swimming in the ocean and spoke those five magic words that transform lives every day in Hollywood: "Hey, I like your look!"

For seven years now, it has been a ritual religiously observed by millions of British males, young and old. It starts at 4:45 on Saturday afternoons, when they nestle in front of their TV screens to catch the nation's soccer scores. And immediately afterward, they segue into a little light lechery--ogling the babes from "Baywatch." But no more.

If you're a struggling actor, maybe you shouldn't read this. Upon graduating from Yale last year with a 3.4 grade-point average, Eva Zakrzewski was relaxing at her parents' house in Mission Viejo, trying to choose between law school and medical school. Then, one fine day, a producer spotted Zakrzewski swimming in the ocean and spoke those five magic words that transform lives every day in Hollywood: "Hey, I like your look!"

It should have been a moment of triumph for the Beach Boys, dropped from their record label but now taking center stage on one of the most popular television shows in the world, "Baywatch." On the Santa Monica Pier, David Hasselhoff was praising the Hawthorne-spawned combo for virtually inventing the imaginary beach realm that "Baywatch" celebrates with babes, hunks and flaky New Age philosophizing.

Thank goodness MTV has shifted its two most controversial characters to a later time slot. That means viewers will no longer have to make an agonizing choice at 7 p.m. between "Beavis and Butt-head" and the second half of "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour." MTV announced Monday that the 7 p.m. weeknight edition of "Beavis and Butt-Head," its fabulously absurd cartoon about two destructive brain-dead teen-agers, would relocate to 10:30, with a second installment continuing to air at 11 p.m.

"Less is more," said David Hasselhoff, mouthing one of the cost-cutting slogans uttered often around "Baywatch" headquarters. He is not talking about bikinis or speedos. The fact is that hands wring and heads roll in television circles these days as network audiences shrink, prime-time ad revenue drops and pressure increases to reduce production budgets. But TV always seems to find a way, even in a recession. Behold, the "Baywatch" solution. "When you pout, you're out," said Hasselhoff.

"Baywatch" has become the latest television series to rise from the ashes of cancellation. The drama about Los Angeles County lifeguards, starring David Hasselhoff, will resume production next year with new episodes scheduled to begin airing in October. "Baywatch" was canceled last spring by NBC after ending its first season ranked 74th among the 111 series to have aired on the three major networks, averaging a 10.5 rating, or about 9.6 million households, per episode.