Baywatch: Season 1
By Mal Simons, Blockbuster.co.uk

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Baywatch is the most watched TV series in the world with over 1.1 Billion viewers. One of the Hoff’s finest shows, this is now available for the first time on DVD.

The phenomenon that is the Hoff remains barely comprehensible to the general public outside of Germany, Austria and Switzerland… but there’s no denying that David Hasslehoff remains a great actor that really throws himself into his characters. In Baywatch, the Hoff takes on the role of Mitch Buchannon, the lead lifeguard who patrols the beaches of Los Angeles County, California.

The pilot movie sets up the scene – Buchannon is a veteran lifeguard who takes promotion to become the Lieutenant in charge of all the rescue units. Recently divorced, Buchannon regularly argues with his wife over how his son is brought up. His young son wants to stay with him, he lives a block from the beach and saves people. His ex-wife is worried in doing so, he too will want to become a lifeguard. Buchannon has the job of incorporating a number of rookie lifeguards in with his veteran team.

What’s most surprising about season one is first of all how good the episodes are – well written, well acted and of a generally high quality – with good production values, stunts and props; it’s quite hardhitting stuff too – with people dying in several episodes (to reinforce that the situation is serious), and good characterisation.

I don’t remember Baywatch being this good… I remember watching this (along with the rest of the country), in my youth… I wasn’t taking notice of the plot – more the gorgeous female lifeguards. On that particular note, Pamela Anderson fans better be warned – the lady herself does not appear in this particular season at all… she doesn’t get employed on the show until the later seasons. That said though, there are plenty of nice looking lifeguards to look at… plenty for both men and women – Baywatch has to have the prettiest cast on television.

This season features the feature length pilot movie and all 21 action packed Baywatch episodes across six discs – occasionally, there are even commercial break lead-ins “Baywatch will continue” – just like back in the eighties. This is a classic show that was prematurely cancelled after one season – looking at this now, I can’t believe that the network couldn’t see the potential. Praise the Hoff for using his own money to pay for Season 2.

Add this to your list now and rediscover the beach.

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