ABC News Studios and Hulu have announced a new Baywatch documentary named After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, Comicbook.com reports. According to the streamer, the show will try to unfold the events that happened in the “cultural phenomenon that defined an era.” The show has four parts, including an exclusive interview with star Pamela Anderson (Home Improvement, Barb Wire). The documentary series will feature interviews with various cast members, such as Billy Warlock (Society, The Thing Below), Alexandra Paul (Christine, American Flyers) and Nicole Eggert (Splash, Secret Sins). Furthermore, there will be exclusive, never-before-seen home videos of the cast. ABC News Studios has described the show in the official synopsis, which is available to read below.
“Through dozens of new cast interviews and never-before-seen footage, this docuseries unpacks how the show captured the mythology of California’s beach culture, set physical beauty standards for an entire generation, and capitalized on the adage ‘sex sells.’ These candid and intimate clips offer viewers a unique glimpse into the real dynamics, struggles, friendships, and moments that happened off-camera. The series also explores the show’s impact on pop culture and its enduring legacy.”
Baywatch has been an iconic series for many generations. It was first released in 1989 and has had 11 seasons ever since. The series was focused on a group of lifeguards patrolling the beaches of Hawaii and Los Angeles County. Furthermore, the series sent main leads David Hasselhoff (The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, Young Sheldon) and Anderson to stardom, turning them into 90s sex symbols. Various old show stars have been hinting at their desire for a possible Baywatch reboot. Actress Carmen Electra (Scary Movie, Epic Movie), in an interview with ScreenRant, shared her thoughts on the matter.
“I would do a reboot, absolutely. I’m down. I’m down to do it. It does get a little dangerous in those waters, though. I mean to be honest, we would shoot scenes and we’d jump in the water and the stunt coordinator would run over and say, ‘Listen, there are sharks in these waters, so just do your best.’ And we’re trying to swim, and I don’t know anyone who wants to necessarily randomly swim with sharks,” Electra explained via ScreenRant.
According to Comicbook.com, Anderson has done other projects with Hulu. A show that stirred lots of controversy on social media was the series Pam & Tommy. That series focused on the treacherous story between Anderson and her ex-husband, Tommy Lee, but Anderson didn’t participate. Some people praised the acting performance of Lily James (Cinderella, Baby Driver) and Sebastian Stan (Fresh, Captain America: The Winter Soldier). However, Anderson did not, since she thought the production exploited her and her life story to capitalize off it. She shared her thoughts on the matter in an interview with The New York Times last year.
“It was already hurtful enough the first time,” Anderson explained via Comicbook.com. “It’s like one of those things where you’re going, ‘Really?’ People are still capitalizing off that thing?” Director Craig Gillespie (Fright Night, Cruella) also shared his thoughts on the series, arguing Anderson’s statement and making sure the audience understood better how the situation unfolded, in an exclusive Comicbook interview.
“I know, it’s kind of crazy how that just got attention there absolutely, we’re four weeks in and Sebastian and Lilly are just killing it. And you know, we’ve got Seth [Rogen] (This is the End, Superbad) in there as well and Nick Offerman (Devs, The Great North) and it’s a really, really crazy wild fun ride that ultimately, what I love about it is it’s it has a lot of heart,” Gillespie shared via Comicbook.com. “Again, it has a very similar sensibility to I, Tonya where you get to go on this journey and understand, you know, the damage that was done to Anderson and that as an audience we’re again complicit in this, because it’s like, you know we devour all of this, without any repercussions for what’s happening to the individuals. So it’s sort of does this bait and switch in a way that was really exciting as well, but it’s pretty out there.”
After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun will be available to stream on Hulu beginning July 10.