In the 90s, TV series weren’t as perfectly measured as they are now. We didn’t have a Breaking Bad, a Lost, or a The Pitt, because what television needed were episodes that started and ended, so they could be aired in reruns in any way. And, as an audience, we consumed the episodes without complaining. Only this explains the immeasurable success of Baywatch, a phenomenon that today’s kids can’t understand: each episode was the same, based solely on good-looking boys and girls running on the sand, and there was nothing that invited you to keep watching. And yet, we watched all 11 seasons (with their 241 episodes) without resistance. Well, more or less.
A girl runs on the beach at night
Although it is hard to imagine now, Baywatch was the most-watched series in the world, regardless of the negative reviews. Pamela Anderson, David Hasselhoff, and Carmen Electra became pop icons (and, by the way, sex symbols), and their popularity reached such a point that someone decided that the series deserved a spin-off that had nothing to do with the beach, running in slow motion, or handsome boys and girls. And so, on September 30, 1995, just five days after the premiere of season 6 of Baywatch, Baywatch Nights arrived.
The plot couldn’t be more surreal: the police officer from the original series decides to leave everything behind and form a detective agency, for which he hires Mitch Buchannon, who saves lives on the beach in the morning and investigates all kinds of crimes at night. Although they imagined that everyone would want more, the truth is that no one bought the format change, choked by too much Hasselhoff, and they were forced to change course. Thus, in its season 2, Night Watchmen stopped being a series about investigations and detectives and became… Science fiction!
Supported by the success of The X-Files, Night Watch began its drift into madness, with monsters, mermaids, aliens, black magic, time travel, voodoo dolls, vampires, body possessions, vikings, werewolves, mummies, demons, and even haunted restaurants. However, these 22 episodes that completely changed the dynamics of the series were not liked by anyone: the audience kept declining, and in the end, they had no choice but to cancel it after 44 episodes… which, if you think about it, is more than many of the current hits on Netflix and other platforms last.
It’s hard to believe, but Baywatch, in addition to selling merchandise like crazy and making Hasselhoff believe he had a future as a singer, also released its own movies. In fact, in the summer of 1995, the first one appeared on VHS and even a pinball machine. The lifeguard craze reached its peak and gradually began to decline until it completely disappeared. The last two seasons changed filming locations and were forced to move to Hawaii, and the audience no longer joined them on the journey.
With the imminent reboot of the series, I suppose adapted to a new audience, is it also time for Night Watchmen to return? Just for the absolute craziness of its plots, its scripts, and its initial idea, it is worth trying. Don’t deny it: you’ve seen worse things during the “golden age of series.”
