Which Beach Was Baywatch Filmed On?

As of 2008, Baywatch was the television show with the largest audience worldwide. The weekly audience numbered 1.1 million viewers in 142 countries. It was filmed at Culver Studios; Hawaii Film Studio; Honolulu, Hawaii; the RMS Queen Mary; Sydney, Australia; and Venice Beach, California.

Baywatch was filmed on Venice Beach in California and also in Hawaii and Australia. Here are some interesting facts about this hit TV show, Baywatch:

• The initial theme song is called “The Moldau” written by Bedrich Smetana in 1874 about the longest river in the Czech Republic.
• David Hasselhoff sang the song, “Current of Love” which was used as the closing theme song in seasons two through four.  He sang a duet with Laura Branigan on the song “I Believe” which ended the shows during season five.
• Baywatch helped launch the careers of Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, and Erika Eleniak.
• Baywatch is the longest running series on television that has never won an Academy Award.
• Dream Works, in 2004, bought the rights to make a new Baywatch movie.  The movie is set to come out in 2012.  It is being written by Jeremy Garelick, who rewrote “The Hangover.”  The film will be a comedy, and Jessica Simpson has been cast as C. J Parker, the role which was originally played by Pamela Anderson.

Story Line

Baywatch ran for eleven seasons, from 1989 to 2001. From 1999 to 2001, it was called “Baywatch Hawaii.” It chronicled the adventures of a team of lifeguards in Los Angeles County, California. Led by Mitch Buchannon (David Hasselhoff), the team watched over beach goers; protecting them from dangers on and off the beach.

In a job like life guarding, stress sometimes causes tempers to flare and personal problems to increase, all lending themselves to good story lines.

The answer to the question, “Which beach was Baywatch filmed on?” would be beaches in Hawaii, Australia, and California. Since the series was mostly about the beach scene, other plots included shark attacks, earthquakes, and other events related to the California beach lifestyle. Of course, the team of lifeguards did save people from drowning, so the show is famous for the slow-motion sequences that show the female life guards running to the rescue.

Baywatch showed on NBC in 1989, but was cancelled because of low ratings after one season and the studio went out of business. David Hasselhoff, and the creators of the show: Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz and Greg Bonann, felt it was worth another shot. They revived it in 1994, with Hasselhoff as Executive Producer, and it became an international, as well as, a national hit.

The series had two spin-offs: Baywatch Nights and a movie called Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.  

Stars of Baywatch

David Hasselhoff was the star of the show and appeared in 218 episodes as Mitch Buchannon. Jeremy Jackson, who played Hobie, was around for 10 of the 11 seasons with 179 episodes. Michael Newman, as Newmie, was in 134 episodes.  Pamela Anderson (C. J. Parker) and Gregory Alan Williams (Garner Ellerbee) complete the list of people who acted in over 100 episodes.

Since David Hasselhoff was the Executive Producer of the show, he may have helped to choose which beach would be used for filming.

Hasselhoff has been an actor, producer, director and musician. He was born in 1952 in Maryland, and got his formal training at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Michigan and the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.

His first role came in 1973 on “The Young and the Restless.” Next, Hasselhoff starred on the hit television series, “Knight Rider.” He became famous all over the world, and this acclaim helped him promote his musical career.

His next major commitment was Baywatch. He appeared on Broadway in “Jekyll and Hyde” in 2000, and played Billy Flynn in “Chicago.” He also had the roles of Danny Zucco (Grease), as Judas Iscariot (Jesus Christ Superstar), and Roger DeBris (The Producers).  He returned to television in 2006, to be a judge on “America’s Got Talent.”