Baywatch Reboot Coming to FOX

The iconic Baywatch bathing suits will soon be back on your airways at FOX. The popular ’90s era series helped catapult several actors into the spotlight, most notably Pamela Anderson, who became a cultural phenomenon. There was also Jason Momoa and Carmen Electra, to name a few. Headlined by David Hasselhoff, Baywatch dominated TV syndication, at one point in time airing in more than 145 countries. Baywatch always finds itself at the top of the reboot list, with the most recent iteration hitting the big screen back in 2017. The Baywatch reboot movie starred Zac Efron and Dwayne Johnson, and while it didn’t live up to its predecessor, FOX is hoping to strike gold again.

Fox Entertainment is teaming up with Fremantle for a Baywatch reboot from Lara Olsen (Spinning Out), who will serve as the showrunner. Joining Olsen as an executive producer are the original Baywatch creators Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann. Just like the original, Baywatch will be an hour-long drama. The first show ran from 1989 to 1999, and then retitled itself Baywatch Hawaii from 1999 to 2001. And let us not forget the David Hasselhoff-led spinoff Baywatch Nights, which set Hasselhoff’s Mitch Buchannon up at a detective agency. 

What is the Baywatch reboot about?

The logline for FOX’s Baywatch reboot reads, “Daring ocean rescues, pristine beaches, and iconic red bathing suits are back, along with a whole new generation of Baywatch lifeguards, who navigate complicated, messy personal lives in this action-packed reboot that demonstrates there’s the family you’re born into and the family you find.”

Showrunner Lara Olsen is no stranger to rebooting popular television shows. She was part of The CW revivals of 90210 and Beauty and the Beast, with her credits also including Blood and Treasure, Reign, Life Unexpected, and Private Practice.

Original Baywatch star David Chokachi has previously teased the possibility of the show getting rebooted. “Right before COVID, they were in the talks of rebooting the show,” Chokachi told The Production Meeting in a 2020 interview. “They were going to bring back three of the series regulars from the original, and I found out I’m one of them, which is cool.”

“I had pitched them, they’ve rebooted every show from the ’90s and I’d say half of them were hits,” Chokachi continued. “I was like, ‘Why are you guys lagging on this? Why don’t you try and strike?’ Then the movie came out and the movie squashed any idea [of a revival]. Actually, CBS was going to do the show; I had a meeting with them, a location scout — and then the movie came out and they were like, no. CBS went with Magnum that year. Anyway, they’re still trying. Creatively, do I want to go back and do that work? It’s a genre, Baywatch. Even if it’s a reboot, it’s a certain kind of work you’d be doing. But why not? Why not try it? You never know. In this day and age, that show could blow up again because of streaming.”