Witchblade’s David Chokachi Says He Has Had Talks For a Baywatch Reboot

David Chokachi, the actor and filmmaker who appeared on Baywatch and Witchblade in the ’90s, said during a podcast appearance last week that CBS is looking to bring Baywatch back to the beach — and your TV — with a little help from three former series regulars. The actor did not say how close the network may be to actually making the reboot happen, or who the other actors are, but told The Production Meeting, a podcast about film and TV, that he was in talks earlier this year, before the pandemic put almost everything in Hollywood on hold. Of course, when things start to bounce back and productions ramp back up, properties like Baywatch may be particularly well-positioned for the post-coronavirus Hollywood, since they have an established track record and easy to understand premise.

Chokachi played Cody Madison from 1995-1999 on Baywatch, and then went on to have memorable roles in Witchblade and Beyond the Break. Recently he appeared in Emerald Run, a movie that had a long production and had to undergo a lot of reshoots before its release earlier this year. The film reunited him with his Witchblade co-star Yancy Butler, a great way to start the 20th anniversary of the original series throughout 2020.

“Right before COVID, they were in the talks of rebooting the show,” Chokachi told The Production Meeting. “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.”

You can hear a clip from the episode below.

“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.”

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