'After Baywatch' docuseries will feature never-aired footage of famed '90s lifeguard stars
PASADENA, Calif. ― The stars of "Baywatch" are ready to spill on what happened behind the scenes of the Los Angeles lifeguard series that ruled TV and global pop culture for 11 seasons from 1989 to 2001.
Hulu announced the upcoming documentary series "After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun" at the Television Critics Association summer press tour on Wednesday.
The four-part series will premiere Aug. 28, featuring in-depth interviews with 35 cast members who wore the trademark red "Baywatch" swimsuits − from Carmen Electra to Pamela Anderson − and intimate home videos. The fascination remains more than three decades later over the classic '90s syndicated action drama featuring impossibly beautiful lifeguards saving lives on fantasy Southern California beaches.
"I still see a lot of articles that show me at age 19 in my red swimsuit and then me at 52 years old in the market, and the articles are like, 'What happened to her?'" said Nicole Eggert, who played Summer Quinn on "Baywatch." Quinn also serves as executive producer for Hulu's "After Baywatch."
"Let's talk about what happened."
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Nicole Eggert on 'love-hate relationship' with 'Baywatch'
Eggert opened up about the "love-hate relationship" she had with "Baywatch," adding that it "has definitely evolved over the years. Now I love it and appreciate it."
"But everyone has such a great story," she said. "And there's so much more than just their beauty and their time" on the show.
The TCA panel on Wednesday featured "Baywatch" stars Eggert, Electra (who played Lani McKenzie), Billy Warlock (who played Eddie Kramer), Alexandra Paul (who played Stephanie Holden), David Chokachi (who played Cody Madison), Jeremy Jackson (who played Hobie Buchannon), Traci Bingham (who played Jordan Tate) and Erika Eleniak (who played Shauni McClain).
Eggert, 52, told USA TODAY she had been struggling to make a "Baywatch" TV project more than five years ago. The project she originally had in mind then morphed into the documentary series after meeting filmmaker Matthew Felker, who became the director and executive producer for "After Baywatch."
While David Hasselhoff did not attend the TCA panel, Eggert said the "Baywatch" series executive producer and main star fully participated in the Hulu project. Hasselhoff was the first call Eggert made before going forward with the documentary.
"I thought if he will do it, then we have something here. That was my driving force in the beginning," said Eggert. "And when he said, 'Yeah, I'll do it.' It was like, 'Let's go!'"
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The series will air three months after Hulu's hit documentary "Brats" from Andrew McCarthy, which features the '80s star coming to terms with his early fame with other "Brat Pack" members. Eggert, who revealed her battle with breast cancer earlier this year, has had a similar journey that will be revealed in "After Baywatch."
"Life is a roller coaster," Eggert said. "This is a chance for people to reveal their own journey in their own words."
It took some convincing for Carmen Electra to participate in 'After Baywatch'
"After Baywatch" director Felker, spent five years tracking down and conducting interviews where he insisted "nothing was off the table."
He refused to accept rejections from reluctant former cast members. After being "ghosted" by "Baywatch" actor Michael Bergin (who played Jack "J.D." Darius), Felker showed up at an open house for the actor-turned-real-estate-agent to successfully convince him to participate.
It took a year of working through her publicist to bring Electra on the project, said Felker.
"There has to be dark before light. Some people had some tragic things happen," Electra said during the panel. "For me, it was like I'm going to create my own path, to blaze my own trail. And that's what I did."
'After Baywatch' documentary will feature home videos
Felker said the home videos delivered on VHS tapes were especially illuminating for the one-time global superstars.
"Nicole (Eggert) said there might be a childbirth on one of these videos and there was," Felker said, adding he didn't include those personal scenes. "But I was seeing (the 'Baywatch' cast) after a party, scenes people have never seen before − they'll see them now."
"After Baywatch" will allow viewers to "grasp what this journey was like" for the cast.
"We forget what it was like," Felker added. "We don't have these types of stars anymore. They have been snuffed out by social media. We don't have TV shows like 'Baywatch' where the cast is so mega-famous. This is a huge part of what ('After Baywatch') is about."