Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show was canceled after its first season on NBC, but survived and later became one of the most watched television shows in the world. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, except for the 1990–1991 season, during which it was not in production. From 1999 to 2001, with a setting change and large cast overhaul, it was known as Baywatch Hawaii. Baywatch is noted for its large ensemble cast with various members "rotating" in-and-out of the show, similar to many long-running soap operas. By the end of the 11 season run, not a single member of the original cast was still in the cast. David Hasselhoff appeared in the most episodes (totalling 206 including the pilot), followed by Jeremy JACKSON (117), Michael Newman (109), and Pamela Anderson (77). Following the Hawaii retool, many of the series longtime cast members left the show. The only remaining cast members were David Hasselhoff, Brooke Burns, Michael Bergin, and Michael Newman. Following the 10th season, Hasselhoff and Newman both left the series, leaving Bergin and Burns the only remnants of the show's original "L.A. era". Baywatch is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, who produced the show throughout its 11-season run. The series focuses on both professional and personal challenges faced by the characters, portrayed by a large rotating ensemble cast that notably includes Pamela Anderson, Alexandra Paul, Gregory Alan Williams, Jeremy JACKSON, Parker Stevenson, David Chokachi, Billy Warlock, Erika Eleniak, David Charvet, Yasmine Bleeth, and Nicole Eggert. The show was cancelled after its first season on NBC, but survived through syndication and later became the most-watched television series in the world, with an estimated weekly audience of 1.1 billion viewers despite consistently negative critical reviews, earning it a reputation as a pop cultural phenomenon and frequent source of allusion and parody. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999. From 1999 to 2001, with a setting change and large cast overhaul, it was known as Baywatch: Hawaii. It spawned a spin-off series, Baywatch Nights, which aired for two seasons from 1995 to 1997, and a 2017 feature film adaptation. Baywatch revolves around the work of a team of lifeguards and their interpersonal relationships, with plots usually centering on dangers related to the beach and other activities pertinent to the California (later Hawaii) beach lifestyle. Topics from earthquakes and shark attacks to serial killers serve as plot conflicts on the show. Saving people from drowning is one of the most typical situations used in the shows. Baywatch debuted on NBC in 1989, but was cancelled after only one season, when it placed 73rd out of 103 shows in the seasonal ratings, and also because the production studio, GTG, (a joint venture of television station owner Gannett Company, later spun off into Tegna, and Grant Tinker, which was established only to produce the newsmagazine based on Gannett's newspaper USA Today) went out of business. Due to high production costs, GTG was unable to finance the series any further. Feeling the series still had potential, David Hasselhoff, one of the principal actors, along with creators and executive producers Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, revived it for the first-run syndication market in 1991. Hasselhoff was given the title of executive producer for his work on bringing the show back. The series was hugely successful, especially internationally. The show led to a spin-off, Baywatch Nights, and three direct-to-video films: Baywatch the Movie: Forbidden Paradise, Baywatch: White Thunder at Glacier Bay, and Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding. The audience was 65 percent female, with its number one audience being women aged 18 to 34. Speaking in 2001, Schwartz explained that, after doing focus groups on Baywatch for about five years, they learned that the show appealed to this demographic because "most of [its] lead characters were strong, independent women who were heroic, who were saving lives, who were equal to men". In 1999, with production costs rising in Los Angeles, and the syndication market shrinking, the producers sought to move the production elsewhere. They filmed a pilot and announced plans to title the show Baywatch: Down Under. However, strong local opposition from residents of Avalon Beach, New South Wales eventually led to Pittwater Council, the local government area of which Avalon was part of, to permanently ban future production.[13][14] As an alternative to Australia, Hawaii offered the producers large financial incentives to move the show to the islands, instead, and in season 10, Baywatch: Hawaii was launched.[citation needed] Baywatch filmed for two seasons in Hawaii, from 1999 until 2001. April Masini, a newspaper advice columnist, pitched the move to executive producer Gregory J. Bonann. Among other related jokes, Chandler names their pet chicken after Yasmine Bleeth (although the bird later turns out to be male) due to a long-standing crush on the actress. This was largely a joke about Chandler's actor, Matthew Perry, who briefly dated Bleeth in 1995. Many of the actors from the series have become closely associated with their roles in the series. David Hasselhoff has often referenced or satirized his role as Mitch Buchannon, notably in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie; in which he appears in lifeguard attire similar to Mitch, runs across a beach in slow-motion, and displays superhuman swimming abilities similar to Mitch's own feats of athleticism. Babewatch is a satirical term sometimes used in connection with the series, which has been used by the humor magazine Mad and by television commentators. The term was also used for a series of pornographic film released between 1994 and 1999 in list of feature film series with 11 to 20 entries. Baywatch is prominently featured in the 2006 mockumentary film Borat in which the character Borat Sagdiyev (played by Sacha Baron Cohen), a Kazakh journalist with a misconstrued understanding of American customs and pop culture, becomes obsessed with Pamela Anderson after seeing her in an episode of the series (which he believes to be a documentary) and travels to the United States in a failed attempt to court her and later attempts to abduct her. In a deleted scene, Borat creates a pilot episode of a Kazakh remake of Baywatch entitled Sexydrownwatch, which features "I'm Always Here" and Alexandra Paul reprising her role as Stephanie. The red swimsuit that the actresses wore in the series have become iconic. The suits were custom fitted for each actress; Alexandra Paul wore a suit with a higher neckline while shorter cast members wore suits with higher cut legs to give the illusion of height.