LOS ANGELES – When Nicole Eggert goes to the market, she’ll invariably prompt someone to say, “What happened to her?”
Because “Baywatch” is still visible on TV screens, fans have this image of her at 19 in a red swimsuit.
Stars of "Baywatch" reunite for a docuseries, "After Baywatch." From left, Carmen Electra, Nicole Eggert, Billy Warlock, Erika Eleniak, Alexandra Paul, David Chokachi, Traci Bingham and Jeremy Jackson.
“I’ve definitely had a love-hate relationship with the show over the years,” she says, “but it’s been an evolution and I definitely love it and appreciate it and am proud of it.”
Like others who starred on the ‘90s beach show, Eggert felt it was the object of derision and wanted to set the record straight.
Actress Carmen Electra
With filmmaker Matthew Felker, she crafted “After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun,” a docuseries that looks back at the drama’s heyday, its effect on its cast and its impact now, some 30 years later.
Canceled after one season on NBC, the hour-long drama about lifeguards, had 10 more years through syndication and became the most-watched show worldwide. It prompted a spinoff, “Baywatch Nights” and a feature film. It also gave career boosts to David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Parker Stevenson and Yasmine Bleeth.
“Overseas, no one tried to distance themselves or be embarrassed about watching the show,” says Alexandra Paul, one of the stars. “There was unabashed enthusiasm and just joy about being able to watch this series.”
When actor David Chokachi was vacationing last July, he met a woman who grew up in Siberia and she was thrilled she was sitting next to “Baywatch’s” Cody Madison. “She grew up watching ‘Baywatch’ in this really remote town,” he says, “and she loved it.”
The reason: “Baywatch” was escapism.
Dealing with backlash
“We got a lot of backlash as actors that we couldn’t act,” Chokachi says, “and I fought against that quite hard because I always said we weren’t up there saying we’re doing Shakespeare. We’re doing ‘Baywatch.’”
Decades later, the former NBC series is in the Guinness Book of World Records with that startling accomplishment: more than one billion weekly viewers.
Since then, “Baywatch” alums have starred in all sorts of projects and, yes, the identification still sticks.
A sense of pride, however, accompanies it, particularly when they realize how helpful some lifesaving segments were and how effective “Baywatch” was at selling a dream.
Felker, in fact, moved to California largely because the series was so good at providing escapism. “That’s why it translated in Europe so well,” he says. “It’s this caricature of what America is.”
Felker
Sex, lies and videotape
To craft their docuseries, Eggert and Felker tried to contact as many former actors and producers as they could. Some were eager to talk; others didn’t want to be contacted.
Michael Bergin, a former star of the series, wouldn’t return Felker’s calls. Now a real estate agent, Bergin was hosting an open house and Felker showed up. “I had to buy a house from Michael Bergin to get him on,” he says with a laugh.
Greg Allen Williams, another member of the cast, hadn’t done a “Baywatch” interview in 30 years. Before he said yes, he asked Felker to write an essay.
Eggert, meanwhile, started calling friends to get their buy-in.
In the process, she discovered many of the actors had home videos from their time away from the camera.
That gave Felker a new wrinkle and a chance to show just how big “Baywatch” was. The result – a hybrid of interviews, show footage and videotapes – offers a new perspective on a phenomenon.
Actor David Chokachi.
To swim or not to swim
Among the tidbits gleaned: Carmen Electra hated going in the water and didn’t realize she didn’t “really” have to make out with Chokachi in romantic scenes. “I was so green,” she says. “I just went in.”
Chokachi, meanwhile, was the real deal – a swimming expert who grew up teaching sailing and making school swim teams.
Paul and Billy Warlock were good swimmers as well. But Erika Eleniak admits she was terrible in the water. “They needed to see how much they were going to need to stunt double me,” she admits. “I was not very confident in the water and completely shark phobic. I remember one year I had it in my contract I was only going to go in up to my knees.”
Jeremy Jackson, who played the youngest member of the cast, had extensive skills surfing, boogie boarding and body surfing. “They threw me in the pool after they thought they liked me and asked if I could swim. And I said, ‘What do you want? Backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle?’”
To get a sense of the lessons “Baywatch” taught, Felker watched every episode while working out on an exercise bike.
"Baywatch" alums, from left: Traci Bingham, Carmen Electra, Billy Warlock, Jeremy Jackson, Alexandra Paul, David Chokachi and Nicole Eggert.
By the time interviews began, he was prepped and ready.
“We sort of had an idea of what it’s going to be and then you start hearing people talk,” he says. “You realize these people have been asked the same questions over and over again.” The pandemic happened and he was able to spend time with some 35 members of the cast and crew. “
It was like a friendship. I view all these people as a slightly dysfunctional family and we’re all back together and I’m like the stepchild.”
“After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun” begins streaming August 28 on Hulu.
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