‘After Baywatch’ Docuseries Includes Unseen Footage of ’90s Lifeguard Stars

PASADENA, Calif. ― The stars of “Baywatch” are ready to reveal what happened behind the scenes of the iconic lifeguard series that dominated 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. The four-part series will premiere on Aug. 28 and will feature in-depth interviews with 35 cast members who donned the trademark red “Baywatch” swimsuits, including personalities like Carmen Electra and Pamela Anderson, along with intimate home videos. The fascination with the classic ’90s action drama featuring lifeguards on Southern California beaches persists more than three decades later.

“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.” Eggert also serves as the executive producer for Hulu’s “After Baywatch.” “Let’s talk about what happened,” she added.

Eggert spoke about the “love-hate relationship” she had with “Baywatch,” mentioning that her feelings have evolved over the years. “Now I love it and appreciate it,” she noted. “But everyone has such a great story. And there’s so much more than just their beauty and their time on the show.”

The TCA panel featured several “Baywatch” stars, including Eggert, Electra (Lani McKenzie), Billy Warlock (Eddie Kramer), Alexandra Paul (Stephanie Holden), David Chokachi (Cody Madison), Jeremy Jackson (Hobie Buchannon), Traci Bingham (Jordan Tate), and Erika Eleniak (Shauni McClain).

Eggert, 52, shared that she had been trying to create a “Baywatch” TV project more than five years ago, which eventually turned into the documentary series after she met filmmaker Matthew Felker, who became the director and executive producer for “After Baywatch.”

While David Hasselhoff did not attend the TCA panel, Eggert confirmed that the series’ executive producer and main star fully participated in the Hulu project. Hasselhoff was the first call Eggert made before moving 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!'”

The series will air three months after Hulu’s hit documentary “Brats” from Andrew McCarthy, which features the ’80s star addressing his early fame alongside other “Brat Pack” members. Eggert, who revealed her battle with breast cancer earlier this year, has also had a similar journey that will be shared 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.”

Felker spent five years tracking down and conducting interviews for the series, ensuring that “nothing was off the table.” He refused to accept rejections from reluctant former cast members, even showing up at an open house for actor-turned-real-estate-agent Michael Bergin (Jack “J.D.” Darius) to successfully convince him to participate.

It also took a year of working through her publicist to bring Carmen Electra on board. “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.”

Felker noted that 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 that 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 said. “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.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘After Baywatch’ docuseries will feature never-aired footage of famed ’90s lifeguard stars

Source: USA Today