01x02 - Show Me the Money

[bunniefuu]

♪

Going from the top.

With Baywatch,

I was stepping onto this thing

that was just, like,

a rocket ship.

♪

It wasn't easy doing Baywatch.

It looked like a lot of fun

You want me to wear this?

What?

But you know what?

It was tough.

Oh, I'll be ready ♪

Never you fear ♪

I just thought

Baywatch was just this show

about white girls

with blonde hair, blue eyes,

with big boobs

running up and down the beach

that couldn't act.

Oh, don't you fear ♪

I didn't conform to what

people thought of as Baywatch.

Breasts were not a thing.

♪

Pamela just exploded

that first year.

♪

And then

the sex tape came out.

It took her to the next level

and took the show

to the next level.

It was a total invasion

of our privacy.

How is this happening?

Pamela!

To the left! To the left!

People were just hungry.

They were eating

that stuff alive.

And they just wanted

to put you under a microscope

and see where your flaws are

and expose them.

I bow to no biceps.

Michael Bergin was so hot.

He appealed to my mom.

He appealed to my grandmother.

He appealed to my grandfather.

You never know.

He with the best abs wins,

or she with the best boobs

wins.

The guys, they had to wear

next to nothing.

They'd say, "Rolling."

Everybody'd hold it in.

And they'd go, "Cut,"

and they'd let it out.

I was getting a little

chubby in the midsection,

so I was

a little bit embarrassed.

There was this whole thing

about, was Baywatch r*cist?

My manager said,

"Congratulations.

You just booked Baywatch."

Ah! I was so excited.

It changed my life.

It changed my career.

It changed everything.

♪

♪

LA lifeguards became

superstars because of Baywatch.

♪

No one had ever done a show

about lifeguards before.

It's a real gig, man.

I mean, they're the firemen

on the beach.

Greg Bonann,

one of the producers,

was also a lifeguard.

And he really wanted

the cast to be lifeguards.

He really wanted us

to completely embody that role.

I have met a lot of kids

who became lifeguards

Because they watched the show.

There's one right now.

He's calling.

That's a lifeguard.

Hello?

"Yeah, I was a lifeguard

because of Baywatch."

♪

Some people stand

in the darkness,

afraid to step into the light.

Some people need

to help somebody.

Dude, I'm on a show

about rescue.

That's another reason

why this show

translated around the world.

People say it's the T&A.

Well, you're darn right

it was.

But it was also because

this show was about rescue

and compassion and altruism.

It's all

mixed in together, man.

♪

I'm a local boy.

I grew up here

in the Palisades.

That beach has been

very good to me down there.

It was the same place

that I shot

the world's most popular

television show.

I've been a lifeguard

since 1977.

I just fit in the water.

I always have.

Both my parents were swimmers.

And I was on

a competitive swim team,

so I was introduced

to all these water skills.

Mike Newman is

what people think about

when they think

about a lifeguard.

He's a tall,

good-looking, strong man.

He is the image

of a lifeguard.

♪

So this, early days

of Mike lifeguarding.

This is way pre Baywatch.

As you can see, he's lived

his entire life in a Speedo.

It's second nature to him.

This is early on

lifeguard competitions.

You could see the guy is

an absolute specimen.

This is Newman in about '94.

And this is probably about

the peak of Baywatch,

when Pam came on.

Mike was the Ironman Lifeguard

World Champion in '94.

And as you can see,

the guy is a beast.

And then here's from

that competition.

Pam must have come out

and gave him some support.

Prime Mike and prime Pamela

right there.

In a Speedo, no less.

I've made

hundreds of rescues.

When you can reach out

and grab someone's hand

when they knew they were gonna

be dead in a few minutes

and bring them back to shore,

it's a great feeling.

I mean, there's no better

feeling in the world.

So at first,

Mike Newman wasn't

an actual member of the show.

He was just a consultant

on the show to make sure

that things looked appropriate

and professional.

Every time I would see Newman,

that's what it would bring

me to.

It would bring me back to,

"This sh*t is real."

I just knew

that we were going to work

on a show about lifeguards,

and we're doing the best we can

to represent them correctly.

All the actors started

having to go through

a swimming test

before they were cast

because actors will say

they can do anything.

There were a few actors who

said, "Oh, yeah, I can swim,"

when they couldn't,

I auditioned with Hasselhoff.

He was right there

in front of me.

I was so nervous.

I got through that phase.

And then the next phase was

putting on the red suit.

So I put on the red suit,

modeled it around.

Then the producer said,

"Can you swim?"

I said, "Of course. I'm great.

I'm an amazing swimmer."

And I remember standing

on the edge of this pool.

And I said a prayer.

And I just thought,

dive like you're a dancer.

Tuck in your chin

and go for it.

And I made it.

I made it on the show.

On Baywatch,

the priorities were the look.

They took really good care

to make the show look good.

But also,

the rescues were important

because Greg Bonann,

the producer,

was also a lifeguard.

♪

Our cast had to go

through rookie school,

run on the hot sand,

burning sand.

Being on Baywatch,

we were jumping over waves,

diving into the water.

Sometimes you would feel

like you're drowning.

But you get up,

and you cough a little,

and you try it again.

And you do it until you get it.

There were just some

days where it was too tough.

You would be absolutely frozen

because it was, like,

50 degrees outside.

I was doing things

I never imagined I would do,

like tandem surfing.

I remember

going up in the air.

And I just said, make yourself

look like a ballerina.

And then, with perfect form,

I looked to the camera

and waved.

And that is

one of my proudest moments

out there in the water.

♪

Alexandra Paul

was probably, hands down,

the most credible actress

to play a lifeguard.

I was competent

because I had been

a junior lifeguard.

I was a certified EM

at the time too.

I didn't conform to what

people thought of as Baywatch.

That actually worked

to my advantage.

I grew up on the East Coast,

and breasts were not a thing.

I learned something

really important

that first season on the show.

No matter what I do, I'm never

gonna do that sexy thing

as well

as the other actresses.

So I just said,

I'm gonna be more me.

And by cutting my hair and

my body became

more sinewy and strong.

I realized you can

just being yourself

is so empowering.

Alexandra was

not only a trained EMT,

which most lifeguards are.

She was also a triathlete,

but not only a triathlete,

an Ironman triathlete.

She walked into a part

basically being the part.

OK, let's get it over here.

She was tough.

She made rescues.

She was the real deal

in real life, you know?

And that's what was so cool

about the show,

is we had the gorgeous ones,

and we had the real ones.

But they were all real

because they all went

in the water, even Pamela.

Well, I've been doing

Baywatch now.

It's my fourth episode

on Baywatch,

so we've been swimming

in the ocean a little bit.

But I'm not used

to these kind of waves.

But it's so much fun.

I'm hooked.

Pamela Anderson

played a character

named CJ Parker.

I think her character

was pretty true

to who she wasvery light,

bubbly, likable, just cute.

What, you say

I was fat before?

No, not at all.

No, you're just

there's a sparkle

in your eyes now that you

Oh, God, and I'm dying

of heat exhaustion.

Maybe that's why.

Pamela's character was really

crafted after her,

you know, interviewing her,

meeting her, and saying,

"Well, look, what kind

of things do you do?"

She said,

"Well, I play the saxophone.

So when we first meet CJ,

she's on a rock,

playing the saxophone.

I've got Baywatch now,

where I play CJ Parker.

This is my first season

last year.

Baywatch was fantastic.

Bringing my dog to work

every day.

I couldn't believe that

people paid me to go to work.

Pam, show us the front!

They really hit

the lottery with Pamela.

She really epitomized

what they wanted to do

with Baywatch

and where it ended up.

She was perfect.

Pamela Anderson for Baywatch

just took a show

that was about here

and took it there.

She had the ability to take

that show to the next level.

Well,

I'd rather be a sex symbol

than not a sex symbol.

I don't know.

I mean,

that's a compliment, isn't it?

Every girl wants to be sexy.

Jennifer!

Hey, Britney.

How you doing today?

Justin.

Over here, Justin. Justin!

Back up!

In the 1990s,

tabloid journalism exploded.

The paparazzi were everywhere,

and the tabloids were growing.

Get the f*ck out of the way!

I can't see!

There are cars there,

m*therf*cker!

Get out of the way!

It was a new era

of journalism.

Keanu!

It was a free-for-all

of celebrities,

of stories, of sensationalism.

People were just hungry.

They were eating

that stuff alive.

So we were giving you

the taste, the feel,

the rawness of Hollywood.

And you were consuming it

because it was just addicting.

Jessica,

are you dating anybody?

Jessica, do you miss Tony Romo?

When you're famous,

everybody wants to know

your personal business.

Everyone wants to know

what you're doing,

how you live your life.

It's like, no one

lives this perfect life.

And back then,

they just wanted

to put you under a microscope

and see where your flaws are

and expose them.

I'm just like you.

I'm just like you.

We're all

human beings, you know?

It's like, come on.

Nobody's perfect.

Because there were

so many cast members

on Baywatch,

they were fodder

for the tabloids.

Pamela!

Part of it was the fact

that there were

more television shows

that had a tabloid interest

than there had been

in the past.

In particular,

it happened to Pamela Anderson

because she lived

a very exciting life.

I was out.

It was New Year's Eve.

Bring in the new year.

"Whoo-hoo!" Right?

♪

And there was a big booth.

And she was with

all of her girlfriends.

I licked her.

She licked her girlfriend.

Her girlfriend licked

her girlfriend.

And she just kind of

passed that energy

all the way around the table.

And I was like, that's cool.

That's really cool.

First,

she was Pamela Anderson.

Then, after a four-day romance

and a white bikini wedding,

she was Pamela Lee.

Pamela.

These two were meant

to be together,

Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee.

And that was

just the beginning

of a tumultuous

and headline-filled

relationship

filled with ups and downs.

The relationship

between Pam and Tommy Lee

complicated things.

It complicated her life.

You know, they complicated

our lives.

I like Tommy Lee.

I liked them together.

Pam loved Tommy.

I mean, he was terrific.

But there was a window

of time that perhaps

they were having problems

in their marriage, or issues,

or whatever it was.

My marriage was

hard on everybody

On Baywatch.

And that was kind of difficult

on the set,

with the Testarossa

spinning out in the driveways

and punching out cabinets

in the makeup trailer.

And I think it was

just hard on everybody.

Tommy was crazy.

Tommy was

pushing down photographers.

We were getting sued

all the time.

So it was a little bit of

a scary time with paparazzi.

There's some very famous

paparazzi footage

of Pam and Tommy coming

out of the Viper Room,

which was

a very popular nightclub

and music club

on the Sunset Strip

that was owned by Johnny Depp.

This was a time

where people were

obsessed with Pam and Tommy.

Tommy is this tall rocker guy.

Pam's this sex b*mb.

Tom

Tommy Lee's right there.

Tommy Lee's right there.

You've got people

following you.

They're in your sh*t.

And, you know,

you're having a good time.

And you come out,

and, you know,

paparazzi bulbs in your face.

You're pissed off.

So Tommy ended up

grabbing a paparazzi

and threw him to the ground.

Hey, Tommy!

f*ck off.

Tommy, come on.

Get in. Get in. Get in.

Son of a b*tch.

Paparazzi at the time would,

on purpose,

try to provoke talent

to get the shot.

Where's your

child this time in the morning?

She's with my mother!

Where's your baby?

So they're, like, starting

to ridicule their parenting.

And, you know, it's like

going after a lion, you know?

It's like the cubs.

You justyou don't f*ck

with people's kids.

And it was

a very heated exchange.

You're a f*cking as*h*le.

You're a f*cking as*h*le.

You're a drug fiend.

Don't you dare speak about

Looking back in hindsight,

you can't really blame them.

They've been provoked.

And when you are

being provoked,

you're going to react.

And they did.

Watch him, will ya?

Don't get hit!

♪

We had several

big-a*s speed bumps

in our relationship, you know,

things that weren't really,

you know, nurturing

to ato the relationship.

They wereyou know,

they werethey were,

you know,

wedges driving us apart.

♪

We always had issues

with Tommy Lee

being jealous

of Pam's relationship

with other actors on the show.

Pam and I had

a great relationship

on the series.

It was almost like

brother and sister in a way.

We never took ourselves

too seriously.

We knew we were doing

a certain type

of entertainment.

Pam came to me

one day and said,

"Please rewrite this scene

"where I have to kiss

David Chokachi.

"Tommy's just feeling

really insecure right now,

"and it's just not a good time.

And don't make me kiss

David Chokachi."

Tommy Lee took our scenes

when we were, like, boyfriend

and girlfriend at face value

and got really upset.

I felt bad for her

because she was

under a lot of pressure

from just, like, the outside

trying to get on

see what her inside is about.

There was one incident

where Tommy Lee came

into her trailer.

And she was out

doing a scene with Chokachi.

And he was just getting

more and more upset

that she wasn't coming,

and he kind of trashed

her trailer.

I just felt bad for her.

It'syou know,

it should have been

it should have been a really

great time in her life.

And instead,

she was kind of cornered.

♪

Pamela Anderson

had a lot of turmoil

around her relationship

with Tommy Lee.

So she was probably number one

target at the time.

She had a lot of interest

in her.

And then the sex tape came out.

Pam and Tommy created

this sex tape on their boat.

And somehow,

that sex tape got leaked.

I think

that's probably the first time

celebrities were ever seen

having sex, naturally.

It was a total invasion

of our privacy.

This is, like,

sacred, you know?

What isthis is not meant

to be on the shelves

of Tower Video right now,

you know?

How is this happening?

How did this happen?

And just, you knowyou just

start losing your mind.

It was stolen property,

in that it was two

crazily-naked people in love.

I mean, we were naked

all the time

and filming each other

and being silly.

But those tapes were not meant

for anybody else to see.

And I've not seen it

to this day.

It was very hurtful.

For us to be able

to get inside that world

for the first time,

it was fascinating.

I think sex tapes

would probably be

the precursor to reality TV.

It's our obsession

with real life.

We're taking

people's personal lives

and commercializing it

and commercializing

their sexual acts.

Prior to Pam and Tommy,

if you had a sex tape,

your career, your life,

your reputation was over.

Just look at Rob Lowe.

He had to go into hiding

for years.

And then, of course,

after that,

people like Paris Hilton

and Kim Kardashian

parlayed those sex tapes

to added fame

and celebrityhood.

-Pamela.

-Pamela, in the middle.

When Pam's sex tape came out,

the studio said, look,

write her out

of a couple of episodes.

Just write her out.

We gotta figure out

what we're gonna do with this.

This is disaster.

The next episode aired.

Like, got twice the ratings.

Just shot up in the ratings.

When Pam did the sex tape,

the most important thing

that happened is,

she crossed over

from this untouchable star

to somebody

that many people wanted.

She became a commodity.

That tape made Pam a commodity,

even larger than Baywatch.

We went to London

to promote Baywatch.

Photographers were

falling over

backwards and down the stairs,

and I just looked

behind me like,

who are they sh**ting?

And it slowly dawns on you

that it's you.

Baywatch wasn't Shakespeare.

It was T&A.

It was boats, jet skis.

It was the great American

adventure show.

This was

a kind of bland soap opera

with a gorgeous landscape.

The stories were horrible.

But they created a show

that was successful worldwide

that could be dubbed

into any language.

We were the butt of jokes on

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

all the time.

OK, Tina,

"Everybody out of the water."

Take one.

Everybody out of the water!

Baywatch audition,

take two.

- Action.

- Look out!

There's a shark on the way!

And every time he said

a joke, our ratings went up.

Every time SNL did a sketch,

our ratings would go up.

I can't swim!

So we were thrilled.

It's cool

that we got to put a smile

on people's faces, you know?

And this show was

the ultimate escapism

for anybody who was looking

to just be entertained

for an hour.

The great good fortune

of Baywatch

was that the beach was

such a natural environment

for people to be

in bathing suits.

When I first got on

the show, the bathing suit was

sort of one size fits all

for the women.

Over the years, they went

higher and higher and higher.

And it was ridiculous.

You couldn't even

function in it.

I remember looking at it,

going,

you want me to wear this?

What?

That's it right there.

OK, beautiful.

Nice shot.

I think

Baywatch was ahead of its time

because men were featured,

and men looked hot.

The guys have

the same incredible bodies

as the women do.

The guys take

their shirts off all the time.

You could do the laundry

on their washboard stomachs.

♪

The '90s were

full of these dudes

who were super ripped,

you know, and just had,

like, eight packs

and just, like,

wearing underwear.

David Chokachi was

a young kid from New England.

Had just got out of college.

He was a jock.

He was a lacrosse player.

Buff. He was handsome.

He should have played Ken

in the Barbie movie.

He comes to California

to be rich and famous.

And he sees Baywatch,

and he's like,

"I want to get on that show."

And I was with a small

talent agency at the time.

And they were like,

"hey, we got you this audition.

I don't know if it's any good,

but you might want to go."

And then I looked at it,

and I was like, holy sh*t,

it's to replace

David Charvet on the show.

As soon as I stepped

through the door,

they were like,

"You're Cody Madison.

You are the guy we've been

searching for for months."

David Chokachi was

down for everything.

He loved doing the stunts,

riding jet skis.

David Chokachi is

the American dream.

♪

I figured out

early on in the show, like,

wow, the more fit you are,

the more episodes they're

gonna to write for you.

The more fans you have,

the more money

you're gonna make.

It was, like,

a self-fulfilling thing.

So I just embraced it.

I wanted to be

super, super fit.

I made sure I was.

Men can be sexualized

just as much as women,

and Chokachi is

a perfect example of that

in the opening credits.

He's coming out of the water.

His muscles are popping out.

I think he puts

his head back like this.

And in slow-motion,

you see his c*ck in his suit.

And, you know, it was hot.

I got voted in

as one of People's

50 Most Beautiful People,

which was a big thing

back then.

And, like, Tom Cruise

is on the cover.

The physicality

and that aspect of the show

fed right into my strengths.

David Chokachi from Baywatch!

On the show,

the men all had to wear

next to nothing.

And there was little left

to the imagination.

The producers threw

those guys in Speedos.

You know how horrible

Speedos are?

And you also are aware

that the camera is going to be

really, really tight on it.

You can't hide anything.

There's nothing to hide.

They're almost treated

as, like,

what I would call a himbo.

Like, oh,

you're just a hot guy.

I was like, can't I

just wear the red trunks?

And they're like, no

because the lifeguards

did back then wear them.

They're just more effective

in the water.

But you can't be eating

any Twinkies.

You've got to be

just totally fit,

which, luckily, I was.

♪

The bummer was, though,

a lot of times,

you know,

it's 6:30 in the morning.

It's freezing.

And it's like,

all right, get in the water.

You know,

the shrinkage is ridiculous.

I had my own technique.

I would basically try and find

a little towel or a jacket

and hide under it and do

a little personal fluffing.

And then, you know, it created

a little circulation.

And you kind of could represent

yourself a little bit better.

David Chokachi looked great

wearing his bathing suit.

He was, like, ridiculous.

You know, Michael Bergin

was ridiculous too.

They were just

good-looking guys.

Chokachi looked

damn good in a Speedo,

but I think I looked

a little bit better.

I guess you could call me

Captain Underpants.

-And action!

-Action.

When we were

filming on the beach,

we had a thing called

the rolling six pack.

They said, "Rolling."

Everybody'd hold it in.

And then we'd do the scene.

And they'd go, "Cut,"

and they'd let it out.

I bow to no biceps.

Shut up.

OK, next. Next.

Did you have a six pack?

If you looked like

you had incredible definition,

come on over.

You could be a star.

You couldn't just

have a dad bod.

You couldn't just have

the body

that you were born with.

You actually were taught that

you could have a better body.

You could be better.

You know,

being in shape became part

of my psychic makeup

and my physical makeup,

my emotional makeup.

I think it'd be impossible

for it not to be

pretty much branded,

seared into your soul.

Whatever the cost was,

I was willing to pay it

to try to hold it together

because I'm on a show

that is all about that.

I was getting a little chubby

in the midsection,

so I was

a little bit embarrassed.

I was getting prodded

by producers and stuff

about my appearance,

skinny arms and chubby belly.

♪

I hired a trainer

to come drag him out of bed

when he was getting older

so thatfor him,

that when he was on camera,

he was gonna be,

like, really fit.

He with the best abs wins,

or she

with the best boobs wins.

Baywatch created a situation

which maybe was good

or wasn't good, that

everybody's body was so ideal

that it actually pushed

the fitness craze

because you wanted

to be like these people

or you didn't fit anymore.

-Good.

-OK, we're good.

Here's the elevator version.

So we were lucky

enough to get Debbie Gibson

and Scott Grimes to work

on their own rendition

of the Baywatch theme song.

That song was a character.

Like, when you heard

the song start,

you knew exactly what

you were watching.

Some people stand

in the darkness ♪

Afraid to step

into the light ♪

Some people need

to help somebody ♪

When the edge of surrender's

in sight ♪

Don't you worry ♪

To be doing the theme song

for such an iconic show

that I watched, right, and

is an honor and a privilege

to be able to do that.

Forever and always ♪

Forever and always ♪

I'm always here ♪

Forever and always ♪

Right around the time

that Baywatch was fever pitch,

I was like, oh, my God.

This is so cool that

this show is incorporating

this pop-rock song.

It was, like, the best

2 1/2 minutes of my life,

singing this.

Oh, I'll be ready ♪

Oh, yes,

the Baywatch song.

"I'll be ready

whenever you need.

Forever and always,

I'm always here."

It's the perfect theme song

forfor Baywatch.

The lyrics were perfect.

The song was perfect.

I love that theme.

I'm always ready ♪

I won't let you

out of my sight ♪

Beautiful, man.

The '90s were

just such great time,

even the fashion,

the hairstyles, the makeup.

There was a reference

to Baywatch

in almost everything

that was a hit.

Simpsons.

I heard it on Baywatch.

American Dad.

Why were you keeping

the exciting world

of lifeguards from me?

Friends.

Hey, they're running.

See, this is

the brilliance of the show.

I say always keep them running.

Chandler on Friends, I think,

had a crush on Yasmin.

Run, Yasmin!

Run like the wind!

And that's the kind of thing

that helped Baywatch

become even more iconic.

The funny thing about

the '90s was, on one hand,

you have Debbie Gibson,

all bubbly.

And she's famous.

And at the same time,

you've got Lisa Bonet getting

ready to do Angel Heart.

She's in The Cosby Show.

And then all of a sudden,

she gets sexy

and starts taking

her clothes off.

This was a time

when wholesomeness

was, like, kind of going

out the door.

But nobody was

putting the brakes on,

so everybody was

sliding to dirty.

Everybody was sliding to sexy.

You'd have

Abercrombie & Fitch show up,

all naked young boys running

with naked young girls.

You have all the Calvin Klein

Obsession ads

and the Calvin Klein

underwear ads.

Can you unbutton

the top button of those jeans?

Now, why don't you push them

down a little bit?

No, I don't think so.

Fashion,

for whatever reason,

always got away

with doing more.

The more they got away with,

the more stuff they sold.

And to be a Calvin Klein model

in the '90s

was a really big deal.

Does sex sell?

Absolutely it sells.

We still like sex.

Michael Bergin came in,

and he was very raw,

but, you know,

just great-looking.

Michael Bergin was

a supermodel in a time

that male and female models

were stars in their own right.

He would be the closest thing

to the model version

of JFK Jr.

He also was ironically

in a relationship

with Carolyn Bessette.

So at the time, I was up

for the Calvin Klein

underwear campaign.

And other names

that were up for it

were Brad Pitt,

Anthony Kiedis,

and Woody Harrelson.

And then in March of 1995,

I went from nobody

to, like, everyone calling me

a supermodel.

There was nothing better

as a teenage girl or a g*y man

walking down the street

and seeing a four-story

Michael Bergin

in a pair of underwear.

What was better than that?

Michael Bergin was so hot.

East Coast vibes, ripped abs.

Those are my memories of him.

WAYNE: Baywatch knew

how to cast

what was happening

in the advertising moments

in the world.

To take Michael Bergin

off a wall

and to put him on your TV set

so that I can watch it

every week,

it's a win-win situation.

He was clean cut.

He was handsome.

He was sexy.

He appealed to my mom.

He appealed to my grandmother.

He appealed to my grandfather.

You never know.

Every woman

in the office came to us

and said,

"You have got to cast him.

He's the guy."

Susie saw

Michael Bergin in an ad.

I think it was a Calvin Klein

underwear ad, right?

Yeah, I think so.

And I said,

we have to get this guy in.

Right, so then it was

calling New York.

- We had to find him.

- Yeah.

So I auditioned for Baywatch.

I don't think they were

expecting much from me.

And they were like,

"Oh, my God."

They're like, "He's the one."

Baywatch is something that

absolutely changed my life.

♪

Thank goodness we

came up with the name Baywatch

because it lent itself

to such an iconic logo.

Baywatch was very hard

to market and promote.

We were on different nights,

different stations,

so we needed different

elements to promote the show.

And these were them.

We've got Baywatch the game.

I've never played it.

Who made this game?

Baywatch stickers.

Hot Wheels.

This is Barbie.

Or as Pamela Anderson

would say, it's CJ.

Baywatch Barbie

looked out to sea ♪

A dolphin's in trouble ♪

I'll set you free ♪

Hurry!

The creators

and producers of Baywatch,

these guys were just

amazing business guys.

We made a deal with Coke

for one year,

and then Pepsi

for the next year,

and then Dr. Pepper

to put their machines

in our lifeguard headquarters.

They had a billion viewers.

What product wouldn't want

to be on the show?

It's cheaper for them to give

us a little bit of money

than actually run an ad

or buy a billboard.

So the bang for the buck

on advertising

was pretty genius.

Even the actors were

figuring it out.

Oh, I got aggressive, man.

I got aggressive.

I personally reached out

to Adidas.

I would just pick up the phone.

Deet-deet-deet-deet.

Corporate office.

"Who's in charge over there?

"Yeah, you know, what's up?

My name is Jeremy Jackson.

"I'm on this show

called Baywatch,

"and they let me wear

whatever I want.

And I really want

to wear your clothes."

David Hasselhoff was

actually making fun of me

because I was always

wearing that stuff.

"What is up with you

and all this Adidas?"

And, you know,

I was trying to plug

this company that was

giving me free stuff,

and he called me out on it.

And he wrote this little hook

that said,

"With the beat and the sound

of my stripes hitting ground,

I've got all I need."

With the beat and the sound

of the stripes hitting ground ♪

I got all I need ♪

That song was called

"You Can Run".

It's about the three stripes

of Adidas hitting the ground.

You can run ♪

It debuted on

the European Billboard charts

at number three.

I broke some kind of a record

for youngest person to debut

at number three,

and I was inducted into

the World Music Hall of Fame.

I really just think it was me

capitalizing on an opportunity,

coming from not being able

to get

whatever clothes I could,

not being able to rock

whatever shoes I wanted.

The other kids had the Jordans,

and I didn't have the Jordans.

And I just took

full advantage of that.

It was about using

Baywatch in a different way.

So the next thing you know,

I'm getting paid appearances

to show up at clubs

all over the world

because of all these things.

And it was easy money.

Carmen!

It was sort of the beginning

of what we're doing

with social media.

And anything was an opportunity

to cash in on.

And the sky was the limit.

My name is Ingrid Walters,

and I'm from Orange County,

California.

♪

Even at a young age,

I was a competitive swimmer.

♪

And I was a lifeguard

later on in life.

♪

When I would work

at the beach,

people used to come up

to my lifeguard tower

and just sort of stare.

Some people would actually

ask me if I could swim.

And a lot of people

would just say,

"I have never seen

a Black lifeguard before."

I didn't take offense to it

because they hadn't.

Roll, roll, please.

Greg Bonann was one

of the creators of Baywatch.

And when he saw Ingrid,

a woman of color

that was a lifeguard

and a top swimmer

and a beautiful woman,

he said, come on in.

Come on my show.

I think they were kind of

getting a little bit of flak

for not having

any brown people.

It was all white people

on the show.

And then he asked if I wanted

to come and audition.

There was

this whole thing about,

was Baywatch r*cist?

Because there were

no Black lifeguards.

I don't think

that Baywatch was designed

for Black representation.

When you think about

life on the beach,

you probably aren't thinking

about Black folks

on the beach.

That show was not designed

for us to look and say,

oh, look, this is something

that, you know,

we can aspire to.

I don't think

that the people

who produced Baywatch

were r*cist,

but they knew that a blonde,

blue-eyed notion

of Southern California

was what people wanted to see.

At that time,

there was not any diversity.

It was just, you know, so hard

to get a job in Hollywood.

In the 1990s,

we had a number of people

who burst onto the scene,

whether it was Britney Spears

and Justin Timberlake,

on TV, the cast of Friends,

the cast of Seinfeld.

It's this kind of

aspirational television.

When you're talking

about a scripted series

like a Baywatch

or like a Dallas,

it's this

fictionalized version

of what you imagine

the good life is

and the good life looks like.

The one underlying

common denominator

was that they were all

very, very white.

John Singleton said,

"We lost the w*r on racism,

"but we won the w*r

on pop culture.

"And while

you people were watching

"all these white people

running up and down the beach,

Black was exploding."

It was everywhere.

Spike Lee was sh**ting

Do The Right Thing.

Rap was coming in.

Arsenio Hall becomes

one of the most famous

talk show hosts on television.

Wouldn't that be funny to see

Black people riding around

in helmets in their cars?

Hi, officer.

Suddenly, soul food

restaurants were opening.

White people were

moving to Harlem.

The world was shifting.

You had

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

You had Martin.

You had Living Single.

You had In Living Color.

You had a number of shows

that were doing very well

at major networks

that were representing

different aspects

of Black life.

These were windows

into stories

that we had never seen.

We didn't know this culture.

We just knew this little tiny,

rarefied version of society

that isn't accurate

unless you stay in that bubble.

And it was

it was eye-opening.

♪

I'm Traci Bingham,

and my character on Baywatch

is Jordan Tate.

Traci hadn't really done much.

It was sort of

her first real acting role.

She had done

a guest-starring spot

on The Fresh Prince

of Bel-Air.

She was in the Marky Mark

"Good Vibrations" music video.

A lot of people don't know

that I'm the girl,

the "video h*" as they call it,

in the video.

I'm the girl making out

with Mark Wahlberg.

Traci!

Traci was the host

of the Playboy

Babes of Baywatch special.

That show was

a really big show.

Traci introduced

all the actresses

that had come from Baywatch

and done Playboy

or come from Playboy

and done Baywatch.

Traci was just a very unique,

exotic sort of beauty,

and they needed

someone like her.

Traci's so much fun.

She's a ball of energy.

She's amazing.

I just thought

Baywatch was just this show

about white girls

with blonde hair, blue eyes,

with big boobs

running up and down the beach

that couldn't act.

So according to Traci,

the NAACP was kind of

up the a*s of Baywatch

for being very not diverse.

Power concedes nothing

without struggle.

Boom. There you go.

Hey, Traci.

I went in there

with big hair,

fake lashes, tons of eyeliner,

my boobs pushed up to my chin.

Actually, I had, like,

three pairs of socks

on each side just to make

my boobs look huge

because I thought that's what

the show was really about.

I look at Traci Bingham,

and I think she looks like

a Black version

of Pamela Anderson.

I don't think

I'm alone in that thought.

Both women are beautiful,

and I'm not taking away

from how gorgeous

I think Traci Bingham is.

But I think

that in order for that show

to have a Black

female lifeguard,

they felt like

she needed to mirror

what the white women

looked like.

And that's exactly

what they did.

I just knew

I wanted to show

that not just white women

can look hot

and sexy and, you know,

over-the-top with the hair

and the makeup.

Anyone can do it.

And so that's what

I tried to do.

And I believe to this day

it worked.

-Traci.

-You guys got Traci.

Yeah, Traci, another one.

Thousands of girls came in.

And I think she came in,

like, three different times.

Three times for that role.

She was beautiful,

and she could act.

-Just really terrific.

-Yeah.

Knew right away

she was our gal.

I get a phone call

from my manager.

"Are you sitting down?"

He said,

"Well, congratulations.

You just booked Baywatch."

Ah! I was so excited.

Like, I could just cry

just thinking

about it right now because

it just changed my life.

It changed my career.

It changed everything.

It changed my perspective.

I felt like I made it.

I came to California.

I wasn't in California

that long, and I booked it.

I booked that show, the first

woman of color on that show.

♪

♪

♪ Some people stand

in the darkness ♪

♪ Afraid to step

into the light ♪

♪ Some people need

to help somebody ♪

♪ When the edge of surrender's

in sight ♪

♪ Don't you worry ♪

♪ It's gonna be all right ♪

'Cause I'm always ready ♪

♪ Won't let you

out of my sight ♪

♪

♪ I'll be ready ♪

♪ Oh, I'll be ready ♪

♪ Never you fear ♪

♪ Oh, don't you fear ♪

I'll be ready ♪

♪ Oh, I'll be ready ♪

Never you fear ♪

♪ Ooh, don't you fear ♪

I'll be ready ♪

♪ Oh, I'll be ready ♪

♪ Never you fear ♪

♪ Oh, don't you fear ♪

♪ I'll be ready ♪

♪ Forever and always ♪

♪ Oh, forever and always ♪

♪ Forever and always ♪

♪ I'm always here ♪