Baywatch actor says movie killed early chances of a TV reboot

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Ever wonder why Baywatch hasn't gotten the TV reboot treatment? Perhaps you haven't but it wouldn't be the only television relic from back in the day to make a TV comeback. CBS alone has revived Hawaii Five-0, MacGyver, and Magnum P.I. so it's not far fetched to wonder why the immensely popular Baywatch hasn't had its blast from the past moment. Well, it turns out that Baywatch did almost have its moment, according to original cast member, David Chokachi. The actor played Cody Madison on the series which ran from 1989-2001 and he says he pitched a TV reboot that CBS was high on until 2017's BAYWATCH movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron came along and killed the project.

Chokachi was featured on an episode of the podcast "The Production Meeting", and he explains that we were going to a modern television reboot but the movie adaptation got in the way:

"I had pitched them, they rebooted every show from the '90s and I'd say half of them were hits. I was like, 'Why are you guys lagging on this, why didn't you try and strike?… Then the movie came out and the movie squashed any idea. CBS was going to do the show, I had a meeting with them, a location scout. Then the movie came out and instead CBS went with Magnum P.I. that year."

I would like to point out that I feel like I'm the only person that got some enjoyment from the BAYWATCH movie. The film took the conceit of the original series which is hot lifeguards saving the day and attempted to make an action-comedy out of it. I think the attempt was to do what 21 JUMP STREET did so well but for many, the film reboot missed the mark. The film received harsh reviews from critics and, despite the presence of Johnson and Efron, the film failed at the box office. Their presence wasn't enough to pull in the ladies and Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach and Priyanka Chopra couldn't pull in the men while the nostalgia factor also didn't work for the film. Pamela Anderson, made famous for playing C.J. Parker on the original series, made a cameo in the film and even she expressed the movie didn't live up to her expectations:

"I didn't like it. Let's just keep the bad TV as bad TV. That's what's charming about Baywatch, you know? Trying to make these movies out of television is just messing with it. $65 million would make a good movie. We made our show for like $500,000, you have the same explosions, the same sequences of water. That's the fun part; being creative."

Even though CBS was likely turned off by how poorly the film performed, I honestly think a TV reboot COULD work a lot better than a film because the bar would be a lot lower and it would lend itself to allowing more of the original cast to make appearances. I'm not saying the world is clamoring for a Baywatch TV reboot but CBS turned their revivals of Hawaii Five-0, MacGyver, and Magnum P.I. into hits and I wouldn't be surprised if a new take on Baywatch was just as successful.

Would YOU want to see a television reboot of Baywatch?