This year for Yuletide I'm nominating a super obscure fandom (you probably haven't heard of it) Baywatch (TV)
Looking at this image I can almost hear the theme tune. I'd never seen Baywatch this year and I wish someone had told me how bananas it was.
Yes, that is the one with David Hasselhof and Pamela Anderson and the extensive shots of people running slow motion in swimsuits.
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT:
Baywatch, as a show, is amazing because of the truly amazing amount of plot they managed to shove into every episode. Here are some real things that happened in Baywatch:
- A plot: two lifeguards are trapped in a vault as it slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean. B plot: an odd couple of lifeguards compete in a beach volleyball competition so she can show up her ex! - A group of children are exploring a small offshore island. Unbeknownst to them, the island has been infiltrated by pirates and now it's a race against the clock before they are discovered and murdered - For a guys weekend away, some of the crew go down to Mexico, where they discover that a formerly quaint town has been taken over by a gang of Americans. They launch an improvised counterassault to take back the town and in the process blow up about half of it
And every episode includes at least two montages of a duration no shorter than two minutes. And I'm not counting the beach shots. At one point Hasselhoff takes out a massive video camera and just runs around the town filming himself and his girlfriend frolicking. And they say the kids are Instagram obsessed.
But I'm here for a very special lifeguard called Eddie Kramer.
Back before serialised TV, no one had to keep track of a character's backstory and so Baywatch managed to give Eddie the MOST tragic backstory.
An incomplete list: - grew up in foster care ("I had six moms and dads -- all called Foster") - was in a gang - turned evidence and sent a guy to prison - lived ~technically homeless in the beach hut - didn't graduate high school - got a gambling addiction (illegal gambling boat they ended up SCUBAing up to with harpoon guns) - has a brother with schizophrenia
Everything happened to this guy, all of the time.
But then the show did a nice thing for him. After he got kicked out of the beach hut, he was taken in by an adorable married couple: Craig and Gina Pomeroy
Gina Pomeroy is an artist with the most amazing taste in hats. She's the rare TV wife who is fun, and has an actual personality, and isn't there to stand between her man and what he wants to do. I love her.
Craig Pomeroy is a lawyer who tried to work at a high-powered firm but kept skipping work to take lifeguarding shifts. You just can't keep him off the beach. He decides to start his own practice while also working as a full-time lifeguard. Somehow this works out.
I'd say it ships itself, except that I am currently alone.
When Craig starts his law thing and is working at home, he walks into the kitchen in beachy shorts and a full collared shirt and tie. Gina and Eddie look at each other like 'are you going to tell him?' 'no way, he's your boyfriend.'
When the gang member that Eddie sent to jail gets released and decides to wreak his vengeance upon him, Gina thinks he's just a friend and invites him in, so happy to meet a friend of Eddie's. And then, you know, she gets a little bit menaced and Eddie bursts in and it's all very dramatic. No one threatens Gina while Eddie is around.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?: All 9 seasons are on Amazon Prime but Craig + Gina are only in season 1. The best OT3 episodes are: episode 1(first one after pilot), episode 2, episode 3.
Baywatch TV: OT3 Lifeguards
Looking at this image I can almost hear the theme tune. I'd never seen Baywatch this year and I wish someone had told me how bananas it was.
Yes, that is the one with David Hasselhof and Pamela Anderson and the extensive shots of people running slow motion in swimsuits.
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT:
Baywatch, as a show, is amazing because of the truly amazing amount of plot they managed to shove into every episode. Here are some real things that happened in Baywatch:
- A plot: two lifeguards are trapped in a vault as it slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean. B plot: an odd couple of lifeguards compete in a beach volleyball competition so she can show up her ex!
- A group of children are exploring a small offshore island. Unbeknownst to them, the island has been infiltrated by pirates and now it's a race against the clock before they are discovered and murdered
- For a guys weekend away, some of the crew go down to Mexico, where they discover that a formerly quaint town has been taken over by a gang of Americans. They launch an improvised counterassault to take back the town and in the process blow up about half of it
And every episode includes at least two montages of a duration no shorter than two minutes. And I'm not counting the beach shots. At one point Hasselhoff takes out a massive video camera and just runs around the town filming himself and his girlfriend frolicking. And they say the kids are Instagram obsessed.
But I'm here for a very special lifeguard called Eddie Kramer.
Back before serialised TV, no one had to keep track of a character's backstory and so Baywatch managed to give Eddie the MOST tragic backstory.
An incomplete list:
- grew up in foster care ("I had six moms and dads -- all called Foster")
- was in a gang
- turned evidence and sent a guy to prison
- lived ~technically homeless in the beach hut
- didn't graduate high school
- got a gambling addiction (illegal gambling boat they ended up SCUBAing up to with harpoon guns)
- has a brother with schizophrenia
Everything happened to this guy, all of the time.
But then the show did a nice thing for him. After he got kicked out of the beach hut, he was taken in by an adorable married couple: Craig and Gina Pomeroy
Gina Pomeroy is an artist with the most amazing taste in hats. She's the rare TV wife who is fun, and has an actual personality, and isn't there to stand between her man and what he wants to do. I love her.
Craig Pomeroy is a lawyer who tried to work at a high-powered firm but kept skipping work to take lifeguarding shifts. You just can't keep him off the beach. He decides to start his own practice while also working as a full-time lifeguard. Somehow this works out.
I'd say it ships itself, except that I am currently alone.
When Craig starts his law thing and is working at home, he walks into the kitchen in beachy shorts and a full collared shirt and tie. Gina and Eddie look at each other like 'are you going to tell him?' 'no way, he's your boyfriend.'
When the gang member that Eddie sent to jail gets released and decides to wreak his vengeance upon him, Gina thinks he's just a friend and invites him in, so happy to meet a friend of Eddie's. And then, you know, she gets a little bit menaced and Eddie bursts in and it's all very dramatic. No one threatens Gina while Eddie is around.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?: All 9 seasons are on Amazon Prime but Craig + Gina are only in season 1. The best OT3 episodes are: episode 1(first one after pilot), episode 2, episode 3.