Baywatch: plot and everything we know about the TV reboot

David Hasselhoff in Baywatch
David Hasselhoff in Baywatch (Image credit: RLFE Pix/Alamy Stock Photo)

Get ready for tans, slo-mo running and daring beach rescues, as a reboot of Baywatch is on its way back to your TV screens. The 90s TV staple is getting a fresh take and a new home, as Fox has picked up the new series.

Baywatch initially premiered in 1989 on NBC, though it only lasted one season on the network. However, it quickly became a hit on syndication, making stars out of many of its cast members, including David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, Erika Eleniak, Nicole Eggert, Parker Stevenson and more. There were some spinoffs of the show (Baywatch Nights and Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding, the latter of which actually aired on Fox), but the series hasn't aired anything on TV since 2003 (a Baywatch movie starring Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and Alexandra Daddario was released in 2017).

What do we know about the new Baywatch TV series? Read on to find out.

Baywatch release date

No release date for Baywatch is available right now, but if we had to guess it wouldn't be a surprise if the Baywatch reboot is one of the big new shows Fox has for the 2024-2025 TV season.

We’ll pass along an update as info on when we’ll be getting the new Baywatch series comes to light. 

If you want to watch the original Baywatch series, it is currently available to stream on Peacock, PlutoTV and Tubi.

Baywatch cast

There is no information on who will be starring as part of the new Baywatch cast, but all indications are that it will be a new team of lifeguards monitoring the beach. This is signaled through a line in the show's logline (which you can read in full below) — "along with a whole new generation of Baywatch lifeguards."

As casting news is announced, we'll share that information here.

That doesn't mean that past Baywatch stars couldn't show up for a cameo necessarily, but they are not likely to be regular fixtures on the show.

Baywatch plot

Lara Olsen (Spinning Out, Private Practice) has been set as the showrunner for the new Baywatch. She will also serve as an executive producer on the show with original creators Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz and Gregory J. Bonann.

Here is the official logline for the reboot:

"Daring ocean rescues, pristine beaches and iconic red bathing suits are back, along with a whole new generation of Baywatch lifeguards, who navigate complicated, messy personal lives in this action-packed reboot that demonstrates there's the family you're born into and the family you find."

Baywatch trailer

There is no trailer for the new Baywatch at this time. When one becomes available online, we'll add it here.

In the meantime though, watch this video for the original series:

Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.