The red swimsuits, the slow-motion runs on the beach, and the lifeguards who became cultural icons. Yes, ‘Baywatch’ is officially coming back.
Fox has announced that it is bringing the legendary show back to television with a brand-new reboot. The series has already been given a straight-to-series order, meaning it will go directly into production without waiting for a pilot episode.
Fans can expect to see it during the 2026–2027 TV season.
The new version of ‘Baywatch’ will have 12 episodes in its first run. Fox Entertainment will co-produce the show along with Fremantle, the company that owns the rights to the original series.
Matt Nix, best known for his work on shows like ‘Burn Notice’, will take on the role of showrunner and executive producer. What makes this reboot even more special is that the original creators, Michael Berk, Greg Bonann, and Doug Schwartz, are also returning as executive producers. Dante Di Loreto, a well-known name in television production, will join them.
Fox is treating this project as a big event. Michael Thorn, President of Fox Television Network, shared that ‘Baywatch’ was more than just a series when it first aired. It became a symbol of beach life, summer energy, and lifeguard heroics.
“Now, with our partners at Fremantle, this television juggernaut is set for a modern-day comeback,” Thorn said.
He promised that the reboot will carry forward the spirit of the original while bringing fresh stories and new talent to the screen.
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The original ‘Baywatch’ started its journey in 1989 on NBC. After only one season, it moved into syndication, where it truly exploded in popularity. For the next 10 years, the show ran non-stop, producing nearly 250 episodes.
In its later years, production shifted from California to Hawaii, and the show was rebranded as ‘Baywatch: Hawaii’. Even after it ended, the franchise refused to sink. A reunion TV movie aired on Fox in 2003.
At its peak, ‘Baywatch’ was the most-watched show in the world, broadcast in more than 200 countries. Its cast included David Hasselhoff as the unforgettable Mitch Buchannon, and the show gave huge breaks to stars like Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Carmen Electra, and even a young Jason Momoa, who later became Aquaman.
The franchise has tried to reinvent itself before. There was the spinoff ‘Baywatch Nights’ in the 1990s and a Hollywood movie in 2017 starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron. But nothing has quite matched the power of the original series.