Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran from 1989 to 1999 (and 1999-2001 as Baywatch Hawaii). According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Baywatch is the most watched TV show in the world of all time, with over 1.1 billion viewers a week.

Baywatch premiered on NBC in 1989, but was cancelled after only one season due to low ratings and also because the studio, GTG, went out of business. Feeling the series still had potential, David Hasselhoff, creators and Executive Producers Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz and Greg Bonann revived it for the first-run syndication market in 1991. Hasselhoff was given the title of Executive Producer for his work on bringing the show back. The series was hugely successful, especially internationally. The show led to a spin-off: Baywatch Nights, and a reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.

In 1999, with production costs rising in Los Angeles, and the syndication market shrinking, the plan was to move the show to Australia and launch Baywatch Down Under. A pilot was filmed but the series was stopped when residents of Avalon put forth strong objections, including potential damage to a fragile ecosystem. Avalon council permanently barred all future filming. The pilot finally aired as a two-part episode of Baywatch.

Hawaii offered the producers large financial incentives to move the show to the islands and in Season 10 Baywatch Hawaii was launched.