The Checklist: Baywatch (S3 Ep21) “Kicks”
David Hasselhoff was born on July 17, 1952 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Hoff became a household name when he made the jump from the daytime soap opera world to the hit NBC series, Knight Rider. As Michael Knight, Hasselhoff thrilled audiences around the world for four seasons… but the best was yet to come.
After capitalizing on his world wide fame and becoming a singing sensation in Germany, The Hoff found himself back on another series… this time Baywatch. Even though NBC lost faith in the show after one season, David Hasselhoff did not. Hasselhoff managed to not only keep the show alive in first run syndication, but at its peak Baywatch had more than a billion viewers watching every week in 140 countries!
In this edition of The Checklist, I have selected an episode from Baywatch’s 11 season run… Episode 21 from Season 3 to be exact. Let’s see how Baywatch this particular episode of Baywatch was.
#1 – Did Mitch and his lifeguards go out of their jurisdiction?
I was never a die hard Baywatch fan, but even as a casual viewer I couldn’t help but notice that the lifeguards often found themselves doing things you would not expect a lifeguard to do… like working security detail when the governor was giving a speech on the pier.
The Baywatch team stayed in their lane in “Kicks” but that could be because they were too busy with extracurricular activities like modeling and kickboxing. 0/1
#2 – Were there any notable guest stars?
Speaking of kickboxing, the A story in “Kicks” is about Mitch Buchannon (David Hasselhoff) being the corner man for Matt Brody (David Charvet) as he competes in a kickboxing tournament that is taking place on the beach. But before Mitch can celebrate Matt’s victory… an old rival shows up and gets in Mitch’s face and starts causing trouble on the beach.
That old rival is Michael Branson (Loren Avedon, No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers). Branson has been holding a grudge against Mitch since their Navy SEAL days. It was a blast seeing Loren Avedon in the bad guy role for a change. And let me just say, if you ever wanted to see Loren Avedon and David Hasselhoff fight in a restaurant kitchen, then “Kicks” is the Baywatch episode for you.
Avedon was not the only familiar face for action fans… “Judo” Gene LeBell played the referee in the kickboxing tournament. And Kamel Krifa (Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor) played the boss of the underground kickboxing circuit that Michael Branson lures Mitch into. 1/2
#3- Was there a romantic subplot?
When you have a show filled with beautiful people like Baywatch it would be unnatural if they weren’t hooking up. In the B story of “Kicks”, C.J. Parker (Pamela Anderson, Raw Justice) has the opportunity to be on the cover of a swimsuit calendar after meeting a French photographer on the beach… a French photographer who is all about mixing business with pleasure. 2/3
#4- Was there any slo-motion action?
The slo-mo was in full effect in this episode… there was slo-mo kickboxing scenes, slo-mo modeling featuring Pam Anderson and they even managed to throw in one slo-mo rescue scene, just to remind us that this is a show about lifeguards I suppose. 3/4
#5- Was there any underwater action?
As I mentioned earlier, this particular episode was heavy on the extracurricular and light on the lifeguarding… so things never went underwater… although an underwater kickboxing tournament would have been unique. 3/5
- Final Score = 3/5 (60%) “Kicks” may have veered away from some of the classic Baywatch elements, but this is a must see episode for Loren Avedon fans and fans of the kickboxing sub-genre of action films.
