December 2000 – Variety
HONOLULU — Owner Pearson Television has just given the go-ahead for eight new episodes for a possible third season of “Baywatch Hawaii,” which just finished filming its second season.
With a writers strike expected May 1 and an actors strike July 1, “Baywatch” execs want to get a head start on scripts if the show is picked up. That decision is not expected until late January.
If the series is renewed and filming begins in February as tentatively scheduled, the 22-episode season could be completed before the strikes, a show exec said.
“Baywatch Hawaii” has averaged only a 2.1 rating premiere-to-date in this second season, including the recent November sweeps, a producer said.
Each “Baywatch” episode costs nearly $1 million to film, most of which is spent in Hawaii. The series relocated from Los Angeles last year to save money and revitalize the 9-year-old program.
The production is hiring writers Bob Gookin and Charles Memminger, a humor columnist for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin who won the Maui Writers Conference screenwriting competition in September, beating out 600 entrants.
Other writers on the show include head scribe Frank South and Maria and Andre Jacquenetton.
