Someone was definitely making money hand over fist. I'm surprised there wasn't an even higher cast and crew turnover

>No one went to Baywatch for its gripping dialogue

While that's true, Hasselhoff was both one of the producers of the show and someone who wanted to be taken seriously. That's one of the reasons they spun off Baywatch Nights (which they still cheaped out on) and kept doing serious dramatic episodes. I can still understand Hoff being coked out of his mind and taking in millions for a decade and so not caring, but what about everyone else involved? How are you on the most popular show in history and getting paid industry minimum to act out unfinished scripts without sets and not say anything?

That's kind of circular. While it's true that reality TV would eventually overtake scripted television, primarily because it was so cheap, they still did and do make shows with budgets. Horror movies are popular because they can be produced on the cheap and still make money because people will watch them, but they still make horror movies with bigger budgets and better production. There was a crew and actors on set. Someone else was involved in Baywatch besides Hasselhoff

That's not really an answe as A: every television show could do that, and doesn't, and B: at least one of the producers wanted the show to be "better"

If they were making money, why was it so cheap? If they didn't care, why were they trying to get awards? Hasselhoff was one of the producers and apparently he hated the sex angle and that the show was seen as garbage

I'm not talking about critics disliking it. I'm talking about one of the most popular shows in the history of television that somehow couldn't afford to construct sets or shoot extra footage of people hanging out on a beach

Still waiting for him to be the answer to a New York Times crossword puzzle clue