To be fair Baywatch was a big part of ITV early evening line up on a Saturday for years during the 90s. me airing.
Yep - but Baywatch was effectively bankrolled by ITV eventually - so it was close to being a UK show made in the US...
As you alluded to earlier, the show was a ratings success in the uk and the then head of presentation at lwt successfully lobbied the lwt management board to fund more shows.
So one of the most watch shows in the world was partly bankrolled by LWT? yet there very little details about that anyway.
NBC originally had the show from 1989, then LWT took over from 1991. Audience figures in the UK made it a viable programme for LWT and the ITV network in that early evening Saturday slot.
I know it went into syndication in the US in 1991, didn't realise it was bankrolled by the UK though!
Guess it explains why I've got a video from September 1995 from Central where they're showing the series premiere only 5 days after the US though! Never usually got US shows anywhere near that quickly back then- but would make sense if LWT were co-producers.
It's no secret. The show was successful in the US but was nearing the end of that success and was either close to being cancelled or actually cancelled in the US. But it was still a ratings success in the uk and so the board of lwt was pursuaded to bankroll it. Whether that was 100% funding I don't know, but the facts are well known within the industry, or those within the industry who take an interest. Why might you expect this to be common knowledge? Of what interest would this be to the general public, although I recall it was in the press at the time.
To be fair Baywatch was a big part of ITV early evening line up on a Saturday for years during the 90s. me airing.
Yep - but Baywatch was effectively bankrolled by ITV eventually - so it was close to being a UK show made in the US...
As you alluded to earlier, the show was a ratings success in the uk and the then head of presentation at lwt successfully lobbied the lwt management board to fund more shows.
So one of the most watch shows in the world was partly bankrolled by LWT? yet there very little details about that anyway.
NBC originally had the show from 1989, then LWT took over from 1991. Audience figures in the UK made it a viable programme for LWT and the ITV network in that early evening Saturday slot.
There nothing in the credits to say LWT had anything to do with it. EDIT: its come in some of the newspaper archives but my point still stand, There has to be some record somewhere of LWT putting up the money.
STV did it there got a name check etc,
Last edited by A former member on 19 December 2015 7:16pm - 2 times in total
To be fair Baywatch was a big part of ITV early evening line up on a Saturday for years during the 90s. me airing.
Yep - but Baywatch was effectively bankrolled by ITV eventually - so it was close to being a UK show made in the US...
As you alluded to earlier, the show was a ratings success in the uk and the then head of presentation at lwt successfully lobbied the lwt management board to fund more shows.
So one of the most watch shows in the world was partly bankrolled by LWT? yet there very little details about that anyway.
NBC originally had the show from 1989, then LWT took over from 1991. Audience figures in the UK made it a viable programme for LWT and the ITV network in that early evening Saturday slot.
There nothing in the credits to say LWT had anything to do with it. EDIT: its come in some of the newspaper archives but my point still stand, There has to be some record somewhere of LWT putting up the money.
STV did it there got a name check etc,
There will be a record in lwt's accounts and that's the only place where it matters. Anything on screen is just a vanity exercise. Naturally there will have have been long and very detailed contracts between lwt and the makers of the show, but these are still likely to be confidential.
There will be a record in lwt's accounts and that's the only place where it matters. Anything on screen is just a vanity exercise. Naturally there will have have been long and very detailed contracts between lwt and the makers of the show, but these are still likely to be confidential.
You would think it would have something, the credits. I wonder how much LWT paid towards it, YET there don't own anything of the series, that the main issue I don't get.
It seems to be a bit like Fame and the BBC who just paid for it and nothing else, The piece I saw in The Guardian, say nothing about paying for it, but more about the fact LWT will be having words with the producers about series three about some issues some people raised but never via ITC. While STV: Sandy ross had some actually input to the shows.
Didn't BBC One show Law & Order for a while when it first began? Seems quite hard to imagine, both though it being so long since they showed any US show in primetime, along with the fact it's been a Channel 5 staple for years (although not until around a decade after the BBC showed it)!
I thought it was ITV, though to be fair pre-1992 is a bit early for me to remember much of what was on TV later in the evening.
Back to today and ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 all less reliant on new US drama/comedy than they once were - they probably only show half a dozen series between them.
Didn't BBC One show Law & Order for a while when it first began? Seems quite hard to imagine, both though it being so long since they showed any US show in primetime, along with the fact it's been a Channel 5 staple for years (although not until around a decade after the BBC showed it)!
There will be a record in lwt's accounts and that's the only place where it matters. Anything on screen is just a vanity exercise. Naturally there will have have been long and very detailed contracts between lwt and the makers of the show, but these are still likely to be confidential.
You would think it would have something, the credits. I wonder how much LWT paid towards it, YET there don't own anything of the series, that the main issue I don't get.
I think people have read too much into it. When NBC dropped it, there was a year long hiatus, during which time Baywatch's production company went bust. Hasselhoff and the original executive producers worked hard to get things together to produce the show for first run syndication. If I remember correctly, LWT formed part of the backing which got the production back up and running, in the form of commitment to buying the series. Kind of like when you're setting up a business plan to get a loan from the bank and you have to show letters of intent/confirmed orders.