Soap Veteran Billy Warlock Reveals the Real Reason Baywatch Was Axed

Billy Warlock is known for his runs as Frankie on Days of our Lives, A.J. on General Hospital, and Ben on Young and the Restless. In between soap stints, he threw on some lifeguard trunks as Eddie Kramer on Baywatch. Now, he and other cast members are helping tell the tale of what really went down on the long running series that featured beautiful lifeguards set against sunny, scenic Southern California.

I’m Always Here

After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun is a limited series that will delve into the mythology of Baywatch, how the program both impacted the actors who appeared on and it and the indelible mark it left on pop culture.

Warlock brought not only acting chops to his role as lifeguard Eddie, but also swimming skills. “I was all-city, L.A. city schools top eight [swimming], butterfly, backstroke, and that’s what I did,” the actor said at panel for the show at the TV Critics summer press tour in Pasadena. He played Eddie for three seasons from 1989 to 1992.

Baywatch, which starred David Hasselhoff (ex-Snapper, Y&R) as Mitch Buchanan, initially ran on NBC, but the show had a much longer run in syndication. While revivals and reboots are fairly common today, it was rare back then for a show to continue once it left a network.

“Baywatch didn’t get canceled,” Billy Warlock pointed out. “We just didn’t have the money [to continue on NBC]. We were the highest -rated show in seven seasons that they had at Friday night at 8:00. We just didn’t have the money.”

Producers, however, were aware that the series was doing extremely well in overseas markets, so a deal was worked out to keep the show alive in first-run syndication. The show continued until 1992.

On Friends, Baywatch was poked fun at as being the show that Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) watched with joyful aplomb. “Don’t worry, we will still poke holes in all the things [critics] have poked holes in,” previews Matthew Felker, executive producer/director. “We’ll still address all the obvious questions [in this series]. Was it really that good? Well, we go there.”

After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, a four-part series, debuts on Hulu on Wednesday, August 28.