Who among us hasn’t endlessly surfed through streaming services searching for our favorite retro beach-based TV series, only to be disappointed after exhausting all available options?
Thanks to Samsung, this dilemma just got a solution. Samsung TV Plus has launched the Baywatch channel, providing around-the-clock access to the classic hit TV show starring David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson, remastered to improve its resolution for Samsung’s displays.
The series, which ran from 1989 to 2001 and was focused on a team of Los Angeles lifeguards, will be available on Samsung’s line of 4K and 8K UHD TVs. That includes this year’s roster of displays, like the Samsung Q90T, as well as models like the more budget-friendly TU8000.
The Baywatch channel will join an existing lineup of Samsung TV Plus channels, including Kitchen Nightmares, Wipeout Xtra, Deal or No Deal, and more. What that means, essentially, is that you’ll be able to swap between watching Chef Gordon Ramsey, Howie Mandel, or the Hoff and Pam Anderson not only for free, but also for as long as you want.
Samsung TV Plus is a free streaming service that Samsung says does not “require any downloads, credit cards, subscriptions, or additional services.” The service includes more than 120 channels of content and is available natively on all Samsung TVs since 2016. The channels represent a wide variety of genres, including news (CBSN, Bloomberg TV+), entertainment (MTV Teen, ET Live), sports and outdoors (Fubo Sports Network, World Poker Tour), lifestyle (Bon Appetit, QVC), kids (Nick Pluto TV), comedy (The AFV Family Channel, FailArmy), movies (Paramount Movie Channel, CMT Westerns), and music (Vevo Country, Vevo Hip-Hop).
Let’s keep it real here: There are plenty of free streaming services available today across a host of different providers, and this new channel is another seemingly small part of one of those services. That said, this was a beloved TV show in the ’90s, so much so that it got a fun, but ultimately not-great, movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. If it brings back nostalgia even to a few folks during the unprecedented disaster that the year 2020 has been, then by all means, let the people have Baywatch.
