Baywatch babes bomb

The buxom blondes in red who fuelled a generation of teenage fantasies have been given the dubious accolade of the worst ever US TV import into Britai

11:03 26 November 2004

The buxom blondes in red who fuelled a generation of teenage fantasies have been given the dubious accolade of the worst ever US TV import into Britain.

Despite making global stars of David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson, the survey of British TV bosses by industry magazine Broadcast has revealed what even Baywatch fans had to accept in the end - that the programme was rubbish.

Still, the success of the show is not to be sniffed at. At the height of its powers it was the world's most popular series and was watched by one billion viewers in 140 countries.

British viewers were so obsessed that ITV agreed to fund its continued production even after the show was axed in the US.

"The appeal to a certain demographic of a series about a muscular lifeguard and his crew of pneumatic young helpers with raging hormones was enough to sustain the show through 12 years despite a script of mind-numbing predictability: beachgoer is saved from drowning," the magazine said.

Other programmes that made the top ten include the Dukes of Hazzard, the abusive Jerry Springer Show and Extreme Makeover.

"British TV never realised how low it could go before Jerry showed the way," Broadcast quipped.

The magazine also carried out a poll to see which had been the most influential US imports and here the yellow-faced Simpsons were the unsurprising winners.

Bart, Lisa, Homer, Marge and Maggie were followed by big-haired, big-shouldered Dallas, Vietnam comedy M*A*S*H and The X-Files.

Worst US imports

Baywatch
The Anna Nicole Show
The Dukes of Hazzard
Wild Palms
Manimal
The Jerry Springer Show
Knots Landing
Falcon Crest
The Bold and the Beautiful
Extreme Makeover

Most influential

The Simpsons
Dallas
M*A*S*H
24
The Larry Sanders Show
Hill Street Blues
The X-Files
I Love Lucy
Twin Peaks
Star Trek