Fox’s Baywatch reboot now has a premiere date. The revived lifeguard drama debuts on January 6 at 9 p.m., more than a year after the network ordered 12 episodes for the 2026-2027 season back in September 2025.
The series is a direct continuation rather than a remake. Stephen Amell plays Hobie Buchannon, the once-rebellious son of David Hasselhoff’s Mitch and Wendie Malick’s Gayle, who is now a Baywatch captain like his father. His life is upended when his daughter, Charlie Vale, played by Jessica Belkin, turns up wanting to join the family business. A father, a grown child and a legacy to protect is a familiar setup for a revival, but it gives the show a reason to exist beyond nostalgia.
Amell is a smart choice for the lead. Years of playing the title role in Arrow showed he can carry an action-heavy network series, and Baywatch has always relied on rescues and stunts as much as plot. Around him, the ensemble mixes established TV actors and social media names. Hassie Harrison plays Nat, Shay Mitchell is Trina, Thaddeus LaGrone is Brad, Noah Beck is Luke and Brooks Nader is Selene. Gymnast and influencer Livvy Dunne makes her acting debut in a recurring role as Grace. Several of these cast members have large online followings, which suggests Fox expects social reach, as well as nostalgia, to bring in viewers.
The strongest link to the original is David Chokachi, who returns as Cody Madison, the Olympic-hopeful swimmer he played in the 1990s. Whether other original cast members appear, including Hasselhoff himself, has not been confirmed.
Behind the camera, Lara Olsen and Matt Nix are showrunners, with McG and Michael Goi among the directors. The series will also stream on Hulu.
The time slot is a gamble. Fox has not published its midseason schedule, but The Masked Singer has held Wednesdays at 8 p.m. in recent years and would be a likely lead-in. If so, Baywatch would be Fox’s first scripted Wednesday series since 2024, when Animal Control and Family Guy aired in that slot.
The brand has a mixed record after its original run. The original show ran for 11 seasons, moved from Los Angeles to Hawaii, produced the short-lived spin-off Baywatch Nights and was once the most-watched series in the world. The 2017 film with Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron, however, was poorly received by critics. Whether a Baywatch built around family drama and a modern ensemble can attract a broadcast audience in 2027 is an open question.
