Making fun of Baywatch is like shooting fish in a barrel: it's
just too easy. Baywatch was one of those "it's-so-bad-it's-good" shows that took
itself far too seriously, which was part of the fun in watching it. Like a really
bad B-movie, you could always count on having a good time by "MST3K-ing" it with
your friends. Not to mention the obvious sex appeal of having a group of
well-toned women running around in tight-fitting swimsuits--well, let's just say
that Baywatch was quite entertaining indeed, just not in the way it's creators
had originally intended.
But that did not stop producer Howard Stern and friends from bringing us Son Of The Beach.
Originally airing on the F/X Cable network, SOB
tries to make fun of a series that is already something of a parody, and it
succeeds. Notch Johnson (Timothy Stack) is the world famous leader of
a lifeguard team in the California seaside town of Malibu-Adjacent, and they
tackle everything from sea-monsters, terrorists, political assassinations, and
overthrowing criminal leaders of Banana Republics. Stack has just the right
attitude for a series like this: dead serious and sincere. He willingly allows
himself to be the butt of many jokes, from his flabby, pasty physique, to the
fact that he has about one hundred and one different origin stories (he was
raised by Indians in one episode, then he was raised by an old Italian man in
other). The team of lifeguards he's in charge of isn't exactly playing with a
full deck, either. Jaime Bergman plays B.J. Cummings (yep, that's her
character's name), who serves as the "Pamela Lee" of this bunch: a ditzy, sexy
blonde who was born to wear a bikini and pretty much does nothing else but be
the punch line for sexual innuendos. Still, she's an underrated comic with a
great delivery. Leila Arcieri plays Jamaica St. Croix, a sassy lifeguard from
"the 'hood".
Roland Kickinger plays transplanted German lifeguard Chip Rommel
(cue the Nazi jokes here), and Kimberly Oja plays newly minted lifeguard
Kimberlee Clark. The supporting cast is just as good as Stack at handling comedy,
but Oja is particularly funny in her "straight man" role. As the new kid on the
block, she gets to comment on the inane things that Notch does--such as the
scene in one show where Notch wonders how he and the gang should handle a gang
of lethal drug dealers, and Oja suggests they simply call the police. It's a wry
reminder of the ridiculous scenarios that the Baywatch lifeguards would find
themselves in, and in the end you wonder what are they even doing worrying about
matters that are way beyond their jurisdiction in the first place.
With episode titles like "Silence Of The Clams" and "With Sex, You Get Eggroll,"
it's pretty clear that the humor in Son Of The Beach is not the sophisticated
variety that you would find in a series like…oh, say, Fraiser. There are plenty
of crass jokes and bathroom humor in SOB, and oftentimes, I found myself
fighting to keep from fast-forwarding through an episode because it was pretty
lame. If you are a big fan of Howard Stern, then you'll probably love this show
(heck, you probably already own the DVD). But if you can't stand Stern, then you
might want to give this a pass.
The
DVD set has the standard "making of" documentaries, but what's really interesting
is that every single episode has a commentary by the creative team, led by Tim
Stack. Some of these commentaries are just as funny as the episodes themselves.
This DVD set also has a never-aired episode named "Chip's A Goy". It takes place
in Israel, where Notch and company take on terrorists. While it's very funny, one can
see why the F/X Network never aired it, thanks to the events of 9/11. However,
it's now here for all to enjoy. Despite it's crass humor, the main thing that
Son Of The Beach really has going for it is that it does not take itself
seriously at all (unlike the show that it parodies). And in these grim times, that's something which we could use
a little more of. --SF
