‘Baywatch’: David Chokachi’s HD Introduction Is a Speedo Thirst Trap

Some things from the 20th century that were just meant to be seen in HD. Star Wars, for instance, or the stunning cinematography of an epic like Doctor Zhivago. I didn’t know it until 2019 that there’s one 20th century pop culture artifact that absolutely belongs on this list: Baywatch. Yeah, you heard me, Baywatch.

Admittedly, the Brett of early January 2019 would have been shocked by this, but that was me before Prime Video unleashed 196 episodes of the sizzling syndicated “drama” on its platform. This is the first time the show, which I would enthusiastically describe as sexless softcore porn, has been available to stream, and revisiting this remastered series has been a trip. The sun, surf, and sand are all crystal clear, and the fantastically garish early ’90s neon of every bikini will push modern TVs to their limit. They’ve never handled color like this before! The HD-ness of it all really pops during the Season 6 premiere, “Trapped Beneath the Sea part 1,” an episode I immediately jumped to for one reason: David Chokachi in a swim brief.

As much is justifiably made about Baywatch being a horny show for thirsty AF straight boys, it’s also very much worth mentioning (hence this article) that the show was also essential watching for gay viewers–especially if you spent your teen years deeply closeted! You could fake like you were watching Baywatch for the Pamelas and Yasmines when you were really watching it for the Davids (Charvet, Chokachi, but probably not Hasselhoff). Enter: David Chokachi as Cody Madison, the gay ’90s teen equivalent of Pamela Anderson/Lee.

And how did Chokachi enter Baywatch? With a big wet thrust.

Seriously, this is David Chokachi’s entrance into the world of Baywatch! What follows is a sequence so gratuitous, outrageous, and salacious, it proves that Baywatch was very much an equal opportunity objectifier. And when viewed in HD in 2019, it’s downright X-rated.

This is how we meet Cody Madison, onetime Olympic hopeful who finds new purpose in life as a Baywatch lifeguard. But anything resembling a plot or character arc is beside the point; the point is, the camera lusts after him as forcefully as every viewer. That’s never more apparent than when he turns around…

Woof, Mr. Chokachi, I feel like I now know everything about you and you know nothing about me. I remember this episode from middle school, vividly, possibly because all of this beefcake was (wisely) used in the opening credits of every episode. I can’t recall how David looked on my 19″ Magnavox back in 1995, but I can state with absolute certainty that that SD broadcast didn’t clue me into all those, uh, curves.

The parade doesn’t end there! No, this is Baywatch, a show with max eight pages of a shooting script stretched out to fill 45 minutes of syndicated airtime! As Cody prepares to do another lap, another camera pan caresses his, well, everything.

God bless the person responsible for this HD transfer for making sure you can see every single bead of water clinging to this Finnish/Iraqi masterpiece.

And then comes the truly scandalous part: Chokachi dives.

That’s an angle you never, ever see during the Olympics, possibly because it shows too much. How much? Computer: enhance!

That’s just all of it, all of it, the whole kit and caboodle covered by a TV-MA-level tight blue speedo*. It’s all just flapping in the breeze, literally! We then see Cody do a lap, showing off another one of this superman’s God-given superpowers: the ability to manifest goggles from nowhere.

In any other show, one lap’s worth of lingering camera shots would be enough. Not Baywatch. Cody gets out of the pool again, this time having caught the eye of a whole bunch of little girls taking swim lessons across the pool. Here’s what they see:

Was this a TYR ad? If not, why wasn’t it?! David Chokachi is selling that blue swim brief like Jamie Lee Curtis and Activia. Okay, bad example, but you get it.

It’s at this point that serious Baywatch actor Alexandra Paul (you can tell she’s the serious thespian because she has short hair) finally checks out what her students are checking out. And it’s then that we get another full frontal shot.

It’s at this point that I have to call shenanigans on that speedo and put my IRL speedo expertise into play! As someone that actually wears speedos (I’m now realizing possibly because of this very Baywatch scene), I can personally attest that they are not that grabby! This swimsuit has been doctored, I’d guess by having the lining–which is necessary for support and a modicum of modesty–removed. Someone in the wardrobe department got busy with the scissors on that Baywatch set to optimize Chokachi’s pool noodle and floaties for their big small-screen debut! Now, decades later, all that effort pays off in HD.

Now it’s time for lap #2. If the first dive showed off the back, here’s one for the front:

I’ve never become the Olympic-level swimmer I’ve dreamed of becoming (thanks, chronic ear issues and general laziness), so I can’t attest to Chokachi’s diving form or the grace of his strokes. But actual pool proficiency was never important in the world of Baywatch. As a viewer and male gay with a male gaze, this HD remastering allows me to attest to Chokachi’s literal, physical form as the primo hunk of Baywatch (Under 40 Division). I give him 10s across the board and a glistening gold medal.

*Speedo is a brand that has become a generic trademark, used interchangeably for all swim briefs. Chokachi is not wearing a Speedo here. He’s wearing a (ludicrously tight) blue TYR swim brief. I get hung up on swimsuit semantics, it’s one of my things.

Stream Baywatch on Prime Video