Why did Baywatch only have one black lifeguard throughout the entire series?

It was the 90s.

How many black people did you count on 90210 or Seinfeld?

Or Friends.

R1 the 90210 one can make sense in that it was set in Beverly Hills, which was very white (and still is) in the 90s. Seinfeld is one of the 90s shows set in NYC that gets hate now for how white it was, like SATC and Friends.

I often miss those days and those type of shows.

Traci looks like a blowup doll now.

There was an assumption at the time that Blacks don't go to the beach, suntan, know how to swim, go boating. Likewise today there's a belief that only Caucasians go camping and/or hiking.

Recall those stuck staying indoors watching "Boob TV" due to Mid-Western winters loved Babe Watch. Radio contests' top prize was a trip to watch the mindless TV show being filmed. Compare it to earlier silly TV shows featuring super hot looking women showing off their assets. Men watched Suzanne Sommers as she never wore a bra.

How many black people do you see on the beach?

R7 ummm many

Who cares?

How many black lifeguards are there on LA beaches?

We went to the beach in Far Rockaway this summer and there were black lifeguards. There were all kinds of lifeguards there; there was even a woman who was probably at least 50 and she was in terrific physical condition.

(Similarly there were all kinds of people on the beach. Actually, it was very cool because it was a mellow and happy mood there. Every kind of person you could imagine was on that beach, vibing happily.)

In NYC you will find every kind of person on the beach and during summer you see more black and Hispanics there than whites.

LA is probably very different in that there are a lot less blacks people there than in NYC.

I see black people.

Blacks can't swim, therefore...

It was ridiculous that Baywatch didn't have any black lifeguards aside from Traci's character and the occasional black lifeguard who would pop up as a bit player, or the cop character who didn't take his shirt off.

Cuz they are already tanned enough.

Traci was fucking crazy. Like seriously crazy.

[quote]Likewise today there's a belief that only Caucasians go camping and/or hiking.

Yes, people believe it because it's true.

[quote]It was ridiculous that Baywatch didn't have any black lifeguards aside from Traci's character and the occasional black lifeguard who would pop up as a bit player, or the cop character who didn't take his shirt off.

I remember when the show hired Traci. It was a huge deal that they finally had a black lifeguard and then once they got all the press they wanted they dropped her. It was sad.

Funny thing is, Baywatch Nights had three black characters. Lou Rawls of all people was on S1 as well as Gregory Alan Williams. Dorian Gregory was on S2 who most people might remember as Daryl from Charmed. The show was crime themed so it was almost expected back then. You couldn't have a cop show without having a black police officer/detective/etc. somewhere!

[quote]the 90210 one can make sense in that it was set in Beverly Hills, which was very white (and still is) in the 90s.

Not so fast R3.

1. The show is fiction and there were plenty of things that happened on there that were not likely to in real life. (David being interested in Donna for one!)

2. Unlike Friends the show did have random although sparse black background actors here and there. The problem was, over the years, few black actors were ever important enough for us to know their name or keep track of after an episode.

3. There was a black character of random importance around. Yvonne Teasley was their school's VP. She last appeared in season 10 at Donna and David's wedding but closer to the point I'm trying to make --

4. The Walsh's next door neighbors were black! Vivica A Fox and her family moved in next door to Brandon. He had a crush on her. He became cool with her brother. On that very special episode the show talked about racial profiling which Brandon was now aware of and upset about because of his new black girlfriend and her family were such good people!

They were [bold]never[/bold] heard from again after the episode.

[quote] black background actors

Atmosphere players!

The show fired Traci along with a few other actresses. At least she wasn’t alone. Carmen Electra was another fired with her

cause blacks constitute ony 12% of the population. educate ur self

Forget Friends and Seinfeld, what about WOODY ALLEN movies?

A lot of them are set in a NYC where black people are non existent apparently.

Racism in previous centuries

MUST.

BE.

STOPPED!!!

[quote] A lot of them are set in a NYC where black people are non existent apparently.

Bobby Short was in Hannah and Her Sisters!!!

black people don't swim, sweetie.

No Latinos, either. But we don’t count, right?

Nevermind that it’s fucking California.

What about Asians ?

[quote] No Latinos, either.

Jose Solano played Manny Gutierrez.

[quote]cause blacks constitute ony 12% of the population. educate ur self

Educate yourself R21.

People who identify as Black or African American ONLY (according to the last US census) are 13.4%

However, this does not include anyone who is more than one thing. That total as of the last census is 2.8%.

Latino or Hispanic people are about 18.5% but there are white Latino and white Hispanic and black Latino and black Hispanic people and previously some would choose "Some Other Race" as a category.

However, all this will turn to crap because the next census should be more specific allowing people to break things down even further since it had even more specific questions so someone like Senator Kamala Harris can finally say she's both Asian/East Asian/Indian and Black/Jamaican and have it all counted.

Baywatch was set in LA. LA in the 90s was majority Hispanic with White being the 2nd majority and black and Asian being the largest minorities. LA beaches of Baywatch should have been more diverse to reflect that.

Beverly Hills 90210 was not set in LA, it was set in BH which is mostly white including Jewish (which David and Andrea were), Arab, Persian and Armenian. BH also has a decent Asian population.

Full House was set in San Francisco which is also diverse with a big Asian population. The only nonwhite people on Full House were Michelle's two friends, Denise and Teddy who were black.

Friends, Seinfeld and Sex and The City made no sense at all. Yes, people tend to hang out with their own race but the fact that a lot of background characters were still white made no sense in NYC. NYC is one of the most diverse cities and it's also unique in the sense that there isn't really a majority race. It's almost evenly split between white, Hispanic, black and Asian.

[quote] LA in the 90s was majority Hispanic with White being the 2nd majority

?

Melrose Place also set in LA. Was specifically in West Hollywood which is mostly a white area. LA is pretty segregated by race and class with East LA being mainly Hispanic, West LA being mostly white and South LA being mainly black (but now becoming more Hispanic).

Baywatch was never specific to any part of LA, it was set on a beach.

R31 Meant to say LA, majorities are Hispanics of all races and non-Hispanic whites. Blacks and Asians are a noticeable minority in comparison to both.

Would have been good to see a black girl in SATC.

There was one, R34. Unfortunately, they got Jennifer Hudson to play her.

R21 NYC and LA both contain among the largest black and Hispanic populations in the entire country. If a show or movie is set in Middle America, then nobody would be surprised if it was all just white people but if something is set in a major metropolitan area, diversity would be expected. Even Dukes of Hazzard is getting side-eyed for being very white despite being set in Georgia which is one state that has such a heavy black population that there are even small towns and counties that are majority black.

weird that the south is run by Repugs, as so many blacks/browns there......KICK TRUMP OUT

R37 It is but it shows how devoted white racists are. Mississippi is 37% black in population which is the highest in the country but you know damn sure that the 60% white population will go to vote to make sure they stay in power

plus they need vote more!

The show seemed to have cast members who stayed for longer durations in the first five or six years. But then when regulars Pamela Anderson and David Charvet left, the show kind of turned into a rotation of cast members. Some would stay longer than others. Like r20 said, Traci was fired, Carmen was fired. I thought Carmen had been on it a lot longer than one season but she wasn't on the show for very long.

This show only existed because the internet wasn't a thing in the late 80s and early 90s. It was just a show for horny people of all ages to look at hot young babes and hot young studs (minus Hasselhoff and Newman) with hard bodies strutting on a beach. Notice how it got cancelled in 2001 after most households had the internet and could look up internet porn. Including former cast member Pam Anderson's sex tape.

I do appreciate Baywatch appealed to everyone's taste. If you were bisexual, it was especially a treat.

[Quote] He became cool with her brother. On that very special episode the show talked about racial profiling which Brandon was now aware of and upset about because of his new black girlfriend and her family were such good people!

Aka the episode where Brandon turned black 😆

[Quote] Like [R20] said, Traci was fired, Carmen was fired. I thought Carmen had been on it a lot longer than one season but she wasn't on the show for very long.

I thought so too. Why was Carmen fired??

I'm not sure r42. I heard the show was notoriously cheap when paying their actors. That could have been a reason. Just hire another person and pay them less.

Beverly Hills HIgh School at the time of 90210 was heavily Persian with some Asians. LA Times did an expose of the white-washing . Yes some consider Persians and Iranians to be White but they were not at all represented in the famous TV show.

Also the show had only one Jewish girl Andrea when the real BH High was mostly Jewish including some of the Persians.

I think Andrea was the only one to have a black boyfriend on 90210. They tried with Donna, but of course they had to make her mother a racist so that was no bueno.

Hollywood has a race/appearance bias? No!

Most shows were all-white before the last decade or so. Are we only just learning this now? Black people appeared in all-black shows, aimed at black audiences. Sometimes a white show had a black cast member for the kudos and opportunity to do “progressive” storylines. Surprise, Hollywood was racist as shit, just like America, and it still is, although it makes token nods to diversity these days.

Different Strokes striked a balance.

How many Asian , Indian or Latino guards were there?

Or openly gay guards?

R44 David SILVER was Jewish too

All the writers, producers and even episode directors of 90210 from Aaron Spelling in down were Jewish, so please stop

its based on talent, not skin color, some got it, some dont....

R51 Except Baywatch wasn't casting on talent. Neither was 90210. Have you watched these shows and thought it consisted of talented acting and writing?? Are you serious? Hollywood isn't 100% about talent it's about money and selling a fantasy.

Luckily, Viola Davis, Denzel Washington and Vanessa Williams are talented black actors who always get work.

[quote]weird that the south is run by Repugs, as so many blacks/browns there......KICK TRUMP OUT

You ever hear of voter disenfranchisement? The Repugs don't want black/brown people to vote so they do everything in their power to make it difficult from getting rid of polling locations, machines that don't work in black areas causing extreme waits, passing out false information about the process of voting or even the day you do (which even happened in NYC), gerrymandering and plain old throwing votes out with endless court battles.

[quote]Most shows were all-white before the last decade or so. Are we only just learning this now?

There were some notable exceptions like, "In the Heat of the Night." (1998-1995) which took place in Sparta, Mississippi and aired on NBC and then CBS. Also children's TV shows were more diverse than adult shows.

So the problem became, why did some shows do it and not others which turned into articles calling out these shows even before "woke" culture. None of this is "new" but people pointing it out and writing about it has been going on since the shows were actually on.

Carmen and Traci were both introduced the season after Pamela left. Producers hired a shit ton of new actors after losing Pamela, and prior to her David Charvet and I believe Yasmine Bleeth. I believe this first season without Pamela was also supposed to be David Chokachi’s final season. They were losing some of their biggest stars (and their biggest with Pamela leaving) so they cast a ton of new, young hot meat to try and makeup for their losses, with Carmel Electra, Traci Bingham, Donna D’errico and a few others. This was also Michael Bergin’s first season.

At the end of that season Producers realized they cast too many and needed to downsize so they picked who they wanted to keep and fired the rest, Traci and Carmen being two of them.

It was off they fired those two because Traci got a lot of press for being their first black cast mate in like 8 seasons and Carmen became popular.

They also introduced their first Hispanic that season, with Jose Solano. I believe they axed him at the end of this season too.

The season 8 opening credits.

To the person who keeps saying Whites are second in population in LA, that’s a lie in 2020 (and for the past decade or more).

The biggest population in LA are Hispanics, mostly Mexicans, followed by Asians now, followed by whites and blacks are the biggest minority.

White people are far from the majority there.

I was wrong, season 8 wasn’t Chokachi’s final season, it was 9. Either way, I remember when it happened that the Producers axed most of the cast after season 8.

This was the season 9 cast. Much much smaller with most of the season 8 new faces gone, and a few new ones thrown in.

47% Hispanic of all races 29% Non-Hispanic White 25% Other 10% Asian 9% Black 2% Mixed

Nonwhite Hispanics alone would be 18%.

Most white people in LA are Hispanic (including white passing mestizos/biracials), Jewish, East European, Middle Eastern and of other immigrant groups.

Others usually refers to Native American and Alaskan Natives. Also the Roma.

So LA is one of the most diverse cities.

Stop with that white Hispanic bullshit. My mother’s family is white hispanic and have never ever been treated like white people in this country. I’m so sick of this “white hispanic” shit and people claiming they’re “white”. They have never ever been treated as white people in this Country, no matter what they looked like. If they have an accent or speak Spanish or have a Hispanic last name, they’re automatically looked at as different.

That is something very few are willing to discuss. I brought this up in a group in college years ago and most people agreed with me and many of the white people don’t consider “Spanish” people white.

PS Hispanics aren’t mostly white or black. Most are mestizo. Most of those Mexicans in LA are Mestizo but America counts them as WHITE. THIS is why is say those statistics aren’t anything to keep standing by.

The show as a monster hit internationally. When foreigners think of California they think of white blondes.

R60 it’s in the Top 5 most watched and successful American series of all time internationally. It was huge all over the world.

California and Texas were founded by white Spaniards. Many of their descendants still live there. Most of Northern Mexico is heavily European descent. But I do understand that in The US, only Wealthy Anglo-Saxon Protestants were the "white folk" but those days are over and people on this forum need to accept this.

Now, white Hispanics have every right to identify as just "white" because they are. Nobody is forcing mestizos to identify as white, The Census is self-identification. If Cameron Diaz, Robert Rodriguez and Emilio Estevez were walking down the street, nobody would assume they weren't white.

Just because white Americans are stupid and ignorant, why should white Hispanics care and try to accommodate their ignorance? Many white Americans are racist and don't even have passports and traveled to other countries. If you are white and Hispanic, then you can call yourself "white". End of story.

Ummm false r62. “White” Hispanics are a minority in Mexico

R63 I said Northern Mexico. Read.

The White Mexican population is only 9%.

R65 NOT NORTHERN MEXICO WHICH TEXAS AND CALIFORNIA WERE PART OF US.

Spaniards did not find California. That belonged to the Mexicans from the jump.

R67 OK

R67

New Spain

"It included what is now Mexico plus the current U.S. states of California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Florida and parts of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana..."

What about Kelly Slater? Isn't he mixed?

R59 35% of Latin Americans are White. Mexico is only one country of out of over 20 different countries. Argentina, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Chile have high white European populations not just Spanish and Portuguese but also including Italian, German, Irish, French, Polish, Canary Islander, Jewish, Arab, Lebanese and Scandinavian. There is also an Asian population in Latin America in countries like Peru and Brazil. Do you forget these countries are racist, were run by white colonial descendants and actually wanted European immigrants to come in the 20th century to whiten up the population? Argentina and Puerto Rico had terms like "mejorar la raza"/"improve the race" and funded European migrant workers to come and settle permanently and allowed their Indigenous populations to die off. And why is The US the only country allowed to have just white and black populations even many Americans themselves are just as mixed as Hispanics?

Also, The Census is self-reported now. Hispanics who identify as white will put that on the Census. The US doesn't force anyone to do anything anymore. But back in the 1800s they did use to have Census takers identify people by looking at them because of the Jim Crow mentality then. And guess what? Many white people with curly hair and wide noses got listed as "black" and many light-skinned blacks with finer features got listed as "Indian". So go figure.

The white shit is false. Most of those white hispanics aren’t even white.

R72 So would you consider white Southerners who many have some black DNA not white? Would you consider many African-Americans and Native Americans who all have white DNA to not be black and Native respectively?

Those brown people aren’t white.

R74

Brown woman

R74

So brown

R74

Brown

They aren’t even really Hispanic! You’re posting people who are like 1/5th “Hispanic”

R74

Brown Brown Brown

She looks so Filipina or Asian in those pics, her features and hair.

R74

Brown

R74

Woman of Color

R74

Brown KING

R74

Brown

Why is this triggered fool posting very obvious Hispanics who make up 9% of Mexico? Why not post what the majority of them look like? Because it goes against his lie and agenda.

Look at this Mexican boy

You’re posting people who are very clearly white and hardly “Hispanic” at all. Cameron Diaz has ONE Hispanic grandparent. One out of four. But you don’t acknowledge the other 3.

R86 Hispanic isn't a race. Anyone who is born in a Latin American country or household is Hispanic. My point is that there are White Hispanics. Being 0000000.01% to 25% Indigenous does not change the fact they are predominately European. Anything over 25%, then yeah they can probably identify as mixed. If you used your racial purity logic, there would be no black Americans at all because most of them are at least 10% to 30% European.

Look at these Mexican women. This is what the majority of Mexico looks like. Not all the ones you keep posting, most of which aren’t even MEXICAN.

Hispanic == Mexican.

R87 tell yourself whatever you need to. Those brown people I posted, who make up THE MAJORITY of Mexico are not white. No matter how badly you want them to be to keep your numbers higher.

I remember when she was on a season of The Surreal Life and she refused to take a bath in the tub because it wasn't the right color or some whacked out thing like that.

Before "Baywatch," she was the girl on the bed with Marky Mark in the "Good Vibrations" video.

She was a playboy model too.

She married a billionaire years ago. I think they divorced not long after.

R89 Well you act like White Latinos don't exist and that they don't have a population in The US. You are ignoring the racial and class hierarchy that exists in Mexico. Denying the existence of Mexicans is disrespectful to lower classes that predominately Mestizo and Indigenous who suffered under that racial system. So be consistent.

Telenovelas definitely show the hierarchy very well.

They exist. They aren’t the majority. The point was that those brown people are labeled as white also. They aren’t.

R93 They aren't labeled. They self-identify. The Census has a white Hispanic and non-white Hispanic label. No one is holding a gun to their head and making them call themselves what they aren't. Many black people are part white and yet still identify as black. People identify with their culture firstly and secondly, why should someone who is significantly more white than Indigenous lie and feel more culturally affinity to white people just lie and say they aren't white. Many Jews are more genetically European than Middle Eastern but still identify as just Jewish. Just let people identify what they want to and focus on yourself.

Because they only have white or black to identify as. The point is they don’t have a slot for mestizo people, as mentioned far above.

I meant someone who is more significantly white than Indigenous and feels more cultural affinity to other white people lie and say they aren't white.

R95 They do it's call two or more races.

R97 must not live in the USA

R98 Also you can put Other. The US is sadly still a White supremacist state. Is there any society more obsessed with racial categories and white purity?

They can’t even put Other because the “Other” is specific to a certain group.

So glad this turned into a Hispanic, Latino thread.

We are the largest minority in the country and continually ignored.

VIVA LA RAZA, GÜEY!

What was the question again? Ohh that's right, well its because white people who made these shows didn't want non whites in their shows.

So it comes back to racism again, ahh good to know.

Let's reboot Baywatch with beautiful people of all races who have pretty, skinny and able-bodied privilege.

r104 Please elaborate why you think white producers don't hire non whites?

R105 I don't actually care either way. It's a show from the 90s like Friends, Seinfeld and 90210. I was just making fun of how people get so offended by a relic of the past. Baywatch was just softcore porn for the pre-Internet age. Now we can just look up hotties of all complexions online easily.

I can't believe people watched that crap.

Why did they not have any chubby gay bears OP, DISCRIMINATION!

[quote]Seinfeld is one of the 90s shows set in NYC that gets hate now for how white it was, like SATC and Friends.

It wasn't white, it was Jewish and frankly, you don't exactly see Jewish people hanging out with black people in NY. If Seinfeld really wanted to be realistic, you would've heard Jerry's parents or Uncle Leo use "Schvartze" a few times.

For the women and gays: David Chokachi, David Charvet, Jaason Simmons, Michael Bergin, Jason Mamoa

For the men and lesbians: Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Erika Elenak, Traci Bingham, Carmen Electra

r106 Well then proclaiming sarcastically about racist whites isn't really what you were trying to say. Of course these fat 90's white dudes producers didn't want non whites to fuck up their beauty contests

R109 Many Jewish people do hang out with black people in NY especially younger ones. Many Jewish guys were in the hip-hop scene like Beastie Boys. Michael Rapaport was in a few Spike Lee joints. From my experience, Jews are the least prejudiced group towards black people especially in comparison to Irish and Italians. Many Jewish were songwriters and managers for black performers and many Jewish people were strong supporters for Civil Rights and helped pioneer Black Studies programs.

It was fucking New York, surely Jerry could've had a minor black character check in every now and then.

[quote] Jews are the least prejudiced group towards black people especially in comparison to Irish and Italians.

LMFAO Not older Jews. Some of the racist people I have ever met. Younger Jews do get along with black people, even idolize them but that's a youth generational thing not a race thing. During the late 90's being black, black music, black sports figures became cool to white folk. Older Jews seem to idolize Italians, mainly for their food and culture (in Italy).

Ari Melber is that you?

Black actors at this time were doing actual black movies and TV shows and had more self-respect than appear on this trashy vapid show that served to give horny people someone to jerk off to. If you wanted pretty black girls to ogle, you could always just watch R&B and hip-hop videos, Janet and Toni were showing a lot of skin.

r115 Don't buy it.

R116 Black people have a strong sense of respectability and hold Christian values regardless of what the media portrays of us. Doing something like Baywatch would be embarrassing. Of course, now it's different because of the increase of sexualize content since the late 90s hip-hop. But also, we had our own media like The Cosby Show, 227, Family Matters, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Living Single, Waiting To Exhale, Poetic Justice, Boyz N The Hood, New Jack City, BET and etc. There wasn't this strong desire for us to appear on every show that was geared to a white demographic because we could find work with black writers and media outlets. This definitely changed in the 2000s when the amount of black TV, film and entertainment in general began declining in numbers.

Jews along with Blacks co-founded the NAACP early in the 20th century.

What r114 said. You have to be kidding. The only time old Jews ever want to see black people is if they're healthcare providers pushing them around in a wheelchair.

Do they swim?

R118, even if you mention "Mississippi Burning." it still doesn't change the fact that old Jews are really, really racist. And the middle-aged ones aren't much better.

Hell, if you asked Jews if they'd rather live with Arabs or Blacks, they'd choose Arabs.

I agree older Jews are more racist and very tribal. But younger ones, I would say born after the 1960s are far more Americanized and have no issue with black people. I know many people who are half Jewish and half-black or half-Hispanic.

Bob Dylan is one of the most famous Jews in America and was vocal for Civil Rights. But he was a unique person in general.

All the "brown" people you posted really ARE brown under their white engineers. They are pretty much all trans-racials that way physical magic to fool others into thinking they are white or white-adjacent. They even use engineers to give themselves white-sounding voices.

*trans-racials that WEAR physical magic, not way

R124 Regardless of their intentions, we should move beyond white and black and brown as labels. People are just people and ideally anyone born in The US is an American. Americanization is powerful even in the first generation. And we Americans are in such a completely different world and mentality that even our ethnic origins (European, Latin American, African, etc etc) can't trump our Americanism. Once you go completely American, you can claim a place anywhere else but The US

*you can't claim any place besides The US

[quote] Jewish and frankly, you don't exactly see Jewish people hanging out with black people in NY.

Speak for yourself.

Younger Jewish people and black people do hang out (as someone else pointed out.)

As for Seinfeld there were 180 episodes. Jerry had 73 girlfriends.

He dated a Native American woman in an episode relating to that. "The Cigar Store Indian."

He dated a Mexican woman.

Not a single girlfriend was black.

There were 19 black characters on the show in some way shape or form in 9 years.

(Kramer and George however did date someone of a different race at least once during the 9 years.)

R128, I actually specified older and middle-aged. Young people are a different story, esp. at places like NYU/Columbia/Hunter