Mitch Buchannon is a fictional character from the television series Baywatch. He was played by David Hasselhoff in every season of Baywatch and Baywatch Nights plus in the first season of Baywatch Hawaii. He also appeared in three films, Baywatch the Movie: Forbidden Paradise (1995), Baywatch: White Thunder at Glacier Bay (1998) and Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003). Later, Dwayne Johnson portrayed a lifeguard also named Mitch Buchannon who is a protege of the original Mitch Buchannon in the 2017 film Baywatch.
Mitch was the main character from the series premiere of Baywatch in 1989 to the penultimate season of Baywatch: Hawaii in 2000, when Hasselhoff decided to leave the series as an actor, while remaining as executive producer. As the years progressed, Mitch increasingly served as a mentor and father figure to many of the younger lifeguards at Baywatch headquarters, helping them in work-related matters, and also issues in their personal lives.
Television Fictional character biography Mitch was the youngest son of Al and Irene Buchannon. He was born c. 1954, though his age varies depending upon the episode. He had an older brother named Buzz"The Fabulous Buchannon Boys," Season 2, Episode 5 and the two got along quite well despite their very different personalities. While Buzz was the carefree brother who did what he wanted, Mitch was much more responsible. Buzz left home at a very early age, leaving Mitch as the only child at home. When Mitch was 12, he received a Fender Mustang guitar that Buzz let him have. Years later, Mitch recalled the guitar fondly and dreamed of what his life would be like if he were a musician."Second Time Around," Season 4, Episode 12 The episode cleverly used footage of David Hasselhoff's musical career (though Hasselhoff himself never played any instruments) to show Mitch's daydreams of stardom. In one episode, Mitch was invited onstage to sing alongside Little Richard during a performance of "Good Golly, Miss Molly.""The Runaways," Season 5, Episode 20
Another musical milestone for Mitch occurred in the early 1960s, at the age of 8, when he was chosen by the Beach Boys to sing back up on the song "Don't Worry Baby" for a Battle of the Bands contest, because his brother Buzz surfed with the famous band, and Mike Love liked the sound of Mitch's voice. In 1995, Mitch threw a charity concert with the Surf-Rider Foundation to build a pipeline to divert a storm drain that was polluting the coast. Using Buzzy's connections, he got the Beach Boys to perform at the concert, singing the song "Summer in Paradise.""Surf's Up," Season 6, Episode 7 Mitch's claims of singing with the Beach Boys as a youngster may be dubious, as in the very same episode, Mike Love didn't seem to remember Mitch as well as he remembered Buzz.
In 1972, Mitch graduated from West Palisades High School, where he sang in a band. At his 20 year reunion, he was pressured into singing on stage."Reunion," Season 2, Episode 12 After graduating, Mitch married his high school sweetheart, Gayle (played by Wendie Malick), and they had a son, Hobie, whom Mitch named after the surfboard company of the same name."Livin' on the Fault Line," Season 5, Episode 1 While Mitch and Gayle loved each other, they eventually divorced. Gayle felt Mitch was too invested in his work, and she couldn't handle all the time he had invested into his career. Mitch did not want to divorce, and he continued to love Gayle for a time, even after the marriage had ended.
Mitch reunited with his brother Buzz in 1991, also meeting Buzz's son, Kyle."The Fabulous Buchannon Boys," Season 2, Episode 5 Buzz and Kyle stayed very briefly before relocating to San Diego, while Mitch continued to raise Hobie in Venice."Surf's Up," Season 6, Episode 4 Mitch and Buzz reunited once more in 1994, when Mitch saved Buzz's life at sea after Buzz suffered a heart attack."Coronado Del Soul, Parts 1 & 2", Season 4, Episodes 14 & 15
Mitch did not always have a good relationship with his father. He felt Al did not love him and was disappointed in him. This was due to Al's wish that Mitch would follow in his footsteps and become an architect. For a while Mitch went along with his father's requests and even earned an architectural degree, working for two months alongside his father in the firm. However, Mitch decided it wasn't for him and he decided to become a full-time lifeguard instead, something he had dreamed of doing since he was a young boy."A Matter of Life and Death," Season 3, Episode 12 After Al's death, Mitch and Hobie made an annual trip to his grave each Memorial Day."Memorial Day," Season 8, Episode 4 In one episode of Baywatch nights, David Hasselhoff plays the role of Al in a flashback sequence to Mitch's childhood."Blues Boy," Baywatch Nights, Season 1, Episode 9
Mitch's mother Irene was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in a very special 1995 episode."To Everything There is a Season", Season 6, Episode 9
One of Mitch's favorite bands growing up was The Heat Rays, a fictionalized amalgamation of The Beach Boys and other surf rock bands. In 1996, when two members of the band were murdered, Mitch solved the crime, though implicating two members of the band in a crime of their own."The Heat Rays," Baywatch Nights, Season 1, Episode 22
Mitch was also a Navy SEAL who taught hand-to-hand combat while in the service."Kicks," Season 3, Episode 21 This was also referenced briefly in the season three two-part episode "Shattered." As a SEAL, Mitch went on at least two operations, one of which he could not talk about. He also had a commanding officer named "Junkyard" who said that Mitch "was never good at taking orders and never knew when to quit.""Killing Machine," Baywatch Hawaii, Season 1, Episode 22 The operations hinted at in Baywatch Hawaii do not match the timeline of the original Baywatch, thus creating a continuity error in the writing. Mitch was shown to have a care-free, cavalier attitude towards his work as a SEAL, starkly contrasting the character's attitude towards the work and profession of a lifeguard.
Around 1983, Mitch spent a year in Australia as part of the lifeguard exchange program. One day he attempted to rescue a wind surfer in treacherous waves, but failed to save her. Ten years later, her husband, a man named Wily Brown, came to the United States to get revenge on the lifeguard who failed to save her. Mitch was involved in a series of accidents (such as failing brakes on his rescue truck and a poisonous snake left in his locker), and was suspicious that Wily perpetrated them. Finally the truth was revealed when Mitch's friend Kaye, a newspaper reporter, found Wily's personnel file. As Mitch went to confront Wily about his suspicions, he was sneak attacked and left for dead in a burning lifeguard tower. Fortunately, Mitch woke up and got out in time to chase Wily in the scarab, lassoing him and sending him off to the proper authorities."Fatal Exchange," Season 3, Episode 22
In 1986, Mitch uncovered a drug operation on the marina. His work led to the arrest and conviction of drug lord Mason Sato, who was released from prison five years later, in the 1991 episode "War of Nerves." Sato began stalking Mitch, Hobie, and Mitch's friend Kaye. Eventually Mitch and Sato fought on the docks, and Sato was arrested and returned to prison. Sato returned as the villainous mastermind in the 2003 reunion movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.
Shortly after his divorce from Gayle in 1989, Mitch entered into a relationship with visiting lifeguard Stephanie Holden. The two quickly became serious but the relationship ended abruptly when Stephanie left both Mitch and Baywatch. Three years later, when Stephanie returned to Baywatch full-time as a Lieutenant, Mitch discovered that she was still married when he was pursuing her, and that she broke off her relationship with Mitch in order to work things out with her husband. Though Stephanie was officially divorced by the time of her 1992 return, it was decided by both Mitch and Stephanie to maintain a platonic relationship from that point onward."Tequila Bay," Season 3 episode 3 However, due to inconsistent plotlines that would later appear, the nature of this relationship would occasionally go from platonic to flirtatious to unrequited on either side, depending upon how it fit the story of each episode. Additionally, the hierarchy of their roles as lifeguards remained inconsistent. In some episodes, Stephanie was of a higher rank than Mitch, and in others, Mitch was her direct supervisor. After Stephanie's death, her picture could often be seen on Mitch's mantle above his fireplace.
Baywatch: Hawaii The 1999 premiere episode of Baywatch: Hawaii showed a new and somewhat darker side to Mitch Buchannon. Disillusioned by his failed relationships, his mother's losing battle with Alzheimer's disease, and the fact that his son Hobie had left home and gone off to college, Mitch decided to pack his bags and escape to Hawaii. The opening scenes of the first episode seemed to show Mitch as a bit of a reclusive loner, staying on a secluded beach and trying to escape his life as an L.A. County Lifeguard. However, when he saw a family of four drowning, he jumped in to save them, knowing he could save their lives, and that he could never escape his true calling. In spite of the fact that he pulled all four family members out of the water, Mitch still felt a step too slow, and confessed to his friend, local lifeguard Leon 'Rock' Keaweamahi (played by Vincent Klyn) that he wished to establish a training center where lifeguards from diverse geographic locations could meet and discuss life-saving techniques. Mitch then put together a group of 6 elite lifeguards from California, Australia, and the Hawaiian Islands, establishing them as his new team who worked at the training center.Baywatch Hawaii - "Aloha, Baywatch," Season 1, Episode 1
It was hinted in the series that Mitch was still active in the Navy SEALS, and had been involved in various black ops through the years. The continuity of these operations conflict with storylines seen in Baywatch and Baywatch Nights.
At the end of the first season of Baywatch: Hawaii, David Hasselhoff chose to leave the role of Mitch. While on the trail of eco-terrorists led by Mitch's former SEAL comrade gone rogue, Zach Martin, Mitch was caught in an underwater explosion and presumed dead, though his body was never found. The series carried on for one more year without the character of Mitch, before ending in the spring of 2001.
Baywatch
Mitch was known throughout the series for taking his career as a lifeguard very seriously. Quite often, he would find himself on the defensive from criticisms by characters with misconceptions about his work, who would assume he was just on the beach to meet girls or to sun tan. A typical solution to this plot element would be for the criticizing person to end up in need of a rescue, or to witness Mitch saving a life, thus having their opinion of the lifeguard profession changed. On at least one occasion, Mitch described lifeguarding as "the only job [he] ever had.""The Falcon Manifesto," Season 4, Episode 17 In regards to his vocation, Mitch has referred to himself as a "salt water junkie,""Lover's Cove," Season 4, Episode 3 and also admitted to living according to the credo, "Once a lifeguard, always a lifeguard.""Liquid Assets," Season 7, Episode 3 Mitch was occasionally forced to defend his fellow lifeguards from slurs such as "wave jockey."
When the series begins, Gayle and Mitch are having difficulties working out the custody agreement over Hobie. Gayle wants Hobie to come live with her full-time in Ohio. Mitch is devastated over this, but after realizing how much Hobie wants to stay with his father, Gayle agrees to let him stay in California. In the season 2 episode "Reunion," Gayle concedes that Mitch is doing an excellent job raising Hobie by himself.