Baywatch, the smash-hit TV series which turned Pamela Anderson into a tabloid icon, has finally hung up its bikini after a 13-year run.
Broadcast bosses have left the US lifeguard drama out to dry after a location switch from Los Angeles to Hawaii failed to revive floundering ratings.
Sources told MediaGuardian.co.uk the decision was made yesterday at a meeting of executives.
The show was an instant success when it came to these shores in 1989, reviving the career of Knight Rider star David Hasselhoff and turning cast members into tabloid fixtures.
"Baywatch has been an incredible success story. It is one of the most successful series ever and has been televised in over 100 countries," said Brian Harris, chief executive of programme owner Pearson Television.
At the height of its fame in the mid-90s, the show played to a weekly global audience of over 1bn dedicated fans, who tuned in to follow the melodramatic fortunes of the partially clothed cast.
And it was such a sure-fire winner for early ITV schedules that the network even took the unusual step of investing in Baywatch when it was first threatened with the axe in the early 1990s.
Even the stone-faced rock band New Order admitted to loving the show, and filmed one of their videos with Mr Hasselhoff and the rest of the cast.
The plotlines and acting skills were of secondary importance to the looks of the cast, with the likes of Billy Warlock, Erika Eleniak and Yasmin Bleeth all chosen for their suitability as Athena poster pin-ups rather than as Emmy-winning actors.
But the show fell on hard times following its move to Hawaii after union pay demands forced the series out of its Californian location.
Pearson Television, which bought the show three years ago, today said: "All good things must come to an end.
One Pearson insider said: "It was the law of diminishing returns. It just wasn't get the audiences any more."
There will be one more series of the show.
Was Baywatch sexist? Talk about it here.
