BEACH bum David Hasselhoff is finally trading in his bathing suit – for a cat burglar’s mask.
The well-tanned star and executive producer of “Baywatch” will leave his long-running bikini-and-buns show at the end of this season to produce and star in a new syndicated adventure series called “AKA Picasso.”
On “Picasso” Hasselhoff will play a high-tech thief affiliated with a government agency a la films such as “The Thomas Crown Affair” and “To Catch a Thief” while continuing to work as an executive producer on “Baywatch.”
“David may do an occasional guest-shot on ‘Baywatch,'” said Jan McCormick, Hasselhoff’s manager and co-executive producer on “Picasso.”
“But as far as being a regular or even a semi-regular on ‘Baywatch,’ the answer is no, we’re going to be doing ‘AKA Picasso.'”
Hasselhoff was not available for comment, but for years there have been rumors that he was leaving “Baywatch,” – usually around when either his contract or the show was up for renewal.
But “Baywatch” officials confirmed the new arrangement yesterday.
“If David has the time and he wants to come and do some shows with us, obviously everybody here will want him to,” said a high-ranking official at Pearson Television – the company that produces and distributes the long-running beach-babe show. “But his first priority now is to grow his career and his character on his new show.”
“Baywatch,” began airing 10 years ago on NBC, but the network canceled it after only one season.
It was successfully revived in syndication and has gone on to become one of the most popular TV shows in the world.
Meanwhile, “Picasso” production and distribution officials, hoping to mirror the success of “Baywatch,” claim the new show is completing deals to air in more than 90 percent of the world’s international TV markets.
“We have received multiple offers but we have not made any decisions yet,” said Kaleidoscope Media Group Chairman Henry Siegel.