Despite the worldwide success of the series, the cast of “Baywatch” did not receive large salaries.

The actors of the successful 90s series spoke about their low salaries in the new four-part documentary series “After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun”.

“Back then, they were offering each person about $3,500 a show,” said Nicole Eggert, who played Summer Quinn on the show.

Eggert added, “I think at that point the ‘Friends’ contestants were each making $1 million per episode.”

“Baywatch” first aired on NBC in 1989, but was canceled after just one season. However, the show’s creators and star David Hasselhoff revived the series in 1991 and made it the most popular show of its time.

The series ran for 10 more seasons before ending in 2001.

Meanwhile, Friends was an instant hit when it premiered on NBC in 1994. The series moved to syndicated television in 1998.

By the eighth season, which aired from 2001 to 2002, the sitcom’s cast members – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry – had negotiated their contracts so that they would earn one million dollars per episode starting in the eighth season.

The series was canceled in 2004 after 10 seasons.

As the new documentary series shows, the stars of “Baywatch” were not as financially successful as the actors of “Friends.”

“I remember freaking out when I saw my first paycheck after taxes,” said Erika Eleniak, who played Shauni McClain in the first two seasons of “Baywatch.”

“It was like, ‘What? What just happened? How am I honestly supposed to live on this money?'” she added.

Billy Warlock, who played Eddie Kramer, said that “there is not a single rich actor on ‘Baywatch.'”

“And that’s kind of weird,” he continued, “because when you’re on a successful television show, the wealth is always shared.”

The 63-year-old actor claimed that “everyone was expendable” on the show.

“And if you didn’t fit their brand and the price they paid you, you were gone,” he added.

ABC News journalist Chris Connelly also commented on the discussion about the salaries of the “Baywatch” cast.

“Baywatch made a lot of money – just not for the actors,” he noted. “They treated the people on ‘Baywatch’ like they were college athletes. ‘Oh, you’ll make your money later. You’ll make your money because you got famous on ‘Baywatch.'”

Of the entire “Baywatch” cast, Pamela Anderson has the highest net worth at $20 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

For comparison: Aniston is worth $320 million, more than any other actor from “Friends.”

Cox is in second place with a net worth of $150 million. Kudrow is worth $130 million, Schwimmer $120 million and LeBlanc $85 million.

Perry’s net worth was around $120 million when he died in October 2023 at the age of 54.

In his 2022 memoir, Perry looked back at how the “Friends” cast made history in 2002 by becoming the first to earn $1 million per episode. He said it was Schwimmer’s idea to negotiate higher pay for all six cast members.

“That decision later proved to be extremely lucrative,” Perry wrote. “David certainly could have taken the most money, but he didn’t. In season eight we were making a million dollars an episode, and in season ten we made even more. We were making $1,100,040 an episode and asked to do fewer episodes.”

In contrast, Anderson told Variety last year that she earned little money for her role as CJ Parker in “Baywatch,” especially compared to Hasselhoff, who also served as a producer on the series.

“The producers of ‘Baywatch’ made a fortune,” she said. “I just didn’t have the representation at the time. Or the know-how. When you make a TV show, you don’t know it’s going to be that popular, so you’re basically mortgaging your life.”

Her son, 26-year-old Brandon Thomas Lee, said his famous mother was “definitely taken advantage of” when she appeared on the show.