Baywatch voted worst-ever TV import

Baywatch, the sun-bleached saga of Californian life guards, was voted the worst-ever US television import in a British survey. The same survey ranked the 25 best US imports, with The Simpsons, Dallas, MASH, 24 and The Larry Sanders Show leading the pack.

Baywatch, which starred Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff, ran from 1989 to 2001 and was once ranked the world's most popular programme, with viewers in 140 countries.

Broadcast magazine's poll of about 20 programme buyers from British terrestrial, cable and satellite channels acknowledged the appeal of a "series about a muscular lifeguard and his crew of pneumatic young helpers with raging hormones".

But the respondents condemned Baywatch for scripts "of mind-numbing predictability: beachgoer is saved from drowning".

Second place in the poll went to The Anna Nicole Show, the reality programme featuring Playboy Playmate turned model Anna Nicole Smith.

Southern-fried 1970s hit The Dukes of Hazzard ranked third, followed by the futuristic James Belushi vehicle Wild Palms and the anthropomorphic action series Manimal.

Broadcast's 10 worst US imports:

1 Baywatch

2 The Anna Nicole Show

3 The Dukes of Hazzard

4 Wild Palms

5 Manimal

6 The Jerry Springer Show

7 Knots Landing

8 Falcon Crest

9 The Bold and the Beautiful

10 Extreme Makeover - Sapa-AP