Pamela Anderson (and Her Breasts) Turn 40..!

The news hit me like a line drive right between the eyes: Pamela Anderson is 40! I'm not quite sure why this news (I read it the other day on MSN.com) is important to me. Sometimes it's like I can't control the flow of words that rush from my fingertips. We all have or eventually will hit the big 4-0. So why does Pamela Anderson turning 40 make me feel like I'm experiencing a loss of innocence?

I'm thinking there's some parable here for modern times. Cuz if you think of it, it's been a heck of a long time since any new episodes of Baywatch actually aired on television. I was never a big Baywatch fan -- the rescues performed on that show always seemed about as real as the breasts that were typically flopping around on the lifeguards as they ran down the beach in slow-motion, but I do remember reading and being impressed by the fact that the show was the number one worldwide syndicated hit on cable television for years and made David Hasslehoff a wealthy man beyond his wildest dreams. That is if he didn't snort all the profits from the show up his nose.

But what's more impressive is that out of the small core group of principal actors and actors on Baywatch -- Pamela Anderson is really the only one that has survived in the business. You think the worldwide popularity of Baywatch helped David Hasslehoff's singing career? Fat chance. Did it score him a gig on the in-the-works re-make of Knight Rider? Gimme a break. What about the rest of the cast? Yasmine Bleeth? Uh-uh. In fact, I don't think any of the former cast members are doing anything more significant than cashing their residual checks. But Pamela Anderson and even more important - Pamela Anderson's breasts -- have managed to survive and actually prosper in the ensuing years since Baywatch sank off the shores of Southern California.

Success in Hollywood is not an easy thing to accomplish for an actor or actress with talent. So you can imagine how much more difficult it gets once you crack 40 years old and the only marketable assets you have are being bounced off your knees like soccer balls at the World Cup.