Saturday Night Showcase: Acapulco H.E.A.T.

Acapulco H.E.A.T. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You know those shows that you swear existed but you can’t remember enough of it to confirm it existed? I remember this one mostly for the earworm theme song, but try this: a group of people pretty enough to be on Baywatch lives out of a hotel run by Fabio, that guy from the romance novel covers in the 1980s and 90s who sells imitation butter nowadays, works with swimsuit models, and fights crime. Sound familiar? Then the show you remember is 1990s Acapulco H.E.A.T. and you may or may not want to learn more. Well then stop reading because here it comes.

The show follows the exploits of the Hemispheric Emergency Action Team, a secret anti-terrorist squad answering to the secret organization C-5, a conglomerate of nations that in no way is meant to represent the explosive of the same name, no sir. It’s totally a reference to Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego‘s C-5 corridor. The team is led by a former MI-6 agent and a former CIA agent (joint command, I don’t think you can officially work for both organizations), and they stop global threats under the cover of beach fashion enterprise Acapulco Heat. They also live in a hotel, and everyone from the company’s owner to the hotel’s owner is in on the operation. In the two-part pilot below the HEAT team deals with a supervillain. Yeah, just watch this guy and his henchwomen in action. He’s totally a supervillain.

Anyone else questioning the fight choreography? And what did I tell you? Supervillain.

The Keller’s own distribution company is responsible for the official YouTube channel, or rather one of them. It contains the first season, 22 episodes total. The other is a sampler channel run by the worldwide distributor, the Peter Rogers Organization, who has both seasons on their website…but it’s a paid streaming service, albeit the cheapest one I’ve seen. Season Two takes place three years later with only two returning members, now with private investors and secretly working out of a boutique called Acapulco Heat Beach Fashion. Why the change I couldn’t tell you, nor why the US waited a few years before airing it here while other countries got season two the season after season one per usual.

Speaking of season two, if you thought season one’s intro was weak…

It gains points in not being as repetitive but it also lacks the spark of the original. It’s a different singer but like the first one she isn’t bad, which is the best compliment I have for either intro. The show isn’t necessarily bad either but the limited budget is obvious. I’m guessing most of it comes from filming in Puerto Vallara in Acapulco, Mexico, and having access to a hotel where they put on fake fashion shows. Unless those were all sets somewhere else in which case it still probably drained their budget. At best it’s an interesting footnote in TV history.