Pamela Anderson’s comeback continues in 2025 with a major role in the Liam Neeson-led reboot of the “Naked Gun” franchise. That’s not long after a Netflix documentary, “Pamela: A Love Story,” dropped some major bombshells, while 2024’s “The Last Showgirl” earned Anderson a Golden Globe nomination for best actress. Anderson and Neeson are also reportedly now a couple, having begun dating while filming “The Naked Gun.” 

Of course, it’s a long way from the mid-1990s, when Anderson was bouncing around in a skimpy bathing suit as lifeguard Casey on “Baywatch” — still her most iconic role. But one might be forgiven, however, for thinking that Pamela Anderson’s TV career started as a busty beach babe. In reality, she had been on TV before, and one of her first parts was a featured role alongside future “Friends” breakout Matt LeBlanc in the short-lived 1991 sitcom, “Top of the Heap.” You’ve probably never heard of it, but the series was actually an attempted spin-off of the wildly popular late-’80s smash hit, “Married… with Children.”

On the show, LeBlanc and Joseph Bologna reprised the roles of father-son duo Vinnie and Charlie Verducci, a pair of lowlifes who are trying to worm their way into high society. Fresh off an appearance on the cover of Playboy, Anderson guest-starred in an episode of the series as Ramona, a buxom woman who Vinnie (LeBlanc) attempts to charm. There are some decent jokes to be had, but we’re probably better off that this one didn’t catch on, or else we probably would never have gotten “Baywatch” — or “Friends,” for that matter.

Some fans today may have forgotten, but Pamela Anderson’s big TV break didn’t come on “Top of the Heap,” or even “Baywatch.” No, her career-changing role was on a hit family sitcom; in fact, it was just a few months after her role in “Top of the Heap” that she landed a small role as a model, “Lisa the Tool Girl,” in the pilot episode of Tim Allen’s “Home Improvement.”

At the time, Anderson probably didn’t think much of the role — nobody knew the show would wind up being one of the decade’s biggest hits — and it came shortly after several other TV guest spots. Between 1990 and 1992, she made appearances in “Married… with Children,” “Charles in Charge,” “Days of Our Lives,” and the long-forgotten “Married People.” But her small role in “Home Improvement” quickly turned into a recurring character, and Anderson suddenly found herself in demand, leading to her casting in “Baywatch” shortly thereafter. 

It’s hard to imagine now, but if not for “Baywatch” coming along and relocating her to the beach, it’s entirely possible that Anderson could have wound up a ’90s sitcom queen. But where the tides of fortune take us, no one can know, and now Anderson is on top again — and she doesn’t even have to get naked in “The Naked Gun.”