Baywatch made her the No. 1 sex symbol, ogled by a billion tele- watchers every week. And now after five years, the bikini beauty, Pamela Anderson, is all set to bid adieu to the telly beach to concentrate on the big screen and a biography which promises helpful hits for the bedroom...

Opinion is divided between high brow critics. Some call it Babewatch, another section insists that it should be re-titled Bumwatch and the thirdd one simply dubs it Brawatch. Perhaps the only person to thank for Baywatch becoming the biggest show on earth is Pamela Anderson and her ability to fill a swimsuit.

And now Pamela is leaving Baywatch, the serial which has made her the world's number one sex symbol. The buxom blonde, who has played lifeguard CJ Parker on the show for five years, now wants to concentrate only on movies and other "high-quality projects".

The producers of the show have pressed the panic buttons and are making blank cheque offers to Pamela to return. And why not? Baywatch has over a billion viewers in 142 countries and has become America's No.1 TV export.

A survey of top rated television shows reveals that it is the most-watched TV show on Earth. And Pamela Anderson can take much of the credit for its heady success.

Pamela has denied that her decision to walk out of the show has anything to do with her troubled marriage to Tommy Lee, the much-tattooed drummer of the pop group Motley Group. Rumours have it that Tommy had developed a dislike for the show and was constantly badgering Pamela to abandon it.

The marriage has been nothing but rocky from the start. The two were married on the beach - the groom wore swimming trunks, the bride a white bikini. And the relationship has been nothing if not bizarre from the very beginning. They recently announced plans to divorce but are now tentatively reconciled while Tommy undergoes treatment for alcoholism.

The reason Pamela gives for leaving Bay-watch is that her hands are more than full.

The actress recentlyl won a $5 million damages suit for backing out of a movie deal. Giving reasons for walking out of the film. Hello, She Lied, Pamela said that she was not told of certain scenes, one of which she read out in the court. "He reaches under her dress: they make passionate love; he kisses her breast; he picks her up and puts her on the pool table and he gets on top of her; they enjoy a mutually aggressive... sexual marathon."

Said Pamela, "I don't want to be touched by people I don't know. If I had gone for the shooting they would have made me do simulated sex - I know that. I'm not stupid. I don't need to do those things for cheap popularity."

Indeed she doesn't, Pamela today has acquired a unique brand equity. She's become the highest selling pin-up ever and heads the list of the most accessed celebrities on the Internet today - pipping to the post contender like Samantha Fox and Danii Minogue.

Playboy's homepage on the Internet has gone to town about its CD-ROM series which the company says is a "photo gallery boasting 200 provacative portraits of Pam as well as an interactive slide show and full motion clips from Pam's best selling playboy videos." The series costing $ 19.95 is being offered to Internet users at a special discount of $ 15.95. Playbouy is said to be having a tough time meeting the demand. In fact, the homepage featuring Pamela, is difficult to access because of the number of people logging on to it worldwide. Which goes to show how the world's number one sex symbol alongwith the marketing team of playboy have manipulated state-of-the-art technology to their advantage. Pamela has featured on the cover of playboy five times (more than any other lady) and each of the issues has been a sell out as soon as it hit the stands. In fact, when Pamela Anderson Lee first appeared in the pages of Playboy as the February 1990 Playmate of the Month, she became the most famous blonde in the universe. She was soon contacted by the producers of Baywatch for the role of the stunning lifeguard CJ parker in the serial. The new assignment paid mega dividends: Pamela became a worldwide sex symbol with one billion weekly fans. A position she has enjoyed for the last five years.

Pamela says she has never bothered about being dubbed a "dumb blonde," because, she says, "if people expect only that from me then it won't be difficult to surprise them with a good role".

Although Pamela's latest film, Barb Wire, the futuristic tale of a post-feminist action hero, tanked at the box-office, she is being swamped with offers from Hollywood. She would be showing her other, shall we say, asset - her sense of humour - in a forthcoming film, Fashion Force.

The 29-year-old silicone- enhanced beauty is also writing her biography titled Pandemonium. Her literary plans include a full disclosure about her sex life and a few helpful hints for the bedroom.

A Hollywood wag predicts that Pandemo-nium will be an out and out `breast' seller.