Global warming's got nothing on David Hasselhoff these days. Between his internationally televised blubbering fit during the recent "American Idol" finale, his upcoming movie with Adam Sandler, and the prime seat he'll have at the NBA Finals in Dallas (Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki's a big fan and the star is shown above during the playoffs), he's suddenly hotter than a "Baywatch" babe in a fur-lined parka on the Equator.

How hot is that? Let's check the Hasselhoffometer:

CHRIS HASTON / NBC (ENLARGE)

BREAK OUT THE SPF 100!

(May-June 2006): From the "Idol" finale (watched by 36.5 million) to FilmFest HD network's 17-day James Bond event (he anchors it and sings "Secret Agent Man"), from "Click" (opening June 23) to "America's Got Talent" (he's a judge on Simon Cowell's [photo above] new show), launching June 21 on NBC): It's not the heat, it's the Hasselhoff!

SCALDING

(1991-2001): When NBC cancels "Baywatch" after only one season, the man who'd starred as shirtless lifeguard Mitch Buchannon makes his second shrewdest move ever, reviving it as a syndicated series. Shrewdest move ever? Adding Pamela Anderson and her form-fitting Speedo to the cast.

HOT

(November-December 1989): Hasselhoff helps ring in the new year at the recently opened Berlin Wall by singing his No. 1 European hit "Looking for Freedom" at Brandenburg Gate. He's yet to have a No. 1 hit here, but we're counting on him if we ever need a Communist wall knocked down.

SIMMERING

(1982-1986): Stars in "Knight Rider" (above), the touching NBC series about a crime fighter and his partner, a talking car named KITT. He wins a Golden Globe as favorite male performer in a new TV series, mostly because he looks better in skintight jeans than KITT.

LUKEWARM

(1975-1982): Plays Dr. William Foster Jr., aka "Snapper," on the soap "The Young and the Restless." Poor, caring, socially conscious Snapper may be the only doctor who takes off his shirt more often than his patients do.

— Jill Vejnoska