On the sun drenched Mexican beach set of Sweating Bullets (CBS), five tanned extras wearing string bikinis stroll languidly about the set between takes, waiting for their cue to stroll languidly in front of the camera. Nearby, a Mexican catering crew busily prepares an elaborate lunch. The male star of the show, Rob Stewart, has his ponytail tended by a hairdresser. His costar, Carolyn Dunn, waiting in the shade, admits to feeling a bit of guilt about working in such idyllic circumstances: "Every so often," she confides, "we all have a laugh and whisper to each other, 'We're getting paid for this'."

Sweating Bullets is one of five late-night dramas commissioned by CBS to replace Pat Sajak's failed talk show, which had been beaten up by The Tonight Show and Into the Night With Rick Dees. (The network's initial plan was to launch all five in mid-January -- after two months of lurid on-air promotion -- but then the Persian Gulf crisis escalated into war; at press time, debut dates were still uncertain.)

It involves a world-weary ex-RCMP, ex-DEA agent named Nick Slaughter

Although moviemakers have used Puerto Vallarta as a location ("Night of the Iguana," "Predator"), Sweating Bullets is the first network series to be filmed there, as well as the first Canada-Mexico co-production. (One of the partners is Global Television, which will air it next season.) To expedite matters, executive producer Andras Hamori created a compact beach-front set to house Bullets' three main locations -- the beach bar, a dive shop and Nick's home. "This is our studio -- with perfect lighting," says Hamori.

Since Bullets started filming last November, there's been a constant airlift of Canadian guest stars in and out of Puerto Vallarta -- the likes of Kate Vernon, Louis Negin (Seeing Things), Chris Wiggins (Friday the 13th), and supermodel Monika Schnarre, "the sweetest person I've met in my life," says Stewart. "We were supposed to do this kissing scene, and she's, like, 6-foot-2, right? She's stunningly beautiful, but so shy about what she does."

The least shy people on the set are those extras, who appear preening and stretching in almost every shot. Most of the principals on Bullets are candid about the show's emphasis on body heat. "There's a lot of sex in the first three episodes," says Stewart sheepishly. "I'm getting laid every week -- in the show, I mean." Hamori is even more forthright: "This is not an issue oriented show. This is not E.N.G. It's really just pure entertainment."

It has not been without its hitches, though. "At the start, to get a message back to Toronto, it was almost quicker to put someone on a plane with it," says Hamori. As for Stewart, "The biggest disadvantage has been Montezuma's revenge. I've had it three times, and it always happens on my day off." Dunn says that the ailment necessitated parking her trailer directly adjacent to the set for several days.

Still, all involved with Bullets admit the perks of shooting in Mexico far outweigh the drawbacks (especially during winter). On the most superficial of levels, the series certainly looks good. One of the pluses, Hamori says, has been the abundance of wildlife. "On one show alone, we had a crocodile, some raccoons, a mongoose, four monkeys and over a dozen parrots," he says. "It's easy to get animals here in Mexico. But try to get a bagel with cream cheese here -- now that's difficult."