A Showdown at the Cineplex for Two TV Stars.

In side-by-side theaters Friday night, two successful television actors made the leap from small screen to large. David Schwimmer, one of the six quirky pals on “Friends,” was starring in “The Pallbearer.” Next door, Pamela Anderson Lee, the swimsuit-clad C.J. on “Baywatch,” was making her film debut in “Barb Wire.”

When the final credits rolled at the Cineplex Odeon at Universal CityWalk, one thing was clear: There are loyal TV fans--and then there are Pamela Anderson Lee’s fans.

Why had people--OK, why had mostly men--turned out for the opening night of “Barb Wire”? The same answer came out of one mouth after another: Pam. Pam. Pam.

Next door, the reasons weren’t so clear-cut. Stephanie Johnson, a 21-year-old UCLA student, is a regular watcher of NBC’s hit comedy “Friends.” Schwimmer is funny on the show, she said, but he’s not the reason she picked “The Pallbearer.” “I don’t think he’s attractive at all,” she said.

No matter how much her fellow Bruin Mike Smith wanted to, though, Johnson was not switching movies. She said, “I was not going to watch two hours of Pam Anderson [Lee] in black leather.”

But a self-proclaimed adult movie actress--whose nom de porn is Tyffany Million--was eager for exactly that. Million, 30, of Studio City, was one of the few women who came to see the R-rated “Barb Wire” of her own accord, with boyfriend Jef Hickey, 28, in tow.

“We’re here to judge plastic surgery, “ said the well-tattooed Hickey, whose dark hair dangled to mid-back.

(Neither film produced terrific business, according to preliminary box office estimates. “The Pallbearer” pulled a tepid $2.35 million and was ninth in the estimates. “Barb Wire” sold only an estimated $1.7 million in tickets.)

“Baywatch”--seen in worldwide syndication by an estimated 1 billion each week--certainly helped Lee’s recognition quotient. Abandoning “Barb Wire” for “The Pallbearer” was out of the question for some moviegoers.

The thought made Scott Gutierrez, 26, wince. “I saw the preview for it, and I went, ‘How boring,’ ” said Gutierrez, of West Hollywood. “What I’ve seen of ‘The Pallbearer,’ all they do is whine and smooch. . . . and whine about smooching.”

The lights faded and the audience--at least 80% male, including several under-17 boys--cheered as Lee’s name appeared on-screen and then fell silent as she writhed her way through a sultry credits sequence.

For those who spurned all things “Baywatch,” the critical standards were based more on laughs. Those who expected “Friends”-paced jokes found “The Pallbearer” slow. Even boring. No one thought the role was a particular stretch for Schwimmer, who played a lovelorn 20-something New Yorker not unlike his TV character Ross.

“My biggest complaint about the film is this,” said Glendale resident Fred Tepper, 31, adopting Schwimmer’s blank, open-mouth stare. “The show is 22 minutes, the movie is 90 minutes or more. I just kept thinking, ‘Say something!’ ”

Those who didn’t know what to expect found “The Pallbearer” more charming. Don Pedro, 43, of Altadena, didn’t even connect the film actor to the “Friends” star until he was in the theater. Pedro--along with his brother and friend--left the theater happy. “I’m more likely to watch ‘Friends’ now,” Pedro said.