For those who haven’t seen Friday The 13th: The Series, this article contains spoilers.
Jason Voorhees is one of the most enduring figures in horror. Regardless if you love or hate the franchise, there’s no denying its impact on popular culture. Often overlooked is what went into making the 12-film series. Through extensive research and interviews, I invite you to take a closer look at the Friday The 13th universe. This is Crystal Lake Confessional.
Curled up in an E.T. blanket in the corner of the top bunk, I stared at the 19″ TV screen on my dresser. No older than 6 years old, I should’ve been long asleep like my older brother on the bed below. Instead, I was fixated on the televised horror running after the late news on WGN. Illuminated static cast ominous shadows, flickering across walls covered in Star Wars posters. The witching hour had arrived. Friday The 13th: The Series flashed upon the screen.
With the horror genre being big business in the 1980s, it was no surprise to see the macabre finding its way to television. But where most horror-related shows relied on the anthology format, this particular show raised the stakes by adding a trio of reoccurring characters and a connecting narrative.
Friday The 13th: The Series was a weekly dose of unapologetic horror broadcasting on entertainment’s most convenient medium.
During pitch-meetings for what would become Friday The 13th: Part 7, Frank Mancuso Jr was flexing his Freddy Vs Jason idea. But as the higher-ups shrugged at the ambitious pitch, Mel Harris, the head of Paramount Television pitched his own idea. A television series based on the Friday franchise. Harris was so confident in brand recognition, he instructed to develop the series without connecting to any of the films. He sweetened the deal by granting Mancuso full creative control in the development process.
The idea of a Jason-less Friday The 13th series was a gamble, but Mancuso couldn’t pass up artistic freedom. After taking the hands-off approach with the films since Part 5, he understood the less the studio interferes, the better the product. Not to mention the prospect of a shot in the arm for the franchise if done correctly.
With the mandatory Friday The 13th title, Mancuso chose to utilize the bad luck aspect of ’13’ and set the story around various cursed items.
Micki Foster and her cousin Ryan inherit Curious Goods, after the death of their estranged Uncle Lewis. After the reopening, Micki and Ryan meet their uncle’s former business partner Jack. He informs them Lewis had made a deal with Satan to sell cursed antiques in exchange for wealth and success. When he broke the pact, he was claimed by Satan and the items remained cursed unless they’re returned. Now with the help of Jack, Micki and Ryan must track down each cursed antique to break the demonic curse once and for all.
Each episode unfolds as the trio locates a cursed item that has granted its owner with otherworldly powers used for personal gain or vengeance. Micki and Ryan gather information from Jack and use it to persuade the owner to return it. Whether a possessed doll, haunted radio, or murderous scarecrow, each investigation finds Micky and Ryan in a perilous situation.
Completely stoked on the pilot and further written episodes, Mancuso still had cold feet. However, he was about to get a little help from a very unlikely place.
With syndicated reruns and film series, the Star Trek franchise was still considered Paramount’s crown jewel in the early 80s. Fresh off the success of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Paramount began to struggle with the salary demands of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. To soften the blow, Paramount decided on another foray into television; Star Trek: The Next Generation.
When all 3 major television networks refused to give The Next Generation a full-season order before seeing ratings, Paramount knew putting the show in syndication was the only way to retain creative control. Before the fall of 1987, nearly 200 independent stations were set to air The Next Generation making it one of the anticipated shows of the season.
To take advantage of the built-in audience, Mancuso jumped in and sold Friday The 13th: The Series in a bundle with The Next Generation. A move that worked far better than he imagined.
By the time The Next Generation and Friday The 13th ended their first seasons, they ranked #1 and #2 in syndication ratings. To meet the demand of its popularity, some networks moved Friday The 13th: The Series to the prime time slot to reach an even wider audience. Unfortunately, this caused local censors and church groups to take a closer look. Coming in at the tail end of ‘Satanic Panic’, the re-evaluation mostly likely resulted in the show’s demise.
Season 3 saw a sharp decline in ratings with the unwelcomed controversy as well as the departure of one of the series’ leads.
Paramount knew from their previous battles with the MPAA that censoring the show would be a losing battle. Unfortunately, Friday The 13th: The Series was canceled during the filming of the 20th episode of Season 3. The cancelation came so abruptly, writers and associate producers had no time to shoot a finale or wrap up any loose ends. The show and its fandom suffered a fate worse than Jason Voorhees himself could deliver.
Although tame by today’s standards, Friday The 13th: The Series was creatively progressive for its time. Each episode depicted scenes of graphic violence and death, sometimes in brutal fashion. Ironically, a character gets his throat slashed in the pilot episode and it is far more graphic than any death featured on Friday The 13th Part 6 or Part 7! Scenes of graphic violence were important to horror fans of all ages, including me who was far too young to be watching.
In many ways, Friday The 13th: The Series was a precursor to The X Files, Supernatural, and Warehouse 13.
Especially the synergetic relationship of the 2 lead characters during bizarre investigations. Horror has been a staple of television since the early 60s with The Twilight Zone, but American Horror Story and Castle Rock owe a lot more to Mancuso than anything from Rod Serling. Even Disney’s Gravity Falls is such an unabashed takeoff, many fans feel it’s an unofficial love-letter to everything Curious Goods.
On the surface, Friday The 13th: The Series is an artifact of late-80s television without a satisfying conclusion. But the painful special effects and laughable fashion add to the strange charm. The cast has fantastic charisma and there’s an interesting layer of dark humor that offsets the negative. Despite not featuring our favorite undead masked killer, Friday The 13th: The Series is still a worthy side quest in Crystal Lake lore.
Catch up with previous installments of Crystal Lake Confessional here.
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – –Part 6 – Part 7
Part TS – Part 8 – Part 9 – Part HM – Part 10 – Part FvJ – Part 2009