Friday the 13th: The Series
Friday the 13th: The Series is a television series that ran for three seasons, from October 3, 1987, to May 26, 1990, in first-run syndication. The series follows Micki and Ryan, cousins who inherit an antiques store; after selling all the antiques, they learn from Jack Marshak that the items are cursed. The trio then work together to recover the objects and return them to the safety of the shop's vault.
Not to be confused with Friday the 13th (franchise).Friday the 13th: The Series
Friday's Curse[1]
- Frank Mancuso Jr.
- Larry B. Williams
- United States
- Canada
English
3
72 (list of episodes)
Frank Mancuso Jr.
Iain Paterson
Rodney Charters
45-46 minutes
- Lexicon Productions
- Triumph Entertainment Corporation
- Variety Artists International
- Hometown Films
- Paramount Domestic Television
October 3, 1987 –
May 26, 1990
Originally, the series was to be titled The 13th Hour, but producer Frank Mancuso Jr. thought this would turn away viewers and instead took the name Friday the 13th to deliberately draw in audiences. Despite this title, the series has no story connections to the film series of the same title, as Jason Voorhees does not make an appearance, nor does any character connected to the films.
The series and the films have several cast and crew ties, however. The show's producer, Frank Mancuso Jr., was producer of the film series from Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) until the final installment distributed by Paramount (Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in 1989, a year before the TV series ended). One of the show's stars, John D. LeMay, went on to star in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, guest star John Shepherd played Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, and episode director David Cronenberg appeared in Jason X. Fred Mollin, Rob Hedden, and Tom McLoughlin worked behind the scenes of both series.
Production[edit]
Friday the 13th: The Series was created by Frank Mancuso Jr. and Larry B. Williams originally under the title of The 13th Hour; the series ran for 72 episodes. Mancuso Jr. never intended to link the television show directly to the Friday the 13th film series, but utilize "the idea of Friday the 13th, which is that it symbolizes bad luck and curses". The creators wanted to tie-in Jason's trademark hockey mask to the series, but the idea was discarded so that the show could have a chance to exist on its own. Mancuso Jr. was afraid that mentioning any events from the films would take the audience away from "the new world that we were trying to create". The decision to name the show Friday the 13th, over the original title, was made because Mancuso Jr. believed a "Friday the 13th" moniker would better help to sell the show to networks. Filming took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[2] Friday the 13th: The Series aired in first-run syndication, initially in a late-night spot; the success of the series as a late-night show prompted some broadcasting stations to move it to prime time. Produced on a budget estimated below $500,000 per episode, the first season placed second in the male 18- to 49-year-old demographic, just behind Paramount's Star Trek: The Next Generation. In addition, the first season placed fifth in the female 18- to 49-year-old demographic.[3] The composer Fred Mollin wrote the music for the series. Friday The 13th The Series - Music From The Original Television Scores was released in 1989 by GNP Crescendo Records.[4]
Cancellation[edit]
The first two seasons had 26 episodes apiece. However the third season was cut short due to the abrupt decision to cancel the show. The cast and crew were informed about the ending of the series while they were filming the 20th episode of the third season, which ended up being the series finale. The cancellation was so sudden that they were unable to film more episodes or more scenes that would provide some kind of closure.
International broadcasts[edit]
The series was broadcast on Tele 5 in Spain in 1991 under the title of Misterio para tres. In Greece, the series was broadcast on ANT1 and Makedonia TV under the title To mystirio tis Paraskevis (The mystery of Friday) and in Germany under the title Erben des Fluchs (Heirs to the Curse). It was also broadcast in Indonesia on TVRI from 1990 to 1991 every Thursday night and on RCTI from 1992 to 1996 every Friday night. In Finland, the series was known as Aaveita ja kummituksia (Ghosts and Ghoulies) and broadcast by MTV3.[5]
Home media[edit]
All three seasons have been issued on DVD in the US (CBS/Paramount, region 1, later repackaged and reissued as "The Complete Series"), Germany (CBS/Paramount, region 2) and Australia (Umbrella Entertainment, region 4). The first season has also been issued as a Spanish bootleg DVD set (Resen,[6] regions 1-6).
Awards and nominations[edit]
Friday the 13th: The Series was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 1988 and 1989 for Visual and Graphic Effects.[7] The series won two silver plaques in Chicago for the episodes Scarlet Cinema and The Sweetest Sting. In 1990 the series was nominated by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films as Best Series. The series was nominated twelve times for writing, editing, directing, production design, acting, sound and music by the Gemini Awards in Canada.[8]
Influence[edit]
There is a popular rumor that the last episode was to unite the movie and television franchises by having the final item recovered be the hockey mask belonging to Jason Voorhees. This remains unfounded and while there was talk about having a hockey mask on one of the sets as an in-joke,[9] there was never any serious intention to mix the film series into the television series.[10]
The series, about a group of individuals rooting out evil supernatural occurrences, created a mold into which many later series fit. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and The X-Files all have many episodes which revolve around the team recovering cursed artifacts. The 2009 Syfy original series Warehouse 13 has been accused of "borrowing" much from Friday the 13th: The Series.[11][12][13] The show stars two agents, Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) and Peter Lattimer (Eddie McClintock), led by older, wiser Arthur "Artie" Nielsen (Saul Rubinek) as they collect artifacts, powerful items which are "imbued with human energy" and have supernatural powers. These artifacts are stored in the warehouse, safely hidden from both the public and those who would make use of the artifacts for evil or selfish purposes. However, the artifacts featured in the Warehouse 13 series are not evil by nature nor cursed, do not require a human sacrifice in order for them to function, and can be destroyed.