Original 'Friday The 13th: The Series' A Separate Entity Or Part Of The Franchise?
One of the biggest let downs of this writer's following of the Friday The 13th franchise was when it was announced in the late 1980's that there would be a new television series titled Friday The 13th: The Series. There was so much excitement and anticipation on what could be brought to a weekly series with Jason Voorhees that I was beaming at the possibilities. The problem, of course, was that is was later revealed that there would be no Jason Voorhees or Crystal Lake in the television show at all and it was only associated with the franchise by production crew and name only.
This seem to split a lot of people's feelings about the show right from the start, however, the concept of the show (which had members of an antique shop collecting possessed items that were sold by the shop's previous owner) was very intriguing to genre fans. After the first season was completed in syndication, a huge fan-base had been created and the show had definite popularity. Outside of the show's concept being a hit, the fact that it brandished the name Friday The 13th was a huge marketing tool for Producer Frank Mancuso Jr., who championed the Friday The 13th films through the 1980's.
Mr. Mancuso's involvement in the television series, along with the backing of Paramount studios and the inclusion of Fred Mollin for the musical composition (He scored The New Blood and Jason Takes Manhattan), truly gave the feeling that the television series and the film franchise were one in the same. In fact, show star John D. Lemay would eventually go onto star in New Line Cinema's first foray into the film franchise a few years later with Jason Goes To Hell.
There has been a reluctance from myself to include anything from the television series within the pages of information found on this website, as I feel that it really holds to relevance to the true franchise. This website is dedicated to the canon created with Crystal Lake and the Voorhees family within the films, and not the offshoot television series that had nothing to do with the films whatsoever. Is this the wrong approach? To this point, I do not think so.
With that being said, Friday The 13th: The Series was a unique idea and had a nice short run in syndication, but one has to wonder if it would have survived the couple of seasons on air that it did if the show did not hold the Friday The 13th name? The question has to be asked, does the show deserve to be included as part of the Friday The 13th franchise? With a new Friday The 13th television show on the horizon, that will include the town of Crystal Lake and the Voorhees family, will the Curious Goods clan ever truly be excepted as part of the history of the Friday The 13th franchise?
This seem to split a lot of people's feelings about the show right from the start, however, the concept of the show (which had members of an antique shop collecting possessed items that were sold by the shop's previous owner) was very intriguing to genre fans. After the first season was completed in syndication, a huge fan-base had been created and the show had definite popularity. Outside of the show's concept being a hit, the fact that it brandished the name Friday The 13th was a huge marketing tool for Producer Frank Mancuso Jr., who championed the Friday The 13th films through the 1980's.
Mr. Mancuso's involvement in the television series, along with the backing of Paramount studios and the inclusion of Fred Mollin for the musical composition (He scored The New Blood and Jason Takes Manhattan), truly gave the feeling that the television series and the film franchise were one in the same. In fact, show star John D. Lemay would eventually go onto star in New Line Cinema's first foray into the film franchise a few years later with Jason Goes To Hell.
There has been a reluctance from myself to include anything from the television series within the pages of information found on this website, as I feel that it really holds to relevance to the true franchise. This website is dedicated to the canon created with Crystal Lake and the Voorhees family within the films, and not the offshoot television series that had nothing to do with the films whatsoever. Is this the wrong approach? To this point, I do not think so.
With that being said, Friday The 13th: The Series was a unique idea and had a nice short run in syndication, but one has to wonder if it would have survived the couple of seasons on air that it did if the show did not hold the Friday The 13th name? The question has to be asked, does the show deserve to be included as part of the Friday The 13th franchise? With a new Friday The 13th television show on the horizon, that will include the town of Crystal Lake and the Voorhees family, will the Curious Goods clan ever truly be excepted as part of the history of the Friday The 13th franchise?
