The Friday the 13th television series that ran from 1987 to 1990, ending after three seasons and a total of seventy-two episodes, is largely ignored by the fan base of the FRIDAY THE 13TH film franchise. Many fans of the movies rejected it as soon as they realized that it had nothing to do with the Jason Voorhees mythos. The show's producer, Frank Mancuso, Jr., who also produced FRIDAY THE 13TH parts 2 through 8, had simply given the title to the show to draw in viewers.
Instead of dealing with Jason and Camp Crystal Lake, the series told this story:
Lewis Vendredi made a deal with the devil to sell cursed antiques, but he broke the pact, and it cost him his soul. His niece, Micki, and her cousin, Ryan, inherited the antique store, and with it, the curse. Now they must get everything back — and the real terror begins.
Covering all bases, the documentary CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES did devote a segment to the series, like the book of the same name devoted a chapter to it, giving it more attention than most FRIDAY THE 13TH fans would have.
Friday the 13th: The Series is really going to get its time in the spotlight now, though. BearManor Media has released a retrospective book that is entirely about the show – Curious Goods: Behind the Scenes of Friday the 13th: The Series, written by Alyse Wax.
In the first-ever examination of the TV series, author Alyse Wax delves into the series episode-by-episode, with more than sixty exclusive interviews with the cast, writers, directors, and producers, as well as nearly fifty never published behind-the-scenes photos from the cast and crew’s personal collections.
Interviews include series creator Frank Mancuso Jr.; series stars Louise Robey, John LeMay, and Steve Monarque; notable guest stars including Elias Zarou, Kate Trotter, Wayne Best, Barclay Hope, Angelo Rizacos, Monika Schnarre, and Ingrid Veninger; directors and production crew including Jim Henshaw, Marc Scott Zicree, Tim Bond, William Taub, Francis Delia, Armand Mastroianni, Rob Hedden, Tom McLoughlin, and Atom Egoyan.
Sounds like this will be a definite "must buy" for fans of the show, those who were able to overcome the title fake-out and enjoy it for what it was. The coverage in CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES was nice, but it sounds like Wax has gone all-out for her examination of the series.
I'm not sure I have ever watched a full episode of the show, as I was one of those fans who turned it off as soon as I realized it wasn't going to give me what I wanted from something called "Friday the 13th". The release of this book is making me think that it might be about time that I give Friday the 13th: The Series a fair shot. All three seasons are available on DVD, so… why not?
Curious Goods: Behind the Scenes of Friday the 13th: The Series can be purchased on Amazon at this link.