Friday the 13th: The Series

Friday the 13th: The Series is a television series that ran for three seasons, from September 28, 1987 to 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 name, as Jason Voorhees does not make an appearance.

The two series have several cast and crew ties, however. The show's producer, Frank Mancuso, Jr., was also producer of the movie 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). The show's star, John D. LeMay, is also notable as he 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 (who also directed the 1986 horror feature The Fly) appeared in Jason X. Fred Mollin, Rob Hedden, and Tom McLoughlin also worked behind the scenes of both series.