Misterio para tres

Friday the 13th was one of Paramount's first entries into first-run syndication (it began the same year as Star Trek/Next Gen), and it quickly proceeded to find its late-night niche. In terms of horror and on-screen gore, it was remarkably graphic. At the same time, it maintained a strong sense of internal continuity, gave us several well-developed main characters, and after a rocky start, weekly presented an imaginative and interesting "cursed" antique. It can still be seen regularly on the Sci-Fi Channel.

The choice of "Friday the 13th" as the title for this show was probably a major downfall, as a huge number of people (myself included) tuned in to the first show of the series expecting it to be based on the low budget slasher films of the same name. Unfortunately, at that time I was so disappointed and confused to find that it had nothing at all to do with the movies, I turned it off and didn't watch it again for a couple years. (Hey, I was 12 years old)

That said, beyond the title, this was a very good TV show, and very much a predecessor to things like The X Files. It had a similar tone to a lot of the horror/oddball shows of the day (like Tales from the Crypt, Tales From the Darkside, Monsters, etc.), but was the darkest and creepiest of all of them. The main characters, cousins Ryan and Micki played by John D. LeMay and the gorgeous and buxom Louise Robey, don't have any special magic powers or any of that nonsense. In fact, they are quite often frightened themselves when they get in over their heads.

The idea of searching for cursed items and getting them back safely from unsuspecting people is a very original and clever one.

If you manage to see this at some point, look for the first three seasons before LeMay's character was killed off, as Steve Monarque isn't as good and the writing started to go a little downhill as well.

Terrific sci-fi horror stories with a campy feel. Some of the episodes are too earnest, but overall a great series. It had the "X-files" feel to it before "X" appeared (some of the plot lines from "X" are directly ripped off from this show and even the theme music is eerily similar).

Especially, if you can, watch the final episodes in which John D. LeMay appears - after he left the show kind of went downhill.

F13th: The Series was fresh--with a fresh cast and guest stars every week. The storyline where John D. LeMay left the series has me shaking my head in disbelief to this very day. I think I speak for lots of faithful fans, we were made to feel total disbelief when Ryan regressed to a 10 year old boy. The ending to LeMays' storyline did everything but tie things in a neat package. If anything, it turned lots of fans away. Steve Monarque didn't have a chance. And we can thank the execs of Friday the 13th: The Series for that.

Having said all that, I'd still watch the series from beginning to end. When it was good--it was VERY good!! Need I say more?

When I first heard the name of this series back in 1987 I refused to see it. I assumed it was just about Jason killing different people every week--but with no gore (since this WAS TV). What was the point? But I tuned in one night out of curiosity and was surprised how different it was from the movies--and how much I liked it! It was about some antique owners who have to track down antiques each week that had been sold from their store. It seems their uncle (the previous owner) had made a pact with the Devil and the antiques were cursed. Sounds silly but it really worked. There were some doses of pretty funny humor but this show concentrated on the horror. Also it was pretty gory for a TV show at that time--my station didn't show it till 11:30 at night! The acting was good...but it all started to fall apart after season 2. The main actor left and was replaced by someone who just wasn't as good--the third season was a major disappointment. I think that's what killed the show. Still it was a fun, sometimes scary and a little gory TV show. Recommended.