Everything Action Theater: Friday the 13th: The Series

Debuting in 1987 in syndication, Friday the 13th: The Series actually had nothing to do with Camp Crystal Lake and Jason Voorhees, instead focusing on a collection of cursed objects that have to be found and collected before they cause their current owners some horrific downfall.  The objects originate at an antique store owned by Lewis Vendredi (R.G. Armstrong) who made a deal with the Devil to sell the cursed objects in exchange for wealth, power, and immortality.  Lewis eventually tries to break the deal but ends up getting killed and sent to Hell.  His niece Micki (Louise Robey) and her cousin Ryan (John D, LeMay) inherit the shop and inadvertently start selling the cursed objects but an old friend of Lewis, Jack Marshak (Chris Wiggins) tells the cousins the truth about the objects and works with them to try and reclaim them all to keep them safely locked away.  Each episode focuses on a new cursed object and it’s evil, magic powers that are effecting the current owner and the cousins’ quest to reclaim it or destroy it.  The show was originally called The 13th Hour but the show’s Frank Mancusco Jr., who was also a producer on the Friday the 13th movies, had them change the title to Friday the 13th: The Series to try and draw in fans of the movies.  Despite lacking any story or character connections to the main movie series, John D. LeMay eventually starred in Jason Goes to Hell and there were other behind the scenes as well.  The show also featured an episode directed by the legendary David Cronenberg.  You can watch the first episode of the series, “The Inheritance” below thanks to YouTube.