TV SERIES · 1987– · CANADA
Friday the 13th: The Series
25 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (25)
- #001
Despite sharing the same title, Friday the 13th: The Series is not connected to the Friday the 13th film series. The main characters track down cursed magical objects sold from their uncle's store. Reportedly, the final object the characters were to retrieve in the series finale would have been a hockey mask, undoubtedly Jason Voorhees's. Although the show's team joked about the idea of wearing a hockey mask in one episode, there was never any serious intention of linking the film series to the television series.
- #002
Filming took place in Canada, and although the exterior of the "Curious Goods" antique store is in Toronto, the series' events are meant to take place in Chicago.
- #003
Each season consisted of 26 episodes. However, due to the show's abrupt cancellation, the third season was left unfinished. During filming of the twentieth episode of the third season, which serves as the series finale, the cast and crew were informed about the show's end. The cancellation was so sudden that they could not shoot more episodes or more scenes to provide some kind of closure.
- #004
The third season premiere initially aired as a two-hour TV movie. In syndicated reruns, the episode is split into two separate episodes. Although John D. LeMay wanted to leave the series after the second season, he made a deal with the producers to appear in the third season premiere so that the show could resolve Ryan's story.
- #005
Louise Robey (always credited as Robey) was the cast member who appeared in most episodes of the series. A total of 70 episodes were produced, and she appeared as Micki Foster in nearly all of them: she is absent from "Wax Magic (1988)" and "The Butcher (1989)," both of which are in the second season.
- #006
The original plan is said to have been to end the series after five seasons. The series finale would have had Marshal discover a spell capable of reversing the curse on the objects collected throughout the series.
- #007
Uncle Lewis's name is Lewis Vendredi. His surname is the French word for Friday.
- #008
Rashid was a friend of Jack's with extensive occult knowledge, and he appeared in the first season finale and the second season premiere. The original intention in the stories was to add Rashid to the regular cast in the second season. The producers eventually abandoned this plan when they decided that Rashid would not fit with the other three leads and that his background and knowledge of the supernatural realm would not be accepted by viewers.
- #009
Although John D. LeMay is the only main cast member of the series who later appeared in one of the Friday the 13th films, John Shepherd played Tommy Jarvis in the fifth film of the film series and later appeared as a police officer in the series episode "Baron's Bride."
- #010
Episodes were directed by Atom Egoyan, David Winning and David Cronenberg. Jennifer Lynch also wrote one. Guest stars included Sarah Polley, Fritz Weaver, Colm Feore, Ray Walston, Keye Luke, Carrie Snodgress, Gordon Pinsent, Robert Ito and Vanity.
- #011
Before the series was cancelled, there were plans for the fourth season to introduce a secret society of paranormal investigators who would make contact with the three main characters. Miguel Fernandes, who first appeared in the first season, was to be cast as one of the investigators' leaders.
- #012
Ryan and Micki do not meet until the series premiere. It was also established that neither of them had met Uncle Lewis in person. Since Lewis never left a will, Micki and Ryan inherited the antique shop simply because they were his closest relatives.
- #013
Over the series' three-year run, it was common for many actors to appear in multiple episodes as different characters. An actor who played a main character in one first-season episode could reappear in later seasons as a supporting character.
- #014
Lewis's deal with the Devil gave him immortality and great wealth in exchange for selling cursed antiques. In The Inheritance (1987), when he suffered a momentary crisis of conscience and refused to sell a baby to a young girl named Sarah Polley, he broke the deal and lost his soul.
- #015
The fictional address of the "Curious Goods" store is supposed to be 666 Druid Avenue.
- #016
Ryan sometimes wears Illinois State University shirts, a nod to the school his actor, John D. LeMay, attended and graduated from.
- #017
Louise Robey's manager sent her to audition for the series, but she was not very interested. She thought it was another sequel to a Jason film, which made her feel her career had hit a new low. She arrived very late, and only the casting assistant was left. The assistant had her read. To Robey's surprise, she was invited back the next day to meet the producers. They were so impressed that they moved her to the top of the list. At that point Robey learned what the series was about and suddenly became very interested. They cast her shortly after. Unfortunately, it did not help her career. Afterwards she appeared in an erotic thriller and never played another role again.
- #018
Giving her character a very exotic look was Louise Robey's idea. She told Femme Fatales magazine: "I made her quite over the top with her hair and makeup. I wanted her to have long nails, and whatever my problem was, the nails and lips would match. It was a defense for her."
- #019
The character Johnny Ventura appeared occasionally in the second season and helped the leads in some of their searches for antiques. He also appeared as a guest star in the third season premiere, essentially serving as a bridge between the series' two eras (before and after John D. LeMay's departure). After the third season premiere, actor Steven Monarque became a full-time regular and appeared in the opening credits. John thus replaced Ryan as the third member investigating the cursed objects.
- #020
Denis Forest appeared in the series four times as a villain. Colin Fox and Neil Munro each appeared three times as villains. Jack Duffy appeared twice.
- #021
Micki and Ryan were cousins by marriage.
- #022
Micki is short for Michelle.
- #023
The original VHS released in Australia by CIC Video carried an R18+ rating.
- #024
Because of budget constraints, every episode had a tight 10-day production schedule.
- #025
According to co-creator Larry B. Williams, he wanted to establish a connection to Jason Voorhees, so he came up with the idea of showing, at the start of each episode, the front of the store and the other forty pieces of junk they owned, along with a hockey mask hanging from a string, slowly turning and glinting. However, it was not corporatized out of fear that they would have to acquire additional rights and pay for the use of the Jason character.
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