It sounds as if the ‘Friday the 13th‘ television series is getting closer to happening though fans of the franchise might not end up thinking this is a good thing. We first heard rumors of this television series based on the franchise almost a year ago with the show being described as a contemporary revision focusing on the eclectic characters of Crystal Lake who are forced to confront the return of the killer, as new secrets about his wacky family are revealed.

That sounded as if it was a straight forward continuation from the ideas that made the movies so popular over the years. The perfect plan that could work great to springboard the series into something fun. So of course the plan is being changed. The description above? Well, director of the original film and series producer Sean Cunningham was at the Monster-Mania convention and brought up three important pieces of information.

First up is that the series will still be taking place at Crystal Lake but at a “real” Crystal Lake which will be a physical town that inspired the movies with its gruesome murders. It will start by showing how the town had dealt with the murders and most likely the films over the years. Think along the lines of the sequels to ‘Scream‘ and the ‘Blair Witch Project.’

Speaking of ‘Scream,’ just like the upcoming MTV version that doesn’t feature Ghostface, this won’t have Jason as the central killer. Just as in our world, he will be a fictional character in the television version. Instead of Jason, we’re going to focus on the murderer who inspired the character. Cunningham describes him as a “more serious backwoods inspired killer” who may or may not be wearing a hockey mask. I have a feeling that this way of introducing the killer may have mixed responses. While I’m not totally against the thought what I am against is the last piece of information I have to share with you.

The network that is looking to pickup the series? The CW. This is where any interest pretty much drops off for me. While I don’t mind The CW doing super heroes in any form, I don’t feel that horror is a good fit for the network. Of course this could be part of a larger paradigm shift of the network trying to keep the interest of its older viewers as they already have pilots in the works for both ‘Tales from the Darkside‘ and ‘Cheerleader Death Squad.’

I won’t completely rule out checking ‘Friday the 13th’ out when it airs if it does land on The CW. However, I’ll have some pretty strong reservations until they start showing us more of what to expect from the series.

What are your thoughts on a ‘Friday the 13th’ series not having Jason as the killer? Do you think think is a creative way to work something new into the story? Finally could you see The CW pulling off a slasher series or will its younger audience tendencies get in the way? Share your thoughts below!

Source: Cinema Blend