Retro Friday: Happy “Friday the 13th”

Straight from the vaults of the T Dog Media TV Hall Of Shame (or more specifically, YouTube):

A true TV… um, “horror”: In honor of Friday the 13th, let’s celebrate by watching the opening theme of this forgotten 1987-90 weekly syndicated television series of the same name that had nothing to do with the movie of the same name. Instead of Jason with his mask, you have a bunch of antiques that went nuts every week. Lots of bad acting and bad writing in this gem – not to mention series co-star John D. LeMay being replaced at the end of the second season with… some other guy.

When stations moved Friday from its late-night time slots to weekly early fringe (afternoon) and prime access (early evening) time slots, national spots for the horror-and-violent-themed Friday went from blue-chip advertising to low-rent direct marketing ads (e.g. 1-800 numbers) and stations who carried the show had trouble attracting local advertising. Combined with a ratings drop in its third (1989-90) season, Paramount pulled the plug on Friday the 13th.

By comparison, Paramount’s other syndicated fall 1987 entry – Star Trek: The Next Generation, grew its ratings throughout its run and was ranked among the top syndicated shows by its seventh and final season (1993-94).