Friday the 13th: The Series is a television series that ran for three seasons, from October 3, 1987, to May 26, 1990, in first-run syndication. The series follows Micki (Louise Robey, simply credited as "Robey") and Ryan (John D. LeMay), cousins who inherit an antiques store; after selling all the antiques, they learn from Jack Marshak (Chris Wiggins) that the items are cursed. The trio then work together to recover the objects and return them to the safety of the shop's vault.

Originally, the series was to be titled The 13th Hour, but producer Frank Mancuso Jr. thought this would turn away viewers and instead took the name Friday the 13th to deliberately draw in audiences. Despite this title and the fact that it is officially considered a part of the franchise, the series has no story connections to the film series of the same title, as Jason Voorhees does not make an appearance, nor does any character connected to the films.

The series and the films have several cast and crew ties, however. Mancuso also produced the film series from Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) until the final installment distributed by Paramount (Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in 1989, a year before the TV series ended). LeMay went on to star in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, guest star John Shepherd played Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, and episode director David Cronenberg appeared in Jason X. Fred Mollin, Rob Hedden, and Tom McLoughlin worked behind the scenes of both series.