Peacock is rolling out premiere dates for a few of its new and returning shows — including a Friday the 13th prequel that arrives just in time for spooky season.
NBCUniversal had a busy Monday, May 11. Besides announcing their regular NBC 2026-27 TV schedule, the company also announced several key dates for Peacock series. Among them was TVLine reporting that Crystal Lake will debut Thursday, October 15th. It’s a perfect date as Halloween is the fitting time for a show based on the iconic Friday the 13th franchise.
The show has been in the works since 2022 with various shifts in the creative process. Bryan Singer was originally attached but left and was replaced by Brad Caleb Kane. The man helped produce IT: Welcome to Derry, so he has experience crafting a TV expansion of a hit horror movie franchise. Now he takes on one of the biggest ever.
The original 1980 Friday the 13th was a landmark for the slasher genre. It’s often forgotten that the big twist is the original killer cutting up various campers and counselors of a summer camp wasn’t the hockey-masked Jason Voorhees but rather his mother, Pamela, seeking revenge for those responsible for her son’s death.
It was the second movie that pushed Jason to the forefront to craft a horror film icon with a franchise that’s since spawned nine sequels, an epic crossover with A Nightmare on Elm Street in Freddy vs. Jason, a 2009 reboot, and various video games, comics, and more. There was also a syndicated 1987-90 Friday the 13th: The Series, although that had nothing to do with the actual films.
It seemed a matter of time before the franchise returned to TV with a story that goes back to the beginning.
The show is billed as “an expanded prequel series,” not unlike Bates Motel, which served as a prequel to Psycho. Linda Cardellini will play Pamela with a supporting cast including William Catlett, Devin Kessler, Cameron Scoggins, and Gwendolyn Sundstrom with Callum Vinson playing the younger Jason.
It seems the series will focus on Jason’s original “accident,” the people who covered it up, and how Pamela lost her mind and began her bloody crusade. That will put a spin on the events of the original Friday film, although it's uncertain if this is set in the 1980s or updated for modern times.
The movies remain part of pop culture and still maintain a massive following. Bates Motel and Welcome to Derry both proved audiences can accept this sort of prequel/retelling, and the cast sounds compelling. So mark the calendars for the Halloween season to see the origins of a horror movie mainstay and a scary time for Friday the 13th fans!
Crystal Lake premieres Thursday October 15 on Peacock.
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