May 9, 1980: “Friday the 13th” Premieres

May 9, 1980: Friday the 13th premieres, beginning a horror film franchise. Since the camp staff are clearly getting Camp Crystal Lake ready for the Summer, the events must have taken place on April 13, 1979. The only other Friday the 13th that year was in July, well into the Summer.

Spoiler Alert: It's easy to forget that, in the 1st movie, the killer was not, as originally alleged, Jason Voorhees, but his mother, Pamela (played by Betsy Palmer). Of course, once she's dispatched, then the corpse of Jason rises out of the lake and takes his revenge.

The camp scenes were filmed at Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, in Hardwick, Warren County. This is a rural part of western New Jersey that can very easily be called "East Pennsyltucky." The real camp is still in operation.

The Blairstown Diner on New Jersey Route 94 also had a scene filmed there for this movie. That diner was used for another horror movie in 2006, Plasterhead.

Ari Lehman played Jason. He later formed a hard-rock band named First Jason. The film was successful enough to spawn a franchise, and it went on and on: As with other horror franchises, quality didn't matter, because enough of the fans would come out so that the film would make a profit, no matter how little was spent on good writing, good casting, good lighting, etc.

Jason was played by Steven Dash and Warrington Gillette in Friday the 13th Part 2 in 1981, Richard Brooker in Friday the 13th Part III in 1982, Ted White in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter in 1984, Tom Morga in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning in 1985, Thom Mathews in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives in 1986.

Kane Hodder played Jason in the next 4 films: Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood in 1988, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in 1989, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday in 1993, and Jason X (sending the character into space, where he's found in the 25th Century) in 2001. Hodder also played Leatherface in Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III in 1990, and appeared in the House, Alligator, Ghoulies, Pumpkinhead, Scanners, Best of the Best, Children of the Corn, Hitman and Hatchet franchises.

As is so often the case, people debate "Who Would Win?" As in, who would win a fight between Pop Culture Character A and Character B. Who would win between Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger of the Nightmare On Elm Street films? In 2003, Freddy vs. Jason was made, and they fought each other on each's home turf, both Springwood, Ohio (the former, played, as usual, by Robert Englund) and Camp Crystal Lake (the latter, played by Ken Kirzinger).

Back before he was "canceled," Bill Cosby told of being scared by the Frankenstein Monster and the Mummy as a kid, but realizing, as an adult, they were the slowest monsters ever; so, in his mind, anybody caught by them deserved to die. Jason is slow. There should be no way he could beat Freddy. But, in Freddy vs. Jason, he wins by taking his axe and cutting Freddy's head off. But, as he's walking off at the end, carrying the head, Englund gives the screen a wink, as if to suggest, "I've been killed before, and I've always come back, and I will again."

Like all horror franchises do when they run out of ideas, Friday the 13th got a reboot. It came in 2009, with Jason played by Derek Mears. It flopped, and, as of 2022, it remains the most recent film in the series.

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May 9, 1980 was a Friday -- but not a Friday the 13th. It was a day of death, though: The Sunshine Skyway Disaster occurred in Tampa. I have a separate entry for that event.

Football was out of season. The NBA and Stanley Cup Playoffs were both underway, although no games were played on this day. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. Ron Guidry outpitched Jerry Koosman. Bob Watson went 2-for-4 with a home run and 5 RBIs.

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Craig Swan outpitched Steve Rogers. Lee Mazzilli doubled home a run in the 3rd inning, and Steve Henderson singled a run home in the 5th.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. 

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. George Brett went 1-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Johnny Bench went 1-for-4 with a walk. Pete Rose went 1-for-4 against his former team, and Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a groundout. Robin Yount went 2-for-4. Paul Molitor went 1-for-5.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 15-7 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Richie Zisk hit a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 4-3 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Willie Stargell only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and drew a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 6-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Each team scored a run in the 9th. In the top of the 10th, Jason Thompson hit a home run to give the Tigers the win.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* And the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays were rained out at the Oakland Coliseum. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 22. The Jays won the opener, 6-2. The A's won the nightcap, 5-1. Over the 2 games, rookie Rickey Henderson went 2-for-5 with 2 walks, 2 stolen bases and an RBI.