Elm Street: The One Horror Franchise We NEED On Television

Recently it was announced that Mike Flanagan would be adapting Carrie for television. And I’m sure most of us are aware of the development hell that Crystal Lake (the Friday the 13th series) has been through, losing its showrunner amidst rumors of mismanagement. And we were very sad to see the Chucky series get canceled after three seasons. But it’s hard out there in the land of television and horror franchises haven’t exactly fared well there. Several years ago, Fox brought us The Exorcist TV series which had an incredible first season, fell off in the second, and was abruptly canceled.

The concept of a girl being possessed by a demon and saved by priests seems like a story that could theoretically work on television. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that slashers do not tend to make for good television. Sure, we’ve seen shows like Scream and Slasher come along to somewhat success, but the subgenre based around murder just doesn’t lend itself to the format. It’s the same issue that slashers have when they get sequels. Most slashers take place in a very short period of time and have very similar structure. Taking place over one to three days to allow a killer to stalk some victims, kill them one by one, and a final girl to save the day in the end. There tends to be a mystery element, meaning there’s a lot to keep hidden to last a whole 8-10 episodes. Suspension of disbelief gets harder and harder the more time passes. The lack of police involvement becomes more noticeable. I’d point to Ryan Murphy shows that add such convoluted plotlines to stretch out a season.

It’s why every time we hear about the Friday the 13th series, it’s some strange backstory about Pamela or a one-shot gimmick episode. Making a show about a summer camp being ravaged by a hockey mask-wearing psycho in the woods would start to feel pretty samey after a while (as much as I would absolutely fucking love it). So instead they’re focusing on the background of Pamela and Jason and seeing how they can expand upon that. Does it mean we won’t get an episode that feels like a Friday the 13th? No, but I think it’d be silly to expect more than that. And it’s why I don’t have much interest in the series. Who cares about their backstories? I want Jason killing people! At least Chucky understood the assignment.

But the more I think about it, there is one “slasher” series that would translate well to television. One that relies on its creativity over all other elements. A Nightmare On Elm Street. It’s already so high concept compared to its contemporaries and the dream element would allow for such drastically different episodes. It can either be Anthology style like the 80’s show or even just an expanded Nightmare story being put into a season. Could you imagine the story of Elm Street from the original, to Dream Warriors, past Dream Master, and concluding with Dream Child? I’m not saying do a one-to-one, more pointing out that the bones are already there for an expanded, episodic story.

And the television landscape has changed a lot since Freddy was last on TV. The Walking Dead has blown the doors off of gore on cable TV, showing that you can get pretty crazy without much censoring. Then when you include streaming services and the possibilities for creative violence get even more tantalizing. It’s also no longer a place that big stars avoid, meaning some big stars may be open to getting killed by Krueger. We’ve already seen the crossover potential with the Chucky series. Would I want it to that degree? Probably not, but I’m just trying to show how financially viable it could be for a studio. Capitalism and all that.

There are so many ways to go about it that would be interesting: a continuation of the franchise a la Chucky where various members of the Elm Street franchise can potentially appear. Alice and Jesse are still hanging around and fans love them. Heck, throw in Lori from Freddy vs Jason. Or they can even make Freddy into a woman because that would be progressive and fresh (note: this is a joke. Please don’t change Freddy’s gender. We don’t need Francesca Krueger). I don’t even think the concept of recasting Krueger will be controversial so long as they get it right. Jackie Earl Haley may not have pulled it off in the remake, but people were genuinely excited at his casting. The Elm Street fanbase is more pliable than they’re given credit for. So there are so many things you can do that would still be in line with the series at its core. And I’ll always vote for a return to the anthology format.

Really this whole article is just a plea to bring back Freddy’s Nightmares and do it right. It’s such an interesting concept that could solve the problem of putting Robert Englund behind the makeup once more. Just bring him back as an episode as some kind of Alpha Freddy. Or hell, have Englund narrate and cast someone else as Krueger (an inevitability at this point). Episodes can be drastically different as the dream/nightmares would reflect the victim. Some victims can die, and some can vanquish Krueger. It doesn’t matter because, just like the Elm Street film, we always know that Freddy will return at the start of the next one. Now just imagine it happening in 10 one-hour episodes that we can binge. That’s a dream I want to live.

What do you think? Should the Nightmare on Elm Street series be brought to television? Is the Friday the 13th series doomed? Let us know in the comments!

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