A well-earned congratulations to the cast, crew and fandom of The Expanse. Your pluck and perseverance paid off in the form of a fourth season pick-up courtesy of sci-fi fan Jeff Bezos at Amazon. Enjoy the ride!
On the heels of the announcement, many Dark Matter fans are wondering why Amazon doesn’t pick up a fourth season of their favorite show too. Well, while it’s technically possible, the odds are stacked against us for the following reasons…
1 – Unlike The Expanse, Dark Matter was never considered a marquee show and, as such, never received the warm critical reception or celebrity endorsements that really bring attention to a show…and any post-cancellation campaign. We were, admittedly, a budget-challenged production (delivering at roughly less than one-third the production budget of Syfy’s big sci-fi originals), but made up for it in heart and humor. It’s one of the big reasons why, while our fans loved us, we remained off the mainstream radar.
2 – From what I understand, Amazon had the second window streaming rights to The Expanse. By green lighting a fourth season, they will essentially be expanding their existing library. In the case of Dark Matter, however, the scenario was slightly more complicated as it was Netflix that owned those second window streaming rights worldwide. In a best case scenario, they would have picked us up. When they didn’t, we faced an uphill challenge attempting to sell the show to another streaming platform (ie. Amazon) given that they would be picking up a fourth season without the streaming rights to the first three.
3 – Timing is everything, especially when it comes to standing sets. Unlike The Expanse, Dark Matter’s sets were struck months ago. A green light would require us to rebuild. Not impossible given the fact we have all of the plans filed away, but extra costs would be incurred.
4 – Finally, there’s the issue of cast availability. Since the cancellation, the former cast members have been very busy and, even in the miraculous event we were to get a fourth season pick-up, there’s no guarantee we could get everyone back – and I couldn’t imagine continuing the adventure without the whole family onboard.
Having said all that, I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel just yet. I firmly believe that so long as the fanbase is out there clamoring for more, there will always be hope. In my mind, the best case scenario would be a page out of the Farscape playbook. That show’s trajectory was very similar to Dark Matter‘s – cancelled by Syfy on a cliffhanger at the top of its game – yet its fandom never gave up. Farscape fans hung in there, remained loyal and loud, and they were eventually rewarded with a mini-series, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars.
The odds are admittedly stacked against us, but we’ve faced even longer and won. Like that time we first faced off against Ferrous Corp on that mining planet. Or that time Wendy the robot tried to fly us into a sun? Or that time we were captured by the Galactic Authority and locked up in the Hyperion-8 Maximum Security Galactic Detention Facility? Or that time we were caught in the destruction of EOS-7? Or that time TWO was infected by an alien, THREE was whisked away by Alt. Portia, the Android was taken off-line, SIX seemingly sacrificed himself, and FIVE was left in command of The Raza in the company of two unlikely allies: Ryo Ishida and Wexler?
All we need is faith, focus, determination…and an online campaign dedicated to targeting Jeff Bezos and Amazon.
though happy for Expanse its sad and disappointing for Dark Matter
Let’s us fans know how we can take up the fight! Thank you for not throwing in the towel!
Thanks, I was pretty sure second viewing rights might be the major glitch keeping us from Amazon, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to gift a set of seasons 1-3 to Jeff Bezos. Maybe if he tries it, he’ll like it? I also understand struck sets/ rebuild cost. Ugh. That’s a financial hurdle for sure. Third, we want the cast to keep working, so the longer we go the more crazy their calendars and committments get. Its not just cast it’s crew. Still. I like to think someday they can be brought together. Hope springs eternal.
On Sat, May 26, 2018, 1:55 PM Josephmallozzi’s Weblog wrote:
> Joseph Mallozzi posted: ” A well-earned congratulations to the cast, crew > and fandom of The Expanse. Your pluck and perseverance paid off in the > form of a fourth season pick-up courtesy of sci-fi fan Jeff Bezos at > Amazon. Enjoy the ride! On the heels of the announcement, ma” >
We’re with you all the way! Let me know how I can help. Twitter, pressure, scripts, just say the word.
Joe I had a quick question. Damian Kindler’s Sanctuary used RED camera and a lot of CGI and virtually no physical set. Would this be a possibility for WHEN Dark Matter is put back into production??
Thanks for clarifying things. Just feel so useless when I hear The Expanse has found a home (good for them, truly happy for their fans) and Netflix doesn’t seem to be interested in our beloved Dark Matter.
I was at my archery club today and the conversation was buzzing about The Expanse being saved and hoping it meant Dark Matter will be next to be revived. There are loads of Dark Matter fans who aren’t on Twitter, Facebook and who only watch shows on catch up/demand/streaming. I wish channel executives would realise this.
I will keep hoping that one day we will get to see our Raza crew story finally told.
PS Meant to add, thanks for all you do for us – the Season 4 .1 Tweetstory. It was brilliant to read/imagine. Really appreciated it.Thank you.
Mini series wouldn’t be bad.
Dark Matter should have been considered a marquee show – though I was aware that it wasn’t – especially as it was presented and put on in the summer without much fanfare – but it both deserved and still deserves that status and its fans consider it as such – and, in addition to not giving up no matter the odds, we should always present it as a top production with the values, issues and all the things that make it up. Maybe SYFY didn’t present it or think of it as a marquee show but it is and I think it was beginning to be recognized as such; and if Amazon or anyone else might somehow someday pick it up, it will be in part because they will recognize its value – my opinion. And, my recollection of reviews is that they got better and better each year and Dark Matter was coming into its own and getting recognition at the very time that SYFY was so incredibly unfairly dumping it.
Congrats to The Expanse, but…
*sighs*
Only one thing to say. I just love your never give up attitude. Ever thought about a podcast to radioplay what you presently have? Just an idea.
Very happy to hear that The Expanse was picked up. But it’s still a bitter pill to swallow, because there’s no reason that Dark Matter couldn’t have been too. The worst part about all this is that it’s almost June. It’s when I start getting that Dark Matter itch, knowing that a new season is right around the corner. Except that this year, there won’t be.
You know I’m behind you all the way Joe, as is Rita. We have faith for Dark Matter and Stargate. The Expanse has proven (as Farscape did years ago) that it *can* be done. It’s just a matter of timing. Sometimes it works right away (The Expanse) and sometimes it takes longer (Farscape). But anything is possible.
I know it sounds like sour grapes, but SyFy has a well documented history of dropping fairly successful shows at the drop of a hat. We all know the Dark Matter stats, thanks Joe!, and there is no doubt that the numbers alone should have supported another season. Plus, the ratio of normal,watch every week fans, to DM’s active,get off the couch and fight for your show fans is extremely high. In other words, our fans are worth 4 normal, ” I like the show” fans.
I’ve read where SyFy is actually taking a hit with its Expanse cancellation. In the past every time they cancel a show fans predicatively swear off the channel. That lasts until they start to promote another show that we all want to see. Apparently though, the Expanse cancellation has cut with a sharper knife and dug deeper than normal. They may not have the sense to realize it yet, (they really are pretty thick) but this one might actually hurt them in ways they haven’t considered.
My point being, it might be a good time to make another run at them. SyFy needs some good will with genre fans. Where else can they find as many quality fans as they could with DM fans? No where, IMO!
Just a thought!
After thinking of it more I think a DM continuation is possible .
-Get all the legals stuff fixed and
-Get a Streaming contributor.
-Rebuild the Set.
-Re hired the cast ..For the ones that are unavailable ,write a script to reenter them when they will be free (permanently or partial)
-Cast new actor/ress
-Run for FIVE new Seasons
=========>> Set Sails 🙂
Some coordination between former Dark Matter cast members and Amazon would be a must if getting it relaunched could be pulled off.
Maybe a ‘continuation’ of DM beyond the original would make former members and Amazon happy.
BTW, Streaming rights didn’t slow Paramount down with regards to Star Trek.
You are really missing out dropping dark matter it was one of the better New Vision Syfy shows that I’ve seen in awhile it rates up there with valerian excellent sci-fi if you haven’t seen valerian you should
The cast had a way of interacting together that made me feel like family kind of miss episodes I want it back or do I have to do is sell my first born son?
Happy for The Expanse. Hopeful for DM
But What? … Wha??!
No new pictures of our sweet Lulu today?
Owch! That’s just harsh, old man!
I’m beyond crushed. 🙁
As a fan of the Expanse, I’m really happy.
As a fan of Dark Matter, I appreciate your tenacity and optimism, your “luminous” vision.
Dark Matter accomplished something different. The light tone, the chemistry between actors/characters, the pacing of the story. I really miss this series.
A mini-series would be great news.
A friend of mine brought back some Kit-Kats from Tokyo. It reminded me of your video. They are … special. Now that I have tasted them, I have to watch it again 😉
Sounds like they need to put pressure on Netflix.
Thank you Joe for not giving up. Dark Matter was a special show to so many of us. Keep fighting and your fans will be behind you all the way. Thank you for the little taste of season 4. What ever campaign you set up we are you you.
I love Dark Matter. Coming off the Expanse win, LET’S DO THIS THING!!! The Expanse campaign was ground-up and fan-based with cast/crew support. Start tweeting, start FB-ing. If Fans of DM aren’t online, they MUST be! Round ’em up, get ’em movin’. One of the cast of The Expanse joined Twitter in mid-May. Many of the fans from the FB groups joined Twitter for the express purpose of following that cast member so she’d start to build a base. Just because someone isn’t on social media doesn’t mean they can’t be, they just have to be motivated to be online.
Find the catch phrases, dream up the attention grabbing stunts and get a high profile cast member to Tweet until his/her fingers fall off. One of the “stunts” was to put a model of the Roci in the stratosphere…DONE! Get the cast/crew to Tweet and FB to keep the buzz going in the fan base. The Expanse campaign is the model.
The intervening months are a problem… people have to work and once folks are released they go to work finding work. But not impossible IF the fan base does the work of proving to Netflix or Amazon that there IS a fan base. In the case of The Expanse, watching live was key. Not possible with Dark Matter, but streaming and purchasing DVDs is possible. It can be done.
Honestly, I’d kinda given up. After seeing the three Gates come to an abrupt close, I just guessed that once Syfy close the door, there’s not much chance of it re-opening. Once you told us that Netflix had passed, I figured that was probably the end of the road.
Sure, I’d LOVE to see more, but I’d be equally as content with a few more of those Twitter-sodes. Those were fun.. .. You might need to get artistic with the pics, though. Maybe the crew of the Raza could end up on earth again, in a future episode, and spend time eating fried chicken?
I care not WHO takes hold of the reins of the 4th season of Dark Matter but it would be ESSENTIAL to have the availability of the original cast. However, there has been good news with a summary of the 1st episode of season 4.
Please keep them coming.
Joseph
Let’s do an ICO to produce a trilogy movie series. (Initial Coin Offerering)
/In/denisoneil
Connect up with me.
Denis
Great show was is inovated original and will look forward to another season
So what do you need us to do to help, can you be specific?
I really , really enjoyed every episode of Dark Matter. Where can I join the fight ? Or make a donation ? Or cast a vote ? Email me and tell me.
I love that show. Bring it back. Please
Bring Dark Matter BACK!!!!!!!
I love Dark Matter, like Farscape and V (original series) before it, and as a fan I will yell, scream and fight to see Dark Matter picked up for another season (or mini-series) by Amazon, Netflix, Freeform or whoever! Best of luck to you and the crew of the Raza!!
I would love to help in any way. This show caught my interest quickly and was heart broken when it ended abruptly. I’m a Live Streamer over at Twitch.tv/Farrell___ who entertains with content. An Inspired Writer and a Self Proclaimed Actor. For business inquiries please do not hesitate to mail me at farrell2544@hotmail.com
Also, if there’s a donation link somewhere, I would be happy to donate to revive this show.
I’m so glad to hear you aren’t ready to give up. I mean it doesn’t matter when the show continues (if it continues) so I don’t feel like getting all the actors back would be too much of an issue as you could negotiate with said actors to find the best time to start filming when they’d mostly be available. If you had to replace some actors with others then I wouldn’t be too sad since at least we’d have the show back. I sure hope you can get in touch with Jeff Bezos and pitch the idea at least. Send him the entire series to watch, and I’m certain he’ll want to revive it. Hell i’ll grab my hammer and power drill if those sets need to be rebuilt!
Just wanted to take this opportunity to say again what a great show Dark Matter was. The choices SyFy makes have baffled me, and none more than this. Many thanks for your efforts to keep the show alive. If a follow up like The Peacekeeper Wars could happen that would be awesome. I hope the original cast would be on board. They were all amazing.
Well it seems the Sy-fy channel is canceling the bulk of its Sci-fi shows. How ironic.
Ok, I have an idea to save dark matter. What if we merge that universe with Firefly. That way we could mobilize both fan bases and maybe get things done. I always thought of Dark Matter as a spiritual successor to Firefly, and given they both exist in similar universes, wouldn’t be a stretch to say that on the other side of the season 3 cliffhanger they popped into firefly’s universe.
P.S. sorry for using the word universe in almost every sentence, usually try to avoid that kind of thing but far to tired to reword it. But I guess not too tired to spend probably more time to apologize and explain it. Oh, dang, I think this explanation is getting bigger than my actual post. Quick! Someone slap my phone out of my han…
YES!!! Please continue to try no matter what the odds are. The Exspanse is really good, but Dark Matter was great – along the lines of Firefly and other legendary shows wrongly cancelled before their time. Good luck getting the Band back together. I and all the fans will be there for you. Always!!!
Love the show and glad you keeping giving the fans updates.
Being a huge fan of both Dark Matter and The Expanse i’m very happy that the latter will keep on going and i’m up for a fight so that Dark Matter can continue its story on Amazon or any other streaming service / channel. Just let us know what we can do.
SyFy seem to have a history of cancelling fan favourites. How are they still going?
syfy can better be called “the cancellation channel” because which amoeba brained idiot manages to cancel Farscape, Stargate Universe, Dark Matter and The Expanse, and let the utter crap go on, all 4 the very best in TV show sci-fi, Dark Matter deserves to be told to the end, which means a full season 4 and 5, now that The Expanse has been picked up something should and can be done for Dark Matter, take the rights away from the cancellation channel and give them to anybody who wants…. and of course with the full original crew if possible, they did the characters the best ! we all should rally and not give up ! bring Dark Matter BACK !
Congrats to The Expanse fans. I’m all in for a campaign for Dark Matter when the time is right (i.e., contracts expire, etc.)
Appreciate the time and energy you have put into your blog. Honestly, I learned of Dark Matter on Netflix in July 2018. Needless to say, I have finished all three seasons and read 4.01- 4.05. A bit of a struggle. I mean, I signed a petition to try to get the show back. Around 77,000 signatures on it already, and it looks like many are jumping aboard. I understand the mountains you face to produce seasons 4 and 5, but it simply needs to be done. Not sure what you can do, … but I’m certain the entire crew would agree the series must complete. Well, howbeit.
Thanks, Jeremy. Here’s hoping that, someday, we do get the chance to finish our story and reward the fans who tuned in and helped make Dark Matter one of Syfy’s most watched shows.