It’s hard to believe that 5 years ago today, Dark Matter premiered. At that time, it had been eight years in the making, born from an idea I had while working on Stargate: Atlantis, its backstory and arcs developed over many, then, finally, green lit and launched for the small screen. It was a great, all too brief, three season run, cut short before its proper end. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to finish our story, but here’s hoping that someday we’ll get that chance!
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So, what made you tune in for the first time?
Happy Dark Matter to you, stars, production company, SYFY, and to all my fellow Dark Matter Fans
Happy Dark Matter Day, Joe. Damn I miss this show.
Will Wheaton mentioned somewhere, long before I read it, that he was doing a guest role on a show being shot in Toronto. Then it popped up on my Netflix recommendations while I was travelling in the US and I was hooked immediately. (Then I had to wait seemingly forever to be able to watch the rest of season one on Netflix in Canada.)
I heard that the writers and producers were fairly talented, but I was skeptical. It turned out not so bad, after all! 😉
I live for the day we get Season 4!!!
Being in on Dark Matter from the earliest of it’s beginnings because of your openness is what made it so much fun to watch. Then the show, story, and stars took over and kept me loving it and got me hooked.
Zoie Palmer
“So, what made you tune in for the first time?”
I have been following your blog and read a lot of your tease. I’m always curious to embrace new sci-fi series … I remember at that time I just came off watching the Continuum series by Simon Barry and was in search for another series to watch.
It was completely because of you. Loved SG1 & SGA so when I saw this was a new show from you and was based on the mis-adventures of a kick-ass crew with no memories stuck on a bad-ass ship it was a no brainer. I was hooked halfway through the very first episode and, to me, each episode was better than the last. It was you doing what you did best, an episodic space opera with plenty of action sprinkled with brief moments of utter comedy, normally provided buy Three & Android (not forgetting the lovely Five), populated with characters (played by wonderfully talented actors) who, as a fan you can not help but become emotionally invested. This was exactly what you did with SG1 & SGA, thats a mark of genius in my eyes.
What made me tune in for the first time?
“Created by Joseph Mallozzi, former executive producer ans writer on Stargate Universe”
Was looking for a SciFi show that I had not seen yet and was hooked after the first episode. What a storyline, cast, and crew. Very much hoping that some SMART network will realize what a goldmine the show is and resurrect it.
What made me tune in?
I saw a teaser for a new show from one of the guys behind Stargate … thought I’d give it a go.
Watching the show – the dialogue got me. The verbal sparring and interplay. The sass. Spaceships and pew-pew clinched it.
Just loved Dark Matter! Miss this show so much. Such a disappointment it didn’t get its end run and still hoping it will happen. Great cast! Great characters! Great storyline! Funny & exciting. What made me tune in for the first time? The intriguing trailer for a space sci-fi show with characters waking up from cryo sleep and no memories and by the writers of Stargate. What more could you ask? Totally hooked from the first minute. I’m still sad whenever I see it mentioned because I miss not getting a full run. One of my favorite shows ever!
Easy, the premise! A bunch of numbers waking up not knowing who they were? It’s all about the hook, isn’t it!
I would also add that if DM had been allowed to finish properly, we would be congratulating you on what a spectacular series and ending it was and wishing there were more years to come. But I guess I will have to just hope that there will be more years to come in the future.
You, of course. Having been a huge fan of Stargate, I was (and am) hungry to see your next project.
Thanks for sharing the videos. The extra content you share, including concept artwork, is always appreciated so much.
What made me tune in for the first time? The fact that I heard Dark Matter was created by someone involved with writing & producing the Stargate series. Even though a new sci-fi series is exciting and rare, great ones are even more rare, so if I would not have known anything about Dark Matter, I would have read about it first to decide before watching, so I would not feel let down.
The first episode had me hooked for many of the same reasons I love all of the Stargate series, and seeing familiar actors from Stargate made it even better. Dark Matter is proof that many opportunities have been lost, by “the powers that be” preventing new Stargate movies and series from being created.
Thank You, Joe, there could never be too much Stargate.
I happened to see an ad for Dark Matter before it started airing. I tuned in for the first episode, and I was hooked immediately. It was clear by the 3rd or 4th episode that this was going to be a great series.
Dark Matter was the first time I tuned in weekly for a show in years, and I never missed an episode all three seasons. It was such good Sci Fi, and I sincerely hope that you are able to give it the ending that it deserves.
At the time I was watching Syfys Wynonna Earp. Someone made a tumblr post about some more shows that were airing at the time that also had well written female leads. Two of these were Killjoys and Dark Matter. After checking both out I quickly fell in love. For the next few years it became my holy trinity of Syfy shows. Dark Matter was the feel good found family scifi, Killjoys was also a feel good family scifi but with a bit more fun and Wynonna Earp was the wacky supernatural show. Dark Matters values just really spoke to me, the well developed characters, fun scifi and smart time travel shenanigans, the amazingly written female characters and the positive feminist writing.I love found family and the way Three, Two and Five developed was the most amazing to me. Finding out more about Two and learning that she was bi was amazing, and when we learn that she actually had a kid with her girlfriend – thanks to totally plausible future tech my mind was blown. I will miss them always and cant wait to see the story finished the way you intended. In comic or tv show form, whichever can happen. All my love to the Raza.
Thanks, now I miss the show all over again.
I was thinking… it goes back to the comic book you did for Dark Matter. That was awesome and I remember gasping and being so surprised when I turned the page and saw who the crew really were. Seeing the comic book come to life was super cool. …and all the differences between the comic book characters and the final depiction in the TV series. All very entertaining!
Me and my GF started watching partially because of you. I know about your work on SG1, Atlantis, etc and got her hooked on the franchise. We both love SF and were stoked about having another series to binge on Syfy. It sucks that the channel seems to cancel shows without giving them a chance (we were SO upset about what happened to Universe). But there are lots of fans and all sorts of media and platforms nowadays so I’d be surprised if Dark Matter doesn’t get the finale it deserves. 😉
Heard about the premise first, and then that you were associated with it. Boarded the Raza S1E1 and never looked back. Still holding my breath for more. Quarantine audio ep? 😉
Hello Joseph…
I just wanted to say thank you for this show.
I found this show completely by accident on a list of scifi shows and I was curious. I was looking for something to watch and gave it a chance. I became an aficionado after the 1st or 2nd episode. I also found out that this was about 1 month after the show was cancelled. Damn! Even though it wasn’t the most original idea, I thought the execution was very good.
While the odds are a little long, as far as I know at this moment, to continue/finish out the show, I think we should continue pressing for it. As the numbers discovering the show and joining groups, or keeping up with your blog, continue to grow, we should continue to make social media thrusts to continue to show the growing interest in this show. While it is easy for the SyFy network, and its principle execs, to cancel this show because it wasn’t created by SyFy (or SyLy as I like to call them… and I haven’t watched anything on their network since the cancelling of DM… I wasn’t before either, but I certainly wasn’t going to support them after they cancelled the only show they had that I was interested in), it only shows that they were too short sighted and cowardly to try and properly understand dark Matter and its fans, to build it into a successfully marketed franchise.
People need to realize that they have more influence than the networks want them to believe, even more so now, since the ‘money; is spread out more over many alternative networks and content outlets. It is similar in music, especially at the local level. While a local touring band could make nightly $1200 – $1500 a show at a local bar 35 years ago, the same band may settle for $600 – $1000 (if they are really good generally), before all this craziness started, because there are more local bars for people to see such bands.
If need an example from the past of the effectiveness of fandom, look at the original Battlestar Galactica. It was cancelled and there was a fan letter backlash, so much so that the network revived the show. Unfortunately, it was as Galactica ’80, but it still shows what a dedicated bunch of devoted people can do.
It may still be possible to do something more with DM, we just need to continue to let the groups grow and pick the right time and angle to approach the idea again with people whom might be able to do something about it.
Still hoping for season 4. At least a comic book version???