Dark Matter Premieres On SyFy

Creator Joseph Mallozzi Shares A Few Last Minute Thoughts.

Story by David Clark

For those who do not know, the SyFy channel has made a commitment on going back to the stars. The days of Firefly, Star Trek, Stargate, and Battlestar Galactica seem like a distant memory and SyFy has decided the space epic drought has gone on long enough.

Dark Matter, premiering Friday June 12th at 10/9c is the first of many shows SyFy has planned. Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie as an adaptation of their limited run Dark Matter comic book, Dark Matter is their 10 year vision brought to life.

Most well known for their years writing and producing the Stargate universe, Mallozzi and Mullie had no idea how long the wait would be for Dark Matter to finally take a place on television programming. Revealed in an exclusive interview with Blastr, their original plan was to transition straight from Stargate into Dark Matter. Quickly they learned pitching a new and unknown intellectual property to studios was anything but a sure thing. Set back but not deterred they decided the next logical step would be to make the universe known so it would be easier to get studios on board; thus the Dark Matter comic.

The long wait has not been put to waste. Mallozzi and Mullie have taken advantage of the time to truly flesh out their vision for the universe, characters, and storyline coming into the Dark Matter television show.

When asked to describe what fans can expect during the exclusive interview Mallozzi had several thoughts. He described the show as an episodic format with serialized elements. A system that sounds very similar to those used in the Stargate universe. In addition Mallozzi intends to bring back a style of show whereby the people are not the only characters. He wants to bring the ship into the forefront of the show as an almost inanimate character to which audiences can become attached. Skeptics should not despair just yet, the names Millennium Falcon and Enterprise should give people pause who would dare laugh at the idea of growing fond of a ship.

The concept sounds intriguing but what little is known about the plot might turn people off before they turn the show on. Dark Matter initially tells the story of 6 individuals with amnesia waking up on a ship not knowing who they are, where they are, or what they are supposed to be doing. It is likely that the first season will be spent spinning character twists as one dark secret after another is revealed to fans of the show. Amnesia is, at best, an overused crutch when it comes to writing a story. Having a problem explaining a character's motivations? Give the character amnesia. Have a story breaking reveal that turns a show on upside down? Give the characters amnesia. Given how long the Dark Matter storyline has been under development it seems like a less off putting hook might have been used to open the show. Hopefully Mallozzi and Mullie are aware of the stigma behind amnesia and have developed a unique and creative way to differentiate their show from all the others.

The good news is the wait is over and the answers to many questions are soon to be revealed!

Starring: Marc Bendavid, Melissa O’Neil, Anthony Lemke, Alex Mallari Jr., Jodelle Ferland, Roger R. Cross, and Zoie Palmer Rating: IMDB has given the show an 8.7 out of 10 Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller

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Source: Blastr