What happened with Dark Matter? Recently, co-creator Joseph Mallozzi explained why Syfy cancelled the TV show after three seasons.
The sci-fi drama follows the crew of a derelict spaceship who awake with no memory of who they are or how they got on board. Still, they must work together to survive a threatening voyage charged with vengeance, betrayal, and plenty of secrets. The cast includes Marc Bendavid, Melissa O’Neil, Anthony Lemke, Alex Mallari Jr, Jodelle Ferland, Roger Cross, and Zoie Palmer.
Recently, Mallozzi addressed Dark Matter‘s cancellation on Reddit, saying Syfy‘s LA division did not support the series from the beginning. Read the entire post below:
It irritates me too. Especially because I had a five season plan going in complete with character and story arcs (which is why we were always able to set-up and pay off so much as the show went along). But, since you asked, this is what went down…
When we were first pitching the show, the pilot script went to Syfy’s Acquisition division in New York. They picked up the show. But as it turns out, the script had also been sent to Syfy’s Originals division in L.A. – who hated it and passed. And when they found out that the Acquisitions department in NY had picked up a project they had passed on, I heard they were decidedly Unhappy.
Then the show premiered and outperformed most of their originals. Which, from what I heard, really didn’t sit well with Syfy L.A.
Fast-forward three years later and our point person in New York left to go to Netflix. As a result, we didn’t have a champion in our corner anymore. Even though we were the network’s third-most watched show, I heard that not one executive stepped up for us. And, well, Syfy L.A. were never really fans – so we were cancelled. Without so much as a press release or a thank you. We went back at them and asked for the opportunity to offer fans a conclusion, even simply in the form of a two hour movie. They never even answered the email.”
What do you think? Are you a fan of Dark Matter? Would you have watched a fourth season?
This is the last time I will watch a ScyFy series. They care nothing big about the fans. This was their 3rd highest rated show, yet they let their little internal corporate tantrum take precedence over their viewers. I am tired of the network sucking us in to shows with such promise, and then blowing off their viewers. I may be only one of them, and Lord knows they probably couldn’t give a damn, but they have lost this viewer for good
I’m sad to see SyFy not keeping the good shows in favor of shows I’ll never watch.
What shows exactly did the LA Division keep or bring to the table better than Dark Matter? I’m really curious if the division is making good television or wet nursing some really worthless TV?
SyFy does this all the time! This is the 3rd show I’ve been sucked into only to have the rug pulled right out from under me . What about Defiance? And Dominion? Does SyFy have issues with shows that start with “D”?!?!
Beyond disappointed… disgusted!!!
Sincerely hope that Netflix picks it up.