Everything about Dark Matter, eh?

Link: Jason Bourne meets the Sopranos in Dark Matter

From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:

Jason Bourne meets the Sopranos in Dark Matter
Joseph Mallozzi is standing on the bridge of his newest creation, an intergalactic spaceship with a mysterious past and a questionable mission.

“It’s not like anything you typically see in other science fiction shows,” he says, looking distinctly out of sync in the futuristic setting in a navy blue suit while acting as tour guide of the set in an industrial mall in Etobicoke. Continue reading.

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TV, eh? podcast episode 184 – Full of Newsy Goodness

The team is at full strength and covering a lot of breaking news in the Canadian industry, including the cancellation and return of Degrassi, Martin Sheen joining the Anne of Green Gables TV-movie, Corus’ reboot of ReBoot and Season 1 and 2 of Blackstone heading to CBC for the summer.

Also discussed: Saving Hope gets a plum spot on CTV’s fall schedule, X Company and Strange Empire are available to binge-watch on Netflix Canada and Diane and Greg recap Rogers, Shaw and Bell Media’s fall schedules.

Want to contribute to the discussion? Post links and discussion topics on our Reddit page.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

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Dark Matter launches Canada’s summer of sci-fi

Call it Canada’s summer of sci-fi. That’s certainly how it’s shaping up, with Space’s newbies Dark Matter and Killjoys and Showcase’s returning Defiance all gliding across our screens for the upcoming couple of months.

The first out of the gate is Dark Matter, a space opera created by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, the duo behind the Stargate franchise. Starring Anthony Lemke (19-2), Roger Cross (Continuum) and Zoie Palmer (Lost Girl), Friday’s debut catches up with a group of people who awaken from a deep sleep to find themselves on a space ship and with no memory of how they got there … or who they are. The idea for Dark Matter first came to Mallozzi back when he and Mullie were deeply entrenched in Stargate: Atlantis; they turned the idea into a graphic novel first before shopping it to networks as a series.

Mollozzi is quick to highlight a feature of Dark Matter that kept him enthralled in projects like Farscape and Firefly: humour.

“There is a lot of dark sci-fi out there that is great,” he explains. “But a lot of fans are missing a fun sci-fi series and there hasn’t been one on a ship-based show for awhile. We set out to make a fun show with a sense of humour while at the same time putting viewers on the edge of their seat every week.”

Space

It doesn’t take long for either of those plot points to appear in Friday’s debut. After awakening from sleep, the crew—One (Marc Bendavid, Bitten), Two (O’Neil, Broadway’s Les Misérables), Three (Lemke), Four (Alex Mallari Jr., Robocop), Five (Jodelle Ferland, The Cabin in the Woods) and Six (Cross)—begin to investigate their surroundings. Three is a sarcastic lover of weaponry who likes to shoot first and ask questions later, a rogue Mallozzi likens to Han Solo, Five is energetic and full of snark and One provides the leadership the squad so badly needs. The ragtag group uncover a seventh individual aboard: the ship’s android (Palmer), who makes a memorable first impression.

Who are they? Where are they? Where are they going and what the heck is locked behind a massive steel door in the bowels of the ship? The answer to the first question is delivered by the end of the debut while leaving things open for character evolution.

“Going back over my writing over the years is this idea of redemption,” Mallozzi says. “Nature vs. nurture. Are you born bad or are you a product of your environment? People form the strongest of friendships with their former enemies and the strongest of enemies with their former friends. It’s fascinating to me.”

As for what’s lurking behind that massive door? Mallozzi promises that will be resolved halfway through the season.

“We’re not going to string you guys along,” he says with a laugh. “There are setups and payoffs along the way. We’re going to find out the answers to two mysteries this season: who wiped their memories and what is behind that big metal door.”

Let the summer of sci-fi commence.

Dark Matter airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on Space.

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Link: Dark Matter shines a light on humanity

From Michael Idato of the Sydney Morning Herald:

‘Dark Matter’ shines a light on humanity
As the science fiction genre has become more earthbound, with shows such as Defiance and The 100 taking the traditional space opera framework and crashing it into the ground, the new series Dark Matter attempts, somewhat ambitiously, to relaunch the genre into orbit. The series, created by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, explores the story of six individuals who wake up on a spacecraft with no memory of their past. Continue reading.

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