TV Revivals: What should the future hold for Dark Matter?

We’re back with our second major feature spotlight within our TV Revivals ongoing series, and this is the first year that we’ve been able to really highlight Dark Matter as an entry. Why? Well, it’s the first February that we’ve had with the show not officially on the air anymore.

Is that thought absolutely depressing? Sure, but we’ve also had some time to reflect and digest on it. This is a series that was able to do something that not many others do, and there’s something to be proud of there — it aired three great, super-inventive episodes where the integrity of its story was not micromanaged or destroyed. The writers had a chance to come up with interesting concepts and backstories for these characters, and it never felt like it was some corporate paint-by-numbers project. It was fun, emotional, and thought-provoking.

Alas, the cancellation came down last year courtesy of Syfy, who felt for a number of reasons apparently like they didn’t want to continue with the property — even though there was a devoted Raza Crew fanbase behind the show and there were an abundance of reasons to see it continue.

So where are the hopes of a revival now? We mentioned this earlier when introducing Dark Matter as a part of our series, but one of its big challenges now is that the struggle to find a new home on traditional television is tough. While we thought that the ratings were good enough to justify a renewal on Syfy, the ratings aren’t so strong that they justify another major network picking it up since they don’t know how much of the audience will jump over. There’s a confidence issue there. We’ve seen examples of shows moving to new networks that were both positive and negative. For example, Longmire had three great seasons on Netflix after it migrated over there, while Unforgettable completely tanked out after heading over to A&E after its cancellation over at CBS. We would revive Dark Matter, but we don’t have that kind of power. We’re just happy that, at least for a time, there seemed to be some interested parties after the cancellation.

The best hope for having more Dark Matter, at least for right now, may be seeing it in some other mediums down the line beyond episodic television. We don’t think that there is really all too much that has changed on the save-the-show front since the cancellation and the announcement by creator Joseph Mallozzi that despite their best efforts, they could not work out a deal anywhere else.

The beautiful thing about Dark Matter, though, is this: It’s the fans that really keep this show alive, really to the point where, even without new episodes airing, it is far from dead. There is still fanfiction, fanart, forums, and so much more great stuff out there related to the show. It still thrives in its own way, and there is still hope for more of this story as a result of it. There are times when you can rule off a show coming back in the future, whether it be terrible ratings or a sheer lack of interest from parties involved. This, at least from our personal vantage point, is not one of those cases.

Just remember this: We live in a world where Gilmore Girls, Firefly, and Veronica Mars all came back in their own way. Anything is possible.

One other interesting thing to consider here is that a win for Mallozzi or any of the cast members is a win for the fandom. If anyone moves on to another project, there’s a small piece of Dark Matter that continues to exist within the television world. Nothing ever really goes away.

Do you want to see a Dark Matter revival at some point, and what form do you want to see it in? Share below.