Welcome to our Dark Matter Production News! This is a new, and hopefully regular, feature for fans of the show. My intent is to bring you weekly (or bi-weekly, or monthly, or randomly staggered when I’m conscious) updates on what’s going on behind the scenes of one of your favorite shows. It’s my effort to help you pass the time by keeping you both excited and informed through regular behind-the-scenes updates.
Now, before you go thinking I have some kind of inside track or that I am anywhere near the actual set, please let me set the record straight – All of this information comes courtesy of Joe Mallozzi’s Weblog. Joe blogs every damned day and has been doing so since his days on Stargate SG1. He shares daily stories of goings-on at the studios and occasionally his life outside filming, which is just as entertaining. If you check his blog daily, you’ll get news and hints about Dark Matter, plus you’ll see a wonderful array of food and whiskeys which serve to round out the entire experience … and will make you hungry. Well, most of the time. Me? I’m sitting in the heat about 1500 miles south of where the show is being filmed.
We’re still about 6 months away from the season 2 premiere of Dark Matter, but production is well underway. I say “about 6 months” since no firm date has been set by Syfy just yet, so I’m going on last year’s premiere date and approximating from there. One good thing about having so much time is there should be plenty of Dark Matter Production News coming your way for quite a while.
Hyperion-8 GenPop set. (Image courtesy Joe Mallozzi)
This week, the crew continue working on episode 2 and the sets for the Hyperion-8 are a major player. As you recall, the season 1 finale had almost all of the Raza crew being hauled away, and now we know where they were being taken – SPACE PRISON! Monday saw a continuation of activity on the new, 2-story Hyperion-8 “genpop” set where I have a feeling we’ll be spending a lot of time, at least in early episodes. For the full scoop, check out Joe’s Monday blog entry.
Director Bruce McDonald hard at work while a familiar face looks on. (Image courtesy Joe Mallozzi)
Tuesday’s entry highlighted director Bruce McDonald who previously worked on season one’s Episode Seven. That was the episode where we finally saw what was behind the Big Damned Door. It also featured guest star Ruby Rose as the morally-challenged android, Wendy. And by “morally challenged” I mean batshit crazy killer robot. It also featured a wonderful turn by Natalie Brown as Sarah, Marcus “Three” Boone’s love who was suffering from a nasty case of poisoning. This gave Anthony Lemke a chance to stretch his character’s range and give us a softer side of Three. It was a wonderful episode and I can’t wait to see what Mr. McDonald brings to us in season two!
This year, we’re teased with mentions of a Stargate alum’s guest starring role as Arax Nero, a couple more guest hints, and the promise of a live on-set Periscope session! Check out Joe’s full Tuesday blog entry here.
“Do Androids Dream of Electric Teeth?” (Image courtesy Joe Mallozzi)
On Wednesday, January 6 we heard a little about everyone’s favorite android, Android. The blog entry was highlighted with the above image of Android sitting in what almost looks like a futuristic dentist’s chair. I can hear the piercing whine of that drill now, can’t you? This short entry was understandably evasive about details and heavy on teasing, which is alright by me. It was more than enough to get me stoked for the future of Zoie Palmer’s character and if you’d like to know what the heck I’m talking about, check out Joe’s Wednesday post here.
“Hair Magician” Renee Chan brings a bottle of Balvenie 12 (Image courtesy Joe Mallozzi)
Thursday saw the appearance of some media folks, lots of whiskey, and the promise of a chance to ask key “hair magician” (Joe’s words, not mine) Renee Chan and key “make-up magician” Linda McCormack some questions about their work on the show. There was also confirmation of the live, on-set Periscope session held this Saturday (January 9). Between the news and the whiskey I’m beginning to get quite excited and thirsty. For all the news and pictures, read Joe’s Thursday post here.
Sleeping on the job? (Image courtesy Joe Mallozzi)
Ahhh, Friday. Time to wind-down from the busy work week .. but not for the Dark Matter crew. As always, they started very early, at the crack of “OH HELL NO!” and worked like mad to make the magic. If you check the picture above, you’ll see at least two people (One and Five?) got some shuteye, but they were definitely in the minority. These people work so hard, I’m tired just reading about it. Read all about the day’s events at Joe’s Friday post here.
Rise & shine, Prison Pals! (Image courtesy Joe Mallozzi)
Saturday arrives with the promise of sleeping in, lazy breakfasts, and sitting around the house with no pants on, unless you happen to work on the Dark Matter set. If you’re one of those guys, you’re up before some people go to bed and you work really hard at making the show look fantastic. Apparently, you also buy Powerball tickets because $900 million dollars. Read all about it HERE.
Saturday also brought us a wonderful on-set Periscope session hosted by Joe. We got a personalized tour of the new sets plus got the chance to ask both Joe and producer/writer/director/creative consultant/all-around good guy Ivon Bartok several questions. If you missed it, you can replay the generous 16-minute virtual set visit by clicking here: Joe Mallozzi’s Saturday Dark Matter Behind-the-Scenes Live Periscope Virtual Set Visit and Q&A Session. Maybe I should’ve come up with a shorter title?
That’s it for this week, Space Kidettes! I’ll see you back here next week for another round of Dark Matter Production News. That is, if I remember to take my meds and I don’t wander out into traffic and/or get arrested. And remember, check Joe’s Weblog daily for all the scoop and follow him on Twitter (@BaronDestructo) for continuous updates and fun conversation.
For the rest of our extensive coverage of Dark Matter, CLICK HERE.
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Dark Matter will return in 2016 on Syfy
