I am thinking about starting the killjoys or dark matter, but before I do can someone tell me if either show has the production value equivalent to the expanse?
Essentially, I want to make sure that I don't waste my time with a sci-fi show that's cheaply produced, acted and written.
Thanks!
From a visual perspective, The Expanse is the best looking Science Fiction show...pretty much ever. No other show on the channel is going to be able to match it there.
With regard to Killjoys, I'd say it's very different to The Expanse both visually and tonally. It's more campy, goofy and fun, as opposed to the dark, almost noir tone of The Expanse.
It also has nowhere near as much emphasis on "hard science."
That being said, it does have decently written characters with decently written arcs and beats. And it's not "cheaply produced," for the record. I'm pretty sure it costs quite a bit.
As for the acting, it's pretty good. Everyone rises to the material they're given, and a lot of my enjoyment of the show rests on the great chemistry between the cast.
Hope that answered your question.
Oh, and I don't watch Dark Matter, so I can't comment on that.
Thanks, that's EXACTLY what I needed to know, cheers!
shareI would say Code's description of Killjoys vs Expanse is spot on. I would also say it applies the same to Dark Matter, but DM is more serious (not as "campy") than Killjoys.
I must admit that for the first season of both, I liked DM but not KJ. After the second season KJ has now "caught up" for me to DM.
"the world's smartest man poses no more threat to me than does its smartest termite." -Dr. Manhattan
I was about to say the same thing... ;-) I think they're pretty much on a par. I didn't warm to Killjoys quite as quickly, but by the time I was mid way through season one, I was warming to it as much as DM.
shareThis. Couldn't have said it better myself. It does tend more towards camp; it's a fun show and a good way to kill an hour.
Mayor of Peepeepants City
Both Killjoys and Dark Matter are excellent popcorn television. If you watched Lost Girl or Defiance, odds are you'd probably enjoy one or both of them.
shareNeither is "cheap" from a budget standpoint. As for the looks it might depend on what you consider to be cheap. Killjoys has a lot of location filming so they aren't always confined to a ship, but some people might find the film style and look to be "cheap".
Dark Matter is mostly studio filming and the action takes a lot of time on the main ship. The sets are what I would consider average. Some people might think of it for being super cheap since it is all done mostly in studio. There is some location filming it just doesn't seem to be done as often as on Killjoys.
"Snag it, Bag it, Tag it!" ~ WAREHOUSE 13
Advice - don't watch Dark Matter if you like good acting. There are a few good actors there but the scripts and direction are the usual SyFy trash.
shareI actually found the acting of the lead on Killjoys to be horrible compared to DM, some of the dialogues in KJ which try to be funny or badass just fails terribly and feels very out of character and forced.
I also liked Dark matters characters more since it has much more character development than Killjoys does due to its plot device and the acting is not cringeworthy. KJ tries to develop characters, does something big for a character and then just forgets about it like nothing happened and that also makes the storyline very lopsided (no real plot device like DM or expanse).
DM also has a more space theme compared to KJ.
Visually, Expanse>KJ>=DM ("hyper drive" in DM is fricking worse than firefly which is 10+years old lol). DM has better onset than KJ. Both of them isn't as dark as Expanse though, but still not as goofy (fun?) as say firefly. More on the lines of Serenity.
So far I'd rate Expanse 9/10, DM 7.5/10 and KJ 6.5/10.
Looking forward to Expanse season 2 and DM season 3, will most likely not bother with KJ anymore (watched the 2 seasons).
I'm in the minority that doesn't seem to like Dark Matter. I only made it like 5 episodes in. I can't remeber exactly. The cast didn't do it for me and the mystery behind it all just felt played out to me. So many shows are trying to copy that to me since the days of Lost. I can only get strung along so lucky no now with just being frustrated. Lol.
Anyway, I love The Expanse and 12 Monkeys. I think the 2 season of 12 monkeys started rough but I felt it got better as it went along. I also really love Killjoys and mainly for the characters. I feel since it's a smaller cast you fall in love with them more easily and I'm easily amused by quippy one liners. Im not ashamed to admit that. Plus in a small way way it reminds me of Firefly with the ship and different planets and moons.
Expanse is far better than DM or KJ. Expanse is still low budget but the sets are excellent and it is pretty well acted, and gets huge points for depicting space travel realistically. The politics are realistic as well.
KJ is about like Sharknado or Sharktopus. It is terrible on almost every level, but it is somehow watchable. The dialog is horrid and cringeworthy, the acting seems like improv, really bad improv, the story is not compelling, the music is inappropriate and terrible and is there 100% of the time, the sex scenes are too numerous and extremely boring somehow, and the setting is absurd (it's a feudal monarchy).
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I loved dark matter but then started disliking it. So I should opted watching and started with Killjoys which I absolutely adore!
My two fave syfy shows at the moment are Killjoys and 12 monkeys.
Killjoys is good TV as is Dark Matter. The tone of each show is different but they are both entertaining.
I repeat the positive comments made by other posters above.
"I care about the law. It's justice I don't give a toss about." Cleaver Greene