2009’s Ark was a professionally produced web series that delivered the start of an interesting sci fi story, but it was sadly cut short.
What Is It?
Single mother and third-grade teacher Connie wakes up to find herself on a large spaceship traveling far away from Earth. There, she meets up with another unwilling traveler who claims to be an astronaut from the 1950s (Connie is from the present day). They begin to explore the ship when they meet a woman who appears to be an injured crew member, but they do not know for certain because she speaks a foreign language that neither of them understands. She needs them to help her with an urgent task, but they do not understand what she wants because of the language barrier. And things only get stranger from there as Connie and her new companions face more mysteries about their unexplained situation and the seemingly abandoned ship they have found themselves imprisoned upon.
Aired: 2009, One Season Totaling 9 Episodes
Cast: Renée O’Connor, Adam Cardon, Marjo-Riikka Mäkelä, Connor James
Crew: Robbie Thompson (Creator/Writer), Trey Stokes (Director)
Legacy:
This is one of many web-series that came and went in the late ’00s/early ’10s without much notice, but it did have professional production values and deserved the chance to continue on with its story.
A Closer Look:
Not to be confused with Syfy’s The Ark or Paramount+’s Ark: The Animated Series, 2009’s Ark is a web series created and written by Robbie Thompson (who has writing credits on genre shows such as Supernatural, The Cape, Human Target, and Jericho) and directed by Trey Stokes (who has professional visual effects experience and who is also known for his Star Wars parody Pink Five). And it also stars former Xena: Warrior Princess co-lead Renee O’ Connor. The series was produced by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah in conjunction with 60Frames Studio (a company that his since gone under) on a budget of around $50k (actually quite a hefty amount for a web series at that time) with the hopes that it would continue as an online serial or that it might make the jump to television like Amanda Tapping’s Sanctuary.
All of this amounts to a rather enjoyable and at times impressive sci fi web series that might best be described as Lost meets The Starlost. It started to develop an interesting mystery and the characters definitely had some depth to them. Its special effects and sets give it an authentic feel, and it uses some green screen effects like those found in the Sanctuary web series and television show. And while these slip into cheesy territory at times (as you would expect from a web series), that does not detract too much from overall the production. The acting is quite good, though I had some difficulty believing that the astronaut character was really from the ’50s. His mannerisms and colloquialisms seemed a bit too modern day, but then that may also be part of the mystery the show was developing. In addition, Connie is way too badass for a third grade teacher, but then as the series progresses we get the suggestion that there may be more to her than what we see. All of the nit-picking aside, though, the series has a more professional look and feel than many of the web series from that time and it gets the story off to a very promising start.
The first season runs nine episodes of varying lengths from three minutes to nine. It sets up the premise, but provides little resolution as it ends on a major cliffhanger. It delivered an interesting enough story that could have carried on through multiple seasons, but sadly that did not happen (more on that below). It is still worth seeking out, though, as a good example of a well-produced independent web series that demonstrated the potential that format offers.
Cancelled To Soon?
Yes. The hope was that Ark would follow the same path as Sanctuary and make the jump to television, or at least continue on as a web series. But it was ignored by execs at the broadcast networks and cable channels, and there were not good revenue models to sustain a web series for multiple seasons at the time it came out. 60Frames closed down shortly after the first season was produced, but Sachs/Judah Productions still owned the property as of an interview given back in 2010. I assume they shopped it around and found no buyers (the streaming services were still a few years away from entering the scripted originals game), and the show never continued beyond its first season.
Should It Be Rebooted?
I had originally thought that Syfy’s The Ark was a reboot of this web series, but that went in a very different direction (and is not nearly as good). I would love to see a revival of 2009’s Ark because Renée O’Connor and Adam Cardon did a good job in the lead roles. But seeing as fifteen years have passed, that seems unlikely. The show had a good premise, though, and perhaps a reboot would be the best way to bring it back. In the current television landscape, the streaming services are looking to keep costs down, and if a reboot/revival of Ark could be produced on a moderate budget, it just might draw some interest. It may have to go through a name change seeing as there are two other genre properties out there right now with “Ark” in the name, but I would certainly like to see Thompson and Stokes take another stab at this one.
Interesting Facts:
The scenes in the spaceship were filmed in an abandoned set from the Firefly series.
The idea for the series started as a planned graphic novel series by Robbie Thompson, but that apparently never happened. Whether he will revisit that idea at some point as a way of telling the full story remains to be seen.
Where Can You Watch It?
For a while, the full first season was available for streaming on Hulu, but it has since left that service. It never received a DVD release, and I cannot currently find it streaming anywhere, even on YouTube (apart from the clip above). If you know where the series is currently available, please provide the information in the comments below.
Read More About the Show:
If you produced an independent sci fi/fantasy web series during the 2000s and/or 2010s, please contact us at cultscifi.com@gmail.com with the information about the show. Or if you know of productions from that time, please pass along that information as I am working on a project documenting the rise and fall of this format.
