Title: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Network - Day - Time: ABC - Tuesday - 7 PMCT
Brief Plot Synopsis: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. takes place sometime after The Avenger's movie that ABC is assuming everyone on the planet saw (a fair assumption). Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), who was presumed dead at the end of The Avengers, is alive and well and has been charged with putting together a crack-team of super heroes under the name of Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division AKA S.H.I.E.L.D. to work together to fight the baddies.
So Is It a Joss Whedon Thing Or Not? Totally! It's filled with wacky one-liners out of the mouths of people who roundhouse their enemies in the face, Whedon's trademark. Plus, his old cronies Gun and Book show up, and the set looks exactly like the inside of Firefly.
New Idea or Retread? S.H.I.E.L.D. has been a Marvel staple since the '60s. Starting under the leadership of Nick Fury, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were comprised of humans and sub-humans, put together to kick ass and take names. S.H.I.E.L.D. has shown up in various Marvel animated and live action TV shows, but this is the first time they've starred in their own small screen gig. There was, however, a 1998 movie about Nick Fury starring David Hasselhoff; it was glorious.
Who's The Audience? Superhero fans, Whedon fans, Marvel fans, girls who pretend to like comic books to get dudes to like them, anyone who's ever donned cosplay in earnest.
Will You Watch It Again? Hell yeah! As is Whedon's way, the audience is already introduced to the characters' quirkiness right off the bat. Similar to why Avengers was so good, there is a really nice mix of excitement, suspense, snark and Clark Gregg is just so darn delightful in his rad flying car.
I think the key to this show will be to blend Marvel-ness with strong character development and good story line. And they need to keep busting out the really cool toys.
Odds Of Lasting the Season: 100 percent. Comics are hot, and since the success of The Avengers, Whedon can do no wrong, plus there's a nice mix of explosions and intelligence.
