So Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiered to some pretty strong numbers, what with ABC's spin pitching it success, with various sources out there stating numbers between 11M to 16M viewer counts. (Oh, and I toss out just what LOLA's license plate might mean while populating this piece with promotional images from upcoming episodes of the series.)
Those are awesome numbers for a premiere of a new series. (See the attached press release below.) Though, the last time a pack of viewers piled in to set records, that show barely made it through a second season. That show being 'V.'
But I'm worried about the show and I think, maybe, so is ABC. But please keep in mind, that regardless of what I'm about to say, I do want to see the show succeed. OK... with that said, and very very mild spoilers ensuing...
-
During the premiere episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. there were two great story lines and one of them involved the mystery behind Coulson's surviving being skewered by Loki in The Avengers.
The other one the assignment of the week.
Outside of that, this was a premiere event that acted like pretty much many other TV series premieres, as far as throwing ALL the characters out there on the table and getting them introduced.
Even if it meant delivering schlocky dialog to make them all seem cute and humorous.
No, seriously, EVERY character had to have funny, Whedon-signature quips in their dialog. And believe me, that got old before the halfway mark of the episode.
There were a few great quips, one being about the truth serum scene, where our serum victim gets shot up and starts answering questions truthfully right away, looks down at the shot and says something like, "Wow, that works fast!"
NOW that was a true Whedon-quip.
But every character needing to quip in almost every scene was getting scary. It felt forced and it felt like a creative team that didn't trust themselves or their storytelling.
Sure, the premiere numbers were great. But it's going to be up to Coulson (Clark Gregg) and May (Ming-Na Wen) to carry the plot for a while.
But the words that followed the those numbers, aside from the shills of the industry, were questionable at best. Folks I know didn't have strong feelings for or against the episode, while some felt it was just a terrible show.
The thing was, I couldn't argue them onto my side of the camp. That side being the hopeful side that this ensemble of characters will develop in such a way to make us like them and worry for them as time progresses.
That's Whedon's magic touch and his ability to wield group ensembles.
But it feels like something's up, and it isn't good.
Suddenly ABC is distributing images and plot line from the next few episodes. And that's before the week was even up. Two days after the premiere actually.
The only time I ever see a production team start to spin pics and plots is when the project isn't tracking well.
Case in point, remember the 2011 movie Sucker Punch? A few weeks before that movie opened, the web was inundated with dozens upon dozens of "behind the scenes" and alluring imagery of our cast.
A definite bad sign. Especially when some of those promo images are of the gorgeous Chloe Bennet. In a nice, pink dress.
Now this is NOT A COMPLAINT on my part, but of the 37 new images released, she made up close to half the number... 14 pics of that pink dress.
Obviously she's on an assignment to gather intel, and obviously it is going to take the alluring skills of this conspiracy blogger to net them. I guess. Don't care. nice dress!
See? The marketing is already working on me!
But all joking aside, I have faith in the process from the team of Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen. They've always done well by their fans. And sure, being a premiere episode, they chose the obvious and trite route of pouring every primary character from the story into the pilot episode. (I usually take that as a warning sign from any other production.)
But Whedon's projects always worm their way into your imagination over time and time is the one thing, I hope the Nielsen families give the show.
I mean, we HAVE to find out exactly what that mystery is behind Coulson. Don't we? I mean it's a mystery that even he can never find out about? Yep. My curiosity about that is definitely lit up.
Oh, and Lola, the car, might have a story in and of itself behind it. At least that's the tease we hear.
BTW: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Easter Egg: The license plate number of Lola is '681 PCE.' The first issue of the Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD comic title came out in 1968.
At least that's what I'm thinking it's alluding to.
In closing,
For now, I'm going to sit back and watch the series and hope it takes off. I hope they fix things fast where it comes to over-quipping dialog. And though it requires no hope, I foresee some great character stories behind each and every character. Some obvious and some so not.
Here's a link to the pilot episode
and
the press release that came out the day after the premiere:
{
The Show Premiered as TV’s Highest Rated New Drama in Nearly Four Years
On the heels of its debut as the season’s biggest new drama, ABC is set to rebroadcast the Pilot episode of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET). The show premiered as TV’s highest rated new drama in nearly four years. In addition, it received an unprecedented one million Facebook fans before its television debut, and those numbers are still climbing.
In the premiere episode, “Pilot,” it’s just after the battle of New York, and now that the existence of super heroes and aliens has become public knowledge, the world is trying to come to grips with this new reality. Agent Phil Coulson is back in action and has his eye on a mysterious group called The Rising Tide. In order to track this unseen, unknown enemy, he has assembled a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division). The group’s first assignment together as a team finds them trying to track down an ordinary man who has gained extraordinary powers, powers that could have devastating consequences.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz and Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Marvel’s first television series, was co-created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (“Dollhouse,” “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”), who also serve as executive producers along with Jeph Loeb (“Smallville,” “Lost,” “Heroes”) and Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”). “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format with a 5.1 channel surround sound. This program carries a TV-PG,V parental guideline.
}
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Follow Cinema Static on Facebook or Twitter.
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But I'm worried about the show and I think, maybe, so is ABC. But please keep in mind, that regardless of what I'm about to say, I do want to see the show succeed. OK... with that said, and very very mild spoilers ensuing...
-
During the premiere episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. there were two great story lines and one of them involved the mystery behind Coulson's surviving being skewered by Loki in The Avengers.
The other one the assignment of the week.
Outside of that, this was a premiere event that acted like pretty much many other TV series premieres, as far as throwing ALL the characters out there on the table and getting them introduced.
No, seriously, EVERY character had to have funny, Whedon-signature quips in their dialog. And believe me, that got old before the halfway mark of the episode.
NOW that was a true Whedon-quip.
But every character needing to quip in almost every scene was getting scary. It felt forced and it felt like a creative team that didn't trust themselves or their storytelling.
But the words that followed the those numbers, aside from the shills of the industry, were questionable at best. Folks I know didn't have strong feelings for or against the episode, while some felt it was just a terrible show.
The thing was, I couldn't argue them onto my side of the camp. That side being the hopeful side that this ensemble of characters will develop in such a way to make us like them and worry for them as time progresses.
That's Whedon's magic touch and his ability to wield group ensembles.
But it feels like something's up, and it isn't good.
Suddenly ABC is distributing images and plot line from the next few episodes. And that's before the week was even up. Two days after the premiere actually.
The only time I ever see a production team start to spin pics and plots is when the project isn't tracking well.
Case in point, remember the 2011 movie Sucker Punch? A few weeks before that movie opened, the web was inundated with dozens upon dozens of "behind the scenes" and alluring imagery of our cast.
Now this is NOT A COMPLAINT on my part, but of the 37 new images released, she made up close to half the number... 14 pics of that pink dress.
See? The marketing is already working on me!
But all joking aside, I have faith in the process from the team of Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen. They've always done well by their fans. And sure, being a premiere episode, they chose the obvious and trite route of pouring every primary character from the story into the pilot episode. (I usually take that as a warning sign from any other production.)
I mean, we HAVE to find out exactly what that mystery is behind Coulson. Don't we? I mean it's a mystery that even he can never find out about? Yep. My curiosity about that is definitely lit up.
Oh, and Lola, the car, might have a story in and of itself behind it. At least that's the tease we hear.
At least that's what I'm thinking it's alluding to.
In closing,
For now, I'm going to sit back and watch the series and hope it takes off. I hope they fix things fast where it comes to over-quipping dialog. And though it requires no hope, I foresee some great character stories behind each and every character. Some obvious and some so not.
Here's a link to the pilot episode
and
the press release that came out the day after the premiere:
{
The Show Premiered as TV’s Highest Rated New Drama in Nearly Four Years
On the heels of its debut as the season’s biggest new drama, ABC is set to rebroadcast the Pilot episode of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET). The show premiered as TV’s highest rated new drama in nearly four years. In addition, it received an unprecedented one million Facebook fans before its television debut, and those numbers are still climbing.
In the premiere episode, “Pilot,” it’s just after the battle of New York, and now that the existence of super heroes and aliens has become public knowledge, the world is trying to come to grips with this new reality. Agent Phil Coulson is back in action and has his eye on a mysterious group called The Rising Tide. In order to track this unseen, unknown enemy, he has assembled a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division). The group’s first assignment together as a team finds them trying to track down an ordinary man who has gained extraordinary powers, powers that could have devastating consequences.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz and Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Marvel’s first television series, was co-created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (“Dollhouse,” “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”), who also serve as executive producers along with Jeph Loeb (“Smallville,” “Lost,” “Heroes”) and Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”). “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format with a 5.1 channel surround sound. This program carries a TV-PG,V parental guideline.
}
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Follow Cinema Static on Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks!
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