TV News: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

tazmaniak

ABC has ordered a pilot for Marvel's Joss Whedon developed series, S.H.I.E.L.D.

Deadline

Production on the potential series, which we only learned of a month ago, will start immediately. The pilot will be written by Whedon, his brother Jed and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen.

dubbat138

I can see a show like this doing good. Plus it will be nice to have a drama on tv that isn't based around doctors,lawyers or cops.

random73

http://superherohype.com/news/articles/172437-joss-whedons-shield-comes-to-abc

We all knew this was coming down the pipe but still exciting as hell.

Matt

This can't succeed unless Lisa Renna & Hasselhoff are in it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joZODFleOaA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

M

David_D

Amalgamated.

JCB

This show needs Jessica Jones, for no reason.

WetRats

Happy Dance!

random73

Thanks @David_D

bitsofbrainlint

C'mon Rats....does Happy Dance even BEGIN to cover it?!?!?!?!

WetRats

bitsofbrainlint said:

C'mon Rats....does Happy Dance even BEGIN to cover it?!?!?!?!

You've clearly never seen my happy dance. Snoopy takes notes. Calvin & Hobbes stare in slackjawed awe.

Mr_Cosmic

So a whole tv show about Captain America's shield?? Oh yes, sounds reeeaaal exciting ;)

bitsofbrainlint

And paramedics are put on alert if you start a conga line . . .

matchkitJOHN

I am guessing they will take on lower level threats. Will Sam Jackson be in it? He's the director of SHIELD. A new Agent Hill?

JohnathanConstantine

But what will be the main focus of the story, random bad guys or big bass? Which characters would you have in it? Would Sam Jackson drop by every so often for a cameo? Would we see shield characters like jasper Sitwell, the countess and dum dum?

JohnathanConstantine

Matt said:

This can't succeed unless Lisa Renna & Hasselhoff are in it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joZODFleOaA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

M

I quite liked that pilot, but it is a few years since I saw it

Matt

I have to admit, although this does sound like a great idea, I am very skeptical about it. Will it be SHIELD without Fury (ie Jackson) in it? What about Maria Hill (Smulders)? What about some of the other SHIELD members we've seen? To me, this needs to be done right with these characters and not some "special taskforce" or "LA Branch" angle. It needs to fit nicely into the movie universe and not be its own thing.

M

WetRats

matchkitJOHN said:

I am guessing they will take on lower level threats. Will Sam Jackson be in it? He's the director of SHIELD. A new Agent Hill?

I bet he'll be in the pilot.

WetRats

Seems to me a procedural format (networks *love* procedurals) centered on a field team is the most likely. (Think NCIS)

Stories would deal with lower-scale villains and the occasional new hero recruitment, with a running subplot involving Hydra or A.I.M. or the like.

Honestly, @Matt, some sort of LA Office setup wouldn't surprise me at all. TV budgets being what they are.

bats00

WetRats said:

Seems to me a procedural format (networks *love* procedurals) centered on a field team is the most likely. (Think NCIS)

Stories would deal with lower-scale villains and the occasional new hero recruitment, with a running subplot involving Hydra or A.I.M. or the like.

Honestly, @Matt, some sort of LA Office setup wouldn't surprise me at all. TV budgets being what they are.

That's pretty much what I assume it would be as well. We might get the occasional Agent Hill or even Nick Fury guest star during sweeps, but it will probably focus on one SHIELD office or division.

random73

Cobie Smulders is a TV kid. i'd be happy with her starring as Hill and connceting the show to the movies.

Matt

Truthfully, then I'm already out. It sounds like a Smallville twist to a cop show. Unless story arcs fit into the plot of upcoming movies, I feel like its a way to retool a show cliche to appeal to comic fans.

I feel like this & Arrow are just the way to misdirect & bandwagon onto the comic trend.

M

random73

Matt said:

Truthfully, then I'm already out. It sounds like a Smallville twist to a cop show. Unless story arcs fit into the plot of upcoming movies, I feel like its a way to retool a show cliche to appeal to comic fans.

I feel like this & Arrow are just the way to misdirect & bandwagon onto the comic trend.

M

pessimist.

WetRats

@Matt, what would you have the show be?

Give me your "elevator pitch"

random73

talking about SHIELD seperatly from Arrow I might be able to share your concern if it was not connected to Joss and if the Marvel Cinematic Universe did not have such a strong track record going in. as it stands they have a lot a credibility and general good will on their side going in to it.

WetRats

Regarding Arrow following the Smallville model: makes perfect sense to me. Smallville ran for what seemed like a million seasons and developed a fanbase independent from the traditional comic book base. Why in the world wouldn't Warner provide a new show for that market?

Warner's goal for Arrow, and Disney's goal for S.H.I.E.L.D. is to tap into the Dark Knight/Avengers audience on a weekly basis*, not to service the diehard comics fan. We're not a big enough market by ourselves to be worth the trouble.

If you only want your TV to be just like the comics, be like @Matt, and just walk away now, because you'll only be disappointed.

*On a TV budget.

Matt

random73 said:

Matt said:

Truthfully, then I'm already out. It sounds like a Smallville twist to a cop show. Unless story arcs fit into the plot of upcoming movies, I feel like its a way to retool a show cliche to appeal to comic fans.

I feel like this & Arrow are just the way to misdirect & bandwagon onto the comic trend.

M

pessimist.

I'm a detective, I'm supposed to be pessimistic, skeptical, & not believe in coincidence!

Plus, as someone who uses misdirection a lot, you learn to recognize it.

M

random73

so we agree. you're a pessimist. :D

Matt

WetRats said:

@Matt, what would you have the show be?

Give me your "elevator pitch"

It would be more TV movie/mini-series format with the same actors. Each would follow or immediately precede a Marvel movie. Each one released would tie into the Marvel movie with a sub arc leading into Avengers 2.

Bryan thought there should've been less character intro in Avengers? Than slowly introduce elements through the SHIELD series.

M

WetRats

Matt said:

WetRats said:

@Matt, what would you have the show be?

Give me your "elevator pitch"

It would be more TV movie/mini-series format with the same actors. Each would follow or immediately precede a Marvel movie. Each one released would tie into the Marvel movie with a sub arc leading into Avengers 2.

Bryan thought there should've been less character intro in Avengers? Than slowly introduce elements through the SHIELD series.

M

That couldn't work as a weekly series. (Which is what the network wants.)

Even if they were willing to budge on the weekly format, there's no way they could afford the cast.


The elevator's half-way down, got a backup pitch?

Matt

WetRats said:

Regarding Arrow following the Smallville model: makes perfect sense to me. Smallville ran for what seemed like a million seasons and developed a fanbase independent from the traditional comic book base. Why in the world wouldn't Warner provide a new show for that market?

Warner's goal for Arrow, and Disney's goal for S.H.I.E.L.D. is to tap into the Dark Knight/Avengers audience on a weekly basis*, not to service the diehard comics fan. We're not a big enough market by ourselves to be worth the trouble.

If you only want your TV to be just like the comics, be like @Matt, and just walk away now, because you'll only be disappointed.

*On a TV budget.

It's for the other thread, but Arrow looks too much to be Batman Begin. Like in Smallville, GA seemed to be written more for Bruce Wayne then Oliver Queen. Plus, if you are using source material, than use it; Starling City? Laurel (instead of Dinah)?

For SHIELD, I'd rather it be done right or not at all, rather than 1/2 assed with a NCIS type premise.

If Star Wars was still in the middle of a 9 movie story & Lucas put out a TV series about new Rebel characters who spend most of the time handling adventures on Tattooine with either no appearance, cameo appearances, or archival movie footage of main characters, would you still watch it? Especially if their adventures have nothing to do with the plot of forthcoming movies?

Young Indiana Jones worked because it was a prequel series. Had it not been canceled, it was going to introduce elements for the plot of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Oh, and comics drove me from the source material. Misshot TV series would drive me back to the floppies.

M

WetRats

@Matt, it's nice that your job hasn't crushed your idealism.

I doubt any comic-based TV series from Warner or Disney is gonna live up to your standards.

Regarding your Star Wars example, my favorite Star Wars novels & comics were about Rogue Squadron, which barely acknowledged the main characters. Screw a bunch of glory-grabbing Jedi, give me stories of the working stiffs of the Rebellion!