Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Erik Bates | October 23, 2013
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Scott Hardie | October 27, 2013
As much as I enjoyed Firefly, I don't really understand fans' oft-repeated demand for new episodes. Firstly, do they not realize that its abbreviated run was responsible at least in part for it feeling so special? Even in only a half-season's worth of episodes, the show began to reveal a creakiness that bode poorly for the future. (I thought the return of Saffron in "Trash" dragged along as a desperate attempt to create comedy out of a thin premise and uninteresting character.) And secondly, to fans' argument that Firefly would be a hit if it got a second chance: It DID get a second chance. It was a movie called Serenity. It flopped. There's no reason to think that Firefly would be a viable show today. Let's enjoy it for what it was and let Joss Whedon get on with the good work he's doing elsewhere.
Erik Bates | October 28, 2013
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Scott Hardie | October 22, 2013
Is anybody watching this show? What do you think of it?
DC has enjoyed numerous primetime TV adaptations through the CW, but Marvel is only now gearing up to create lots of superhero shows, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seems designed like a safe trial run: Expensive enough to impress but not too pricey thanks to lack of superhero special effects, a brand recognizeable enough to draw an audience but not so iconic that it would damage Marvel to fail, et cetera. As a casual fan of the Marvel brand, I wish them well. I've only seen the first episode but it's promising.
One thing does confuse me a little: Why do people regard Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a Joss Whedon show, and compare it to other Joss Whedon shows? He helped to develop it and the dialogue has some of his signature wit, but he has very little direct involvement beyond the first episode as far as I know, and furthermore, the Marvel house style nearly drowns out the Joss Whedon style. To me, the show feels about 90% Marvel, 10% Whedon in terms of whose creative influence is strongest. That's like an accomplished solo musician joining a band and losing himself in the blend; you can't really consider his records with the band alongside his solo albums because they're just so different.