At the beginning of the year I wrote a post about how disappointed I was with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Today, I am here to officially eat crow. I wanted them to step their game up, and they have.
Somewhere around the 2014 mid-season start, S.H.I.E.L.D. went from boring stand-alone stories to interesting overarching elements. That made me bump this show from, "watch while cleaning," to, "eat breakfast in front of the TV."
I'm in love with the new direction of this show. No characters have changed, and many elements from the first half of the season are integral to what is going on in the back half. I am fully invested in things that I didn't initially have any interest in. Way to make me care about the show.
Just look at what a nice budget and a big studio can do with a show that was initially considered a lukewarm success. They believed in their product. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had a ton of momentum behind it when it was announced. Marvel movie tie-ins, Agent Coulson, and a chance to catch Sam Jackson on prime time TV were the key ingredients here. With a target that big, I wasn't too sure what to expect.
Initially I, along with many viewers, were unimpressed. I'm fairly certain that if this show existed as is, with zero movie tie-ins or the Marvel name brand, it would have been cancelled inside of 6 episodes. I'm so glad it wasn't. TV shows in trouble are TV shows that gets to explore themselves.
This is the fault of network TV. They want big numbers compared against shows with an existing fan base. I don't really know how network TV works, but I do know that it is an ever changing process that is a little rough at times. There are far too many shows out there that get shuffled and dropped over nothing, only to be heralded as amazing TV later in life. Firefly, Freaks and Geeks, and Life are a few that come to mind.
The other half of the equation is the viewer. Have faith people! If you see any scrap of promise in a TV program, stick with it! Hell, I hate The Walking Dead, and I still watch that show, but I still watch it just because I have such a love for the source material. I can see the potential in TWD, and I don't want to miss an episode that might be good.
In the age of DVRs, we no longer have the, "too busy to watch things I like," excuse to fall back on. My DVR is on the verge of being full every 2 days. So suck it up and watch some TV, or don't watch any at all. Just don't make excuses as to why you're not on the up and up, just because you're afraid to watch something you might not like. If I thought that way, I wouldn't know that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has become a pretty great show. Producers of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I'm sorry for doubting you, keep up the good work. Can't wait for next week.
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