A Geeky Viewpoint

No one was really surprised yesterday when the brass at ABC Television renewed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a third season; however it was a different story when Agent Carter was renewed for a second season. 

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. being renewed for a third season usually guarantees that the show will be renewed for a fourth season, the statistic is like 95% of shows that get a third season get a fourth season as well, and typically a third season also indicates a fifth season.   Again the statistic on broadcast TV is above 75%, cable is a different story.    An example of this phenomenon is when ABC renewed Nashville for a fourth season even though its numbers dropped considerably in season 3.

Agent Carter

Agent Carter getting renewed was a surprise too many as the show greatly underperformed as far as a broadcast TV shows go and continued to lose audience share as the 8 part series progressed.   The show starring Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter in the early days of the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR), a precursor to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Marvel Universe.   A show that underperformed and is getting renewed is a decent indicator that change is coming to the format of the show, expect to hear more on the changes in the next week as ABC announces it TV lineup on Tuesday May 12th.

Mockingbird and Agent Hunter

The news for Marvel TV shows was not all good, the proposed spinoff of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. starring Adrianna Palicki (Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird) and Nick Blood (Lance Hunter) has been dropped for at least this season.   Word has it that while ABC is interested in the giving the duo their own show the brass at ABC was very worried what removing two popular characters from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would do to that shows audience.
  
The second Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff, which is being helmed by John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, American Crime) is still being worked upon but with American Crime being renewed for a second season it muddies the waters on how much work can be done on that show.

Season 1 Cast

With the success of ABC Studios / Netflix Daredevil one must wonder what changes are coming to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for next season.  Does Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. move into the cursed 10 EST /9 Central time slot and take a darker tone, moving from TV-PG to TV-14 certificate (similar to Movie Ratings) to become more gritty.   Will the show focus on the secondary Super Heroes and their interaction with S.H.I.E.L.D. leading up to Captain America: Civil War will more MCU stars make an appearance on the show?  Will the show get a bigger budget for special effects?   How will the show focus on Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter, what about Skye?


On a side note I am disappointed in ABC for not renewing Forever starring Ioan Gruffield (Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four: Rise fo the Silver Surfer) as a supernatural Medical Examiner in New York with a unique form of immortality.  For the record I was disappointed when Fox cancelled Amsterdam a show with a similar premise.   With two similar procedure shows (Castle, Elementry) renewed for next season it appears that ABC was concerned that there was no way to raise the ratings for the Warner Brothers Studio production.   Early indicators are suggesting that other outlets maybe interested in the show. 

No word on Fox's X-Men TV series, however with the issues on the license for the IP I don't expect to hear anything.