Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. -- Marvel meets Joss Whedon meets...TV!

Life Model Decoys are controlled by the actual person that they represent, though. They aren't autonomous, unless something really changed in the comics, up with which I have not kept.

Life Model Decoys are controlled by the actual person that they represent, though.

I don't remember this being the case in the comics.

LMDs going autonomous is a major storyline in the comic actually. there was an evil nick fury and everything.

the more recent bendis comics have done some work with humans controlling LMDs, specifically hill

anyways the LMD deus ex machina bailout gotcha was always the lamest and it's lame here too

anyways this was bad but not dire and i'm willing to be patient for about four episodes to see if they get super nerdy with continuity, write better stories or find a long form arc that might hold my attention

In Marvel's The Avengers, when Agent Coulson tries to talk to Tony Stark via phone, Tony tells him he's really talking with a Life-Model Decoy of Tony Stark, stating the possible existence of these robots in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

some good stuff in here

http://tomewing.tumblr.com/post/62410078391/my-captain-america-thesis

not ewing, quoted there:

Sonya said after reading the current Hawkeye comic that it felt like Matt Fraction sat down and was like, What would someone who chose to use a bow and arrow on combat missions be like in his daily dealings with tech and people? Agents of SHIELD S1E1 plays out like Joss Whedon sat down and was like, if Coulson really was that guy who asked himself What Would Captain America Do the way some people ask themselves WWJD?, what kind of decisions would that drive?

Just started this, and ... hrm, this show isn't so good, but boy can it potentially get so, so, so much worse, very quickly. Minus the micromanaging and budget of Hollywood ... I mean, jeepers, this ep is what they manage with Whedon's direct involvement.

A better move would have been to keep it a limited series - say, the occasional 10 eps - to air as a stopgap between feature films: answering questions, bridging/expanding the narrative, etc.

Maybe, but there's no way would they leave that cash cow so unmilked.

Well, that's a different matter, and indicator that this will get even dumber and cheaper faster.

Roads? Where we're going we don't need ... roads.

Man, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and the impression this show left was not good. I never saw "Heroes," but I bet it was better than this at first.

The general crapness of this show has real potential to devalue the Cinematic Marvel U. enormously.

In its defense, I think the opposite is true: it's crappy enough that people will recognize it as something else.

In its defense, most pilots are bad.

Ain't that the truth. But most pilots written/directed by a guy who understands the medium, respects the genre, and whose last movie and the impetus for this show made $1billion, plus who's generally regarded as one of the best TV guys of his generation, aren't usually this bad.

I dunno, I thought the Dollhouse pilot sucked too

it's stupid to judge a show by the pilot, esp when it's biggest crime was a monochromatic, smug tone - something that can easily evolve - rather than an intrinsic quality of the show (i.e. trophy wife is not actually about a trophy wife, and will likely never explain why this nice guy has two grumpy ex-wives AND a perfectly nice young one). but this is whedon's first project since becoming King Of Hollywood, so there is the possibility it will remain this stiffly cutesy.

That's sort of what I was getting at: this was a "sure thing" product from a guy at the peak of his commercial/creative powers, with a proven track record across mediums, with a built-in audience and a massive amount of good will engendered by the property that spans decades ... and this is what they came up with for the first episode? This is no mere "golly, I hope this gets picked up" gambit. This was a "wow, The Avengers made billions, we better strike while the iron is hot" thing. But this was ... not so hot. All it had to be was solid, but it was shakey.

family friendly + inclusive of people who hadn't seen movie + catering for television audience with no attention span = hot garbage

I was just thinking that as ridiculous as it got (and it should have ended much earlier), the closest in scale we've gotten to a Steranko-era SHIELD is the tv show Alias. One main character, covert spy stuff, unbelievable getaways and circumstances, mystical gadgets

keep in mind that while it's Big Names working Big Property, there's not a lot of precedent for a spin-off TV show that's supposed to work as a stand-alone and keep the irons hot for the next sequel. so there are going to be some kinks to work out - Whedon may be the god of superhero movies at the moment, but his tv shows were quirky cult things full of feels on off nights, not Big 3 procedurals. plus it sure sounds to me like they're implying agent coulson is a robot - he seems more stiff than i recalled from the movies, that whole "he can never know" bit - while it's possible the show will stay "Marvel Presents NCIS" things may get quirkier once "Marvel Presents NCIS" has been established.

keep in mind that while it's Big Names working Big Property, there's not a lot of precedent for a spin-off TV show that's supposed to work as a stand-alone and keep the irons hot for the next sequel

there is, it's just that it's often in animated form (Star Wars, Tron)

in prime time?

i'm not talking about toy selling spin-offs for kids

What do you think this show is?

it's on abc at 8pm, not disney xd

do you need me to explain how that's a different audience

true, but at the same time Law & Order doesn't usually begin with the characters looking at a toy store with actions figures of Law & Order universe characters

metaphors are real, do you see

fwiw Star Wars: Clone Wars ran in primetime, probably the reason why it scooped up primetime emmys:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Clone_Wars_(TV_series)

if anything it's the model for a tv show that exists in-continuity between movies, majority of movie tie-in shows have been just continuations of the premise of a film

I'm sorry that I didn't recognize that the Marvel comics movies are ADULT MOVIES for ADULT PEOPLE

ANT MOVIES for ANT PEOPLE

http://digboston.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Adam-Ant300.jpg

I'm gonna keep watching. Just dying for a decent sci-fi-ish show right now. I dug Contiuum (and will probably still watch it), but it's pretty goofy, with all of TEH CORPORATIONS! hand-wringing...

Decent-ish: Continuum (lol), Orphan Black, uhhh maybe some other stuff

I keep expecting Broadchurch to go all sci-fi because of Tennant and Darvill

I'm sorry that I didn't recognize that the Marvel comics movies are ADULT MOVIES for ADULT PEOPLE

the point was that there's not a lot of precedent for a prime-time network show that's supposed to tie in between previous and next parts of the one of the biggest movie franchises ever. that there have been animated spin-offs on kids networks is beside the point (also tron: uprising and clone wars are both prequels to films already released).

it's a good point

was i the only one who could barely decipher the eurotwins when they were babbling?

like, one of the main repeated plot points of every SHIELD comics series or Nick Fury plot since Steranko's era is the repeated use of life model decoys, so they're probably going to use it at some point

LMDs are the worst, if they have any sense they wont infect the movie universe with them

i thought they were gonna remake coulson as the vision which i can cosign but who knows now

while i hope they go full cape they might just have him be the smug countenance of a computer system named vision (like jarvis with attitude) but still call him coulson

http://media.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/27233/Phil%20Coulson%20evolution%20to%20Vision.jpg

it's a show built around a breakout character of a billion dollar movie and he was just super annoying in the pilot, feels like a case of joss and co losing track of what made people like him

and GOD young hot main character dude was boring

Yeah, for a show with so many characters it totally lacked character.

yep

sort of baffles me that Coulson could be seen as interesting/likeable enough to have a primetime series based around him, but you know, big box office gets folks excited.

that episode 1 ending. so bad. SO BAD.

"Where we're going, we don't need quality writing."

Funny thing is, I believe the flying car is one of the few elements pulled straight from the early SHIELD stories. They should have left it in 1966 where it belonged.

The most recent episode with the "it's all too much!" Aida breaking down was the first where I appreciated the actor's ability. Nicely done. And I do appreciate how it may take a lot of LMDzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz episodes, but there's a payoff with the tv MCU gaining a Madame Hydra. Reminded me a lot of the Cap movies working the Purge actor into Crossbones.

sidebar (spoilery?)
I'm not that sad that Mac stayed behind tbh, they've not given him a whole lot to do for a while now.
he just kinda frowns and stands around now.