8 Good TV Shows One Crippling Flaw Away From Being Awesome

7. Agents Of SHIELD Overplayed Its Hand, Set Up As Clear B-Show In MCU

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is an ambitious project, and I must admit that it got me excited €“ especially when I saw Joss Whedon's name attached to it. But with Marvel entrusting its cinematic universe in Whedon's hands, I wondered where he would find the time to run a TV show. The answer was that he wouldn't €“ he wrote the pilot and is listed as an Executive Producer, but that was it. All the other episodes will be penned by other writers. That should have been the first warning sign that this show may not be as awesome as expected. After a promising start, the show tumbled through the first few episodes, and even though it has since recovered (kind of), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just suffers from the reality of the business: it is the B-show, and it has more of a weekly formula than a central theme. Also, the show can only talk about Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America and the Avengers but can never actually feature them in the show, which severely cripples its potential to become great. Can you imagine if all the Avengers appeared for at least a three episode arc? It should happen in terms of it being set in the Marvel Universe, but it is highly improbable for budget constraints and availability of the main actors. And therein lies the rub: at the end of the day, its the heroes who are the stars of the Marvel Universe, and even though Clark Gregg is terrific as Agent Coulson, his supporting cast (including the great Ming Na Wen) only acts as the cleanup crew and really don't do anything earth-shattering in the process.