Fall TV Tuesday: Six Questions About How Things Will Work Out

Yesterday, we posted six questions about the new Fall TV line-up for Monday… now we’re back, with questions, predictions, and opinions about how things will fly on Tuesday, a night where almost every network seems to be making changes and bringing out some big guns.

Tuesdays will have one of the most anticipated new dramas of the Fall with Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.; it also has one of the most critically-panned new programs with Dads.

Here’s our analysis, with the “we” being KSiteTV webmaster/editor Craig Byrne and TVHackr & ScreenFad‘s Shilo Adams. This article will be split into multiple pages so be sure to navigate through them all! But first, let’s get started with Tuesday night TV’s biggest question…

Will Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. be the hit ABC thinks it will be?

SHILO: Will Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. be a game-changing hit for the network in the vein of Lost? No. But will it be a solid addition to their lineup and provide them with their first male-heavy hit in quite some time, potentially opening doors in terms of who an ABC viewer is and can be? I think so.

At least initially, I expect the show to get a pretty sizable sampling both live and online, likely helping it win its time slot outright in its first couple/few weeks on air. After that, there should be some natural comedown, but it’s all a matter of the drama quickly settling at a level acceptable for its expensive production. Should the show have a handle on its plot direction, how heavily into the Avengers mythology it wants to go, and how well it knows its supporting players and can write to their strengths, there’s not a tremendous amount of competition in its slot that goes for the same type of audience that it does and it has all the makings of becoming one of the network’s stronger dramas.

However, if it struggles with how to write for everyone who isn’t Clark Gregg, dips too much in terms of production values, or can’t figure out just how serialized it wants to go, the series might be in some trouble. I want to think that the network will renew the show unless it trends down to cancel-worthy ratings in the latter part of its run, as it would take a tremendous PR hit for letting an opportunity like this slip away, but S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s future will be tied into ancillary income, growth potential, and the availability of Joss Whedon, should it disappoint creatively.

CRAIG: For their sake, I hope it does well, but unfortunately, I’m not sure if it’s as much of a sure thing as we thought back in May. There’s talk online that some future scripts haven’t been that good, and the show is certainly expensive… plus there’s the matter that I feel like there’s not as much online buzz as the show had when it was first announced. Maybe I’m wrong.

There’s also the notion that the pilot is VERY good (in my opinion), but will it be so good once it’s no longer weekly helmed by the guy who directed The Avengers? Will the show have the same feel?

If S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t do well, I hope it doesn’t sour ABC on Marvel properties, as they have some (Daredevil! Runaways!) that would be perfect for the ABC wheelhouse. I do have some positive thoughts about it, because Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson is great… but will Coulson be enough? Will the supporting players excite fans outside the online/Whedon world in the same way? Will audiences be cool with a Marvel Universe show that doesn’t have Iron Man showing up every week? Lots of questions with this one… and it might not be completely Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fault if it doesn’t work, which leads to the next question…