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Production is just getting underway on S.H.I.E.L.D., the Marvel TV pilot for ABC co-written and directed by Joss Whedon. And while S.H.I.E.L.D. is only ordered as a pilot and will have to go through the typical process of the network viewing the completed product and deciding whether they want to move forward, it’s obviously seen as a near-certainty that ABC will be ordering this one to series, given Whedon's involvement and that it’s part of the bigger Marvel movie/Avengers franchise.
At the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour today, I asked ABC’s president Paul Lee about S.H.I.E.L.D. and the potential it has to bring a different audience to ABC.
The term “co-viewing” is used for shows watched by parents and kids together, which Lee brought up when talking about the potential S.H.I.E.L.D. has to reach a large and varied audience - especially considering it's connected to the third highest-grossing movie ever. Said Lee, “I talk about the emotion of the network and that it’s ‘smart with heart.’ There is something which I talk less about which is very, very real at this network and it’s real for Once [Upon a Time], which is we have more co-viewed show than any other network. That’s partially why we have more stringent broadcast standards.” Lee added, “I think we have something like 8 of the top 20 co-viewed shows on television,” giving examples like The Neighbors, America’s Funniest Home Videos, Once Upon a Time and Shark Tank, which he noted as “all the top co-viewed shows in the country.”
Lee remarked, “Absolutely Marvel has the ability to bring the whole family around it. The truth about Joss is he has some great relationships in [S.H.I.E.L.D.] so there are a lot of really funny, male/female relationships – very flirtatious ones that go through it. But it’s also Joss too and it’s Marvel and there’s a lot of action to it.”
“We haven’t yet seen the pilot,” Lee noted, but added, “We fast-tracked that before the others and we’re going to see it a lot earlier than the others and we’re very hopeful that that’s going to move forward to series and we’ll build our marketing campaign early for it. But we do see that as the possibility of a show that we can bring both men and women and kids to.”
Lee then added, “By the way, the script’s great. So I don’t want to jinx it, because that may not mean a good pilot or a good series, but we’re very excited about it. Joss is wonderful to work with. And by the way, [he's] thrilled to be on television, which I’m enjoying!
S.H.I.E.L.D. stars Agent Coulson himself, Clark Gregg, and Ming-Na Wen, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, Brett Dalton and Chloe Bennet.
