As they’re all built to fit pre-ordained slots and to permit an abundance of advertising, network TV shows are far more susceptible to editing for time than any movie will ever be. It’s a real shame, I think, but something that DVD and Blu-ray box-sets should, ideally, remedy. Once a series hits disc or download it strikes me that there’s a brilliant opportunity to include the original producers’ cuts and not the arbitrarily trimmed versions.
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This is surprisingly rare, however, and so I wasn’t too surprised to see that the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season one release is leaving its deleted scenes as standalone extras. There’s one such trimmed scene at USA Today right now and it’s a brilliant example of why this material should be cut back into the episodes. There’s wit, character and charm, and even great visual storytelling in this clip. Some episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D. were in need of all of those things.
For the record, though, I’ll say that I did like the show, just not every episode, and none of them really seemed as well crafted as the pilot. That’s not the way I’d want any season to curve. I’m hoping that things will pick up a lot in the second run, which kicks off on ABC on September 23rd.
The writers have certainly found their feet now, and I’m sure they’ve heard enough criticisms about what doesn’t work. This could be the year – arguably as with Buffy and Angel, which I’d say took some leaps forward in their second seasons – that the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. really take off.
Last night, I had a good long chat with Jeffrey Bell, S.H.I.E.L.D. showrunner, and if you sit tight I’ll be bringing you word on everything he told me. We spoke about season one, about season two, and even a little about how Age of Ultron and Agent Carter are tied into the mix. Watch this space.
