ABC road-tests 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' to critics at TCAs

BEVERLY HILLS -- The network leg of the biannual TV critics press tour wrapped a couple of hours ago, and in true showmanship fashion, ABC did manage to save the best for last -- and really, the best of the entire tour: "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

With a bit of cloak and dagger swagger, the network shipped the pilot of the series to the Beverly Hilton -- if not via armored car, then close enough -- and insisted that writers in attendance for the 1 p.m. screening not record any portion of what they were about to see with their cellphones, lest they be vaporized, or otherwise meet an ending that would be far too gruesome to explain to their spouses or employers.

The demand normally would have been amusing (except the network was serious) and then (fade to darkness) the show began....

Without giving too much away, and really, I'd need an hour of your time to give much of anything away, let's cut straight to the appraisal: It is terrific. And it will be a hit. And it was everything any comic fan ... any lover of the Avengers ... any true-blue superhero-worshipping-shut-in will love instantly. The only outstanding question is whether everyone else will, or whether this will be able to balance the interests of hardcore fanboys and girls (who will like it very much) with an audience that may not be as fully plugged into the Marvel mythology, or is as interested in it as they. ("The Avengers" was one of the most successful films in cinematic history, so that question may already be answered, but the demands of a weekly TV serial and a major motion picture are as different as apples from grapes.)

Plus -- spoiler-alert -- Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) is back. He really didn't die. Surprised? Hey, this is a comic book universe where death isn't forever, and sometimes not even "death."

The pilot is a thing of TV beauty, but it is also complex and allusive -- alluding to things that I'm not even entirely sure what is being alluded to. (It would be a very good idea to watch "The Avengers," of which this is a continuation, before plunging in, just to get your alluding list in order.)

Honestly, this series is something to get excited about for a whole host of reasons, notwithstanding the beauty of what is on-screen; ABC has tipped the bank into this project, and it shows.

So yes, "Agents" will be a hit, and if it is not a "hit" then network TV is irremediably broken.

But enough of this. Let's go to the panel. ABC assembled a murderer's row of producers -- as well as Gregg -- for Sunday afternoon's panel, and they explained in detail their aspirations for this new creation.

They include Joss Whedon, his brother and collaborator Jed Whedon, Jed's wife Maurissa Tancharoen ("Dollhouse") and Jeffrey Bell of "Angel." But for comic book fans, of greatest interest is perhaps "Jeph" Loeb, a certified comic book genius who has been a major part of the Marvel universe and the TV one, too ("Heroes," "Lost," "Smallville" -- not Marvel series; in fact, "Agents" is Marvel's first show for the small screen since the Disney purchase in 2009.)

Let's go to the transcript, and as I close out this tour, a personal thanks to the hard-working people on the board of TV Critics Association who make this tour possible and the transcribers who produce the volumes of words that I cut and paste, thereby making my job easier; they are MY Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: