Sci-Fi Storm

We thought that is was in the “more likely than not camp, and we were right – ABC has renewed Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for another season. ABC had previously told producer Jed Whedon to write a “season finale”, not a series finale, so odds were pretty good.

The current season of S.H.I.E.L.D. is reaching its conclusion of the “Agents of Hydra” storyline, where some of the team were entrapped in a virtual reality called the Framework where Hydra was in control and the agents all lead very different lives. The season has been averaging about 4.3 million viewers.

Some Thursday tidbits for you…

Rod Roddenberry, the son of the “Great Bird of the Galaxy”, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and president of Roddenberry Entertainment, will join the upcoming Star Trek series for CBS All Access as an executive producer, along with chief operating officer Trevor Roth. Roddenberry Entertainment will co-produce the series.

Actor Ian McShane (Deadwood) will play the mysterious con man Mr. Wednesday in Starz’ series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, where the gods of myth are about to enter a war against the gods of modern society representing money, power, etc.

ABC gave quite a few early pickups to its shows, including Once Upon A Time and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Absent, at least so far, is Agent Carter, which appears to be a long shot at this point – especially since star Haley Atwell has signed on to do a pilot for ABC. While Carter currently operates on a half-season schedule it is possible that if the other show is also half-season she could do both, but the shows only modest ratings already were pointing at an ending for the show.

And finally, the Radio Times is reporting that Peter Capaldi is set to show up in the upcoming Doctor Who spinoff Class which is set at the Coal Hill School – where the very first episode of Doctor Who started and where Clara Oswald had been teaching. “It wil[sic] have a close connection with Doctor Who so don’t be surprised if Peter pops up,” according to someone close to the production. Now, my interpretation of that statement is that it isn’t definite Capaldi will appear, but that the story will allow for it.

With several official live action spin-off series in the history of the show (K-9 and Company (only one episode produced), Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and K-9), the Doctor only appeared on The Sarah Jane Adventures – but he did so in two incarnations: both David Tennant and Matt Smith appeared in separate two-parters.

It’s a good evening for Marvel on TV – ABC just announced among a slew of shows returning that both Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Marvel’s Agent Carter have been renewed for another season!

ABC has announced some of it’s mid-season programming slots, including when Marvel’s Agent Carter will fill in for the mid-season break of sibling show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..

Starting Tuesday, January 6th, the Hayley Atwell-led Carter will take over the 9pm timeslot from S.H.I.E.L.D., which will return from hiatus on March 3rd. Similarly, the dramedy musical Galavant from Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love.) with music by composer Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid) and lyricist Glenn Slater (Tangled), will fill in for <>i>Once Upon A Time starting January 4th at 8pm, with Once returning March 1st.

I may not be at San Diego Comic-Con (yet again…some day…) but I do have eyes there, and they tell me that at the Marvel panel they announced that Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Spartacus) will be joining Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a long-time S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. British actor Nick Blood (Trollied) and Reed Diamond (Moneyball, Dollhouse) will also join the cast in Season 2.

The Marvel franchise fans have let out a collective sigh of relief…ABC announced that they are picking up Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a second season, despite the Live+Same Day ratings not being terrific, but the show is a solid DVR performer.

To go along with it, ABC also picked up another Marvel series, Agent Carter, which follows Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), who was introduced as Steve Rogers love interest in Captain America: The First Avenger but was left behind when Cap was frozen and reappeared in the future. Now in 1946 and peace has broken out, Carter goes to work for the Strategic Science Reserve and must balance doing administrative work and going on secret missions for Howard Stark (Tony’s father).

ABC is ordering Agent Carter straight to series, as it did have a form of pilot already: Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter, a video short that was included with the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray release.

Coulson lives…on.

ABC has given a back nine order for Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., to no one’s great surprise, bringing the series up to a full season of 22 episodes. The show has been the best drama so far this year in the 18-49 demographic, and it was the highest rated debut in nearly four years.

ABC has decided to preempt the next Shark Tank Thursday in order to repeat the premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which not only won its slot but was the highest rated new drama in four years, scoring 11.9 million viewers and a 4.6 in the important 18-49 demo.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is spun off the Marvel superhero movie franchise, and features the return of Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), who was believed to be dead after the events of The Avengers. It follows the agents of the secret organization that tracks people with superhero abilities.