So we've just had our first taste of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" and some people think it will be awesome and others aren't quite as enthused. I'm going to write about why it should/could work. I am going to start by addressing the criticisms I have seen.
S.H.I.E.L.D is boring: This seems to be one of the detractors for the unenthusiastic bunch. What I feel a S.H.I.E.L.D show offers more than any other property that could be developed for television e.g Daredevil is the ability to really expand all parts of the Marvel cinematic universe. A Daredevil show done right would be awesome, but wouldn't really focus much on events outside New York. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D could be in Harlem one week with Luke Cage trying to establish a the Heroes for Hire, the next week they could be in the Everglades investigating Man-Thing in a mystery sort of episode and the next week again could focus on a tense scenario where the team are trapped in the Canadian wilderness with the Wendigo stalking them (think of it like Blonsky's first encounter with the Hulk) while all they can do is try to survive long enough for a Hulk buster squad to turn up.
Where's Nick Fury?: S.H.I.E.L.D is a big organization.Does he really need to be in it?Although a cameo or two would be nice.
All the agents look too young: Intelligence agencies all over the world recruit people from universities. You know people, people who are traditionally in their early to mid twenties. It seems the main focus will probably on a less established "rookie" group. We'll probably see lots of older more experienced agents over the course of the show.
Now to add things that I would like to address
Streamlining: Some fans don't like the streamlining that has been done in the films e.g A.I.M being a company created by Aldrich Killian. Television allows more time to elaborate on more than 50 years of Marvel lore.
Spin off's: It can introduce characters to spin off in to films or television programme's that could have been a hard sell to audiences without prior introduction or knowledge.
No Spin off's:Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D could be a very good platform for introducing characters that are entertaining, but have no chance of a spin off or film. A good example of this would be the Great Lakes Avengers. I think an episode focusing on S.H.I.E.L.D trying to put an end to their inept exploits would be great.
Film rights owned by other studios:Although I think it's unlikely to be done, I would love a Wolverine television programme that has him drifting around places like Canada, Japan and Madripoor. Heck, even Spider-man could potentially be done on a Television budget with the correct team and and emphasis on practical effects.
Mutants: They are not off limits for Television as far as I know. Now to get this to work the number of mutants would have to be around post M-Day size numbers. Mutants like Whirlwind could be featured in the programme and then turn up in the Masters of Evil in a film with his ability set and no explanation needed. This could work best with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver showing up in the show as mutant terrorists. Reasons for the lack of mutants being mentioned in the films could be to do with S.H.I.E.L.D not wanting to create mass mutant hysteria by announcing that it's not only people who have been involved in accidents or experiments that could gain powers. Would people be pissed off if mutants were referred to as mutates just to get away with using them in films?