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| Could Neil Hamilton and Stafford Repp have carried a series? |
Will Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD put a dent in mighty NCIS?
The big showdown is set for tonight at 8 p.m. NCIS was Canada’s No. 1 drama last season, drawing a steady 2.5 million total viewers per week. Tonight the hype is all about the departure of Cote de Pablo from the cast and the exit of her character, Ziva.
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| Cote de Pablo’s farewell episode is Oct. 1 |
CTV hopes to chip away at Global’s Tuesday domination with Agents of SHIELD, which got a lot of hype this summer due mainly to the way ABC/Disney played keep-away with the pilot. Instead of the usual screener shipment or link to a media site, critics had to attend special screenings to see the pilot.
I saw it in Los Angeles with others on the TCA press tour. Tonight’s opener is a slick hour, shot like its big budget film cousin The Avengers with plenty of cool special effects.
I still have a problem with the fact that this series is about the back up team, the super hero helpers. There are no Iron Man sightings, or Thor, Hulk or even Captain America and his shield.
So I ask again: would kids in the ’60s have watched a Batman spin-off if it was just about Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara?
SHIELD may also do better in Canada on CTV than it does in the U.S. vs. CBS’s Mark Harmon series, which is back for an 11th season.
The overnights will be interesting, but with de Pablo’s departure and other factors, this is a race that will probably take several months to play out.
For capsule reviews of all of tonight’s starters, including Trophy Wife, The Goldbergs and Lucky 7 (which is shot in Toronto), follow this link to the TVFMF 2013 Fall Preview.
