In Defense of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. wishing they had had a V8A lot of people are ragging on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as an abysmal failure. While I don't think it's fantastic I do like it. Folks want it to be in the middle of the Marvel Universe, but
S.H.I.E.L.D. was always a huge global intelligence agency with many facets. Originally the comic book only focussed on the top dogs, kinda like Star Trek TOS. The enemies were usually cold war types like The Yellow Claw who could work today very nicely. This series focusses on a particular group within the organisation.
People dissatisfied with the series seem to want everything NOW. Go watch a Resident Evil movie for that. For a long running series to make it, it has to pace itself. Dark Angel was a good example of pacing going too fast (as well as boxing in the plot). OTOH, Firefly was a good example of the public's (and the bean counters) microscopic attention spans.
The thing is there's a lot to explore in the Marvel / S.H.I.E.L.D. universe.
Marvel will likely use this vehicle to promote their movies & other products in the future. Recent plots have referenced Asgard in conjunction with the recent release of the latest Thor movie. Fair Sif is slated for an appearance soon.
With new Avengers, X-Men, Spiderman, Ant Man, Captain America, and maybe a Doctor Strange with Johnny Depp heading for the big screen, there's lots of opportunity for the show to have crossovers. There's also a Daredevil series for TV in the works.
Daredevil will probably suck, however having MaTT Murdock provide counsel for or to sue the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. could be fun.
FWIW, the series was only slated for half a season but the network has picked up the second half.