Clark Gregg and Ming-Na Wen are both versatile, expressive dramatic actors, and any spy series they anchor ought to be good at the baseline.

Make no mistake, Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is formula spy- television in the vein of every predecessor from I, SPY to Inspector Gadget.

When the show released, some viewers assumed it was going to be The Avengers, but on television. But the show's focus is "agents" (human, mortal, easily knocked over, but with badges and security clearances) of the fictional pan-government agency, and not Marvel's raison de etra, frickin' awesome superheroes. Like I said, it's a spy show.

Joining Gregg and Wen as "the agents" "of S.H.I.E.L.D." are Chloe Bennett as "Skye" and Elizabeth Henstridge as "Jemma." We also get to meet Iain De Coesticker playing gadgety-techy "Leo" and Brett Dalton as the 'shoot first, punch hard' muscle "Grant."

These newcomers gamely portray rookie government agents. Regrettably, Mr. Dalton gets the best lines and sub-plots while Ms. Bennett and Ms. Henstridge often seem relegated to decoration and minor exposition. Which is so Marvel in the 1960s.

A welcome addition to the spy series genre, if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had launched decades ago against any of the hoary old espio- favorites like Peter Graves' Mission: Impossible or Robert Vaughan's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. it would be punching above its weight. Gregg, Wenn, and the production values are too professional and engaging to ignore.