So Joss Whedon’s new show was disappointingly underwhelming – much weaker pilot than his previous series, it feels like he’s dialing it in (if even creatively involved at all). The story was all over the place and didn’t make sense, but most egregious, the characters were one dimensional and non-descript – what happened to the Scooby Gang, the dialog, the repartee? It also felt like you had to be deeply into the written comics – e.g. what’s so special or important about Agent Coulson, anyway – wasn’t he just a redshirt who Whedon killed off in one of the movies? And who cares about all this coy mention of Melinda May and other Marvel characters no one’s ever heard of? Meh … At least it was better than most recent superhero shows (e.g. Arrow, The Cape), but that’s not saying much. Perhaps it’ll get better from here? …

The Lost writers on the other hand turned out a solid pilot with Sleepy Hollow – more compelling characters than Shield, and an intriguing weaving of supernatural/horror mythology into the Irving short story.

The Blacklist was also stronger than expected – lifts the Silence of the Lambs dynamic between a young female agent and a dark, mysterious genius, but instead of a psychopathic serial killer helping track other murderers, he’s a criminal mastermind/spy.

For both Sleepy Hollow and Blacklist, let’s see if the formula holds up …