Agents of SHIELD renewed for shortened season 6

Agents of SHIELD

For everyone out there interested in (finally) getting some news on Agents of SHIELD season 6, we now officially have it!

Today, ABC confirmed that there will be at least one more season of the long-running Marvel franchise, with the big different from past seasons being that we are looking at just 13 episodes as opposed to the typical 22. This is similar to Fox only giving 13 episodes to their fifth and final season of Gotham. It’s a chance to keep the franchise around without having to commit to it long-term. (There is no word on if season 6 will be the last for Agents of SHIELD as of yet.)

The funny thing here is that when it comes to Agents of SHIELD, doing a shorter season may be best just because they will be able to concentrate their story arc, which in turn means that they may be able to create a really strong, consistent batch of episodes. One of the harder parts of doing a 22-episode season is that there are going to be some filler episodes here and there and parts of the story that seem to drag. There were a few moments of that within season 5, but overall this has been a solid season. It hasn’t necessarily topped season 4 for us, but we don’t mean too much given that this was our favorite season of the show overall.

So how did Agents of SHIELD get renewed despite some low live+same-day ratings? There are three different reasons for it.

1. DVR ratings – The show remains a beast here, which is partially way ABC is okay with it airing on Fridays.

2. International success – With the Marvel name attached to it and a familiar lead in Phil Coulson, this is a show that sells well all over the world, giving it a tremendous source of income that not every other show has.

3. Corporate synergy – This is a great show to keep the Marvel Cinematic Universe alive even when there aren’t many movies being made — though we’re still somewhat perplexed as to how in the world season 6 will work following Avengers: Infinity War.

Related Be sure to get a few more details regarding Friday’s finale

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