Fortunately, it’s not the norm for Joss Whedon shows. 
I wasn’t at all happy with the character direction at first; it was my main complaint about the episode. But the more I think about it, the more I like it.
One thing I just realized is that the surprise reveal of Simmons’s absence might speak worse about Fitz’s sanity, but it also means his aphasia isn’t as severe as we’d been thinking. For most of the episode it seemed that words were regularly unavailable to him. But if Simmons wasn’t there, it means that Fitz was coming up with the missing words on his own, which suggests he’s slowly mending those neural pathways (and no, I have no idea what I’m talking about, I realize–but then, it’s a comic book neural condition). If Fitz ends up being ineffective for too long, I’ll be bored; but if he’s a brain-damaged occasional genius, that could be a lot of fun.
…its not a Joss Whedon show.
It’s produced by Mutant Enemy, so technically it is a Joss Whedon show.
Just like Obi-wan wasn’t lying when he said Vader killed Luke’s father. Technically. For one given value of “Truth.” 
But yeah, Joss has little to nothing to do with the show other than get it off the ground and oversee the production company that makes it.
He’s still the executive producer, isn’t he? But he’s not credited as a writer on S02/Ep1, that’s correct.
I got the opposite impression. We saw in the final scene where he was talking to himself, that he’s not actually producing the words. He gets to a point where he can’t remember a word, he imagines Simmons tells him the word, and then he goes on. So the reality is that he’s imagining the word just as he’s imaging Simmons.
I’ll go on record as predicting that before the end of the season, Fitz will use some Hydra/alien technology to attempt to restore himself to normalcy. This will result in him dying a gruesome, useless death.
Not unlike the show, which earned really sucky ratings for the season premiere. I can’t see ABC sticking with the show too much longer if ratings don’t pick up promptly.
I think it’s more likely he’ll be manipulated by some third party in what Fitz sees as a noble effort to become useful to the team again. The character is being set up for a tortured fall from grace.
This show exists as advertising for Disney’s Marvel movies, which make monster-truckloads of money. Disney owns ABC. It’s unlikely to be canceled any time before the heat-death of the universe.
Joss has complete creative control over how to spend his paycheck but doesn’t do anything day to day for Agents of SHIELD. His brother and Sister in law do.
As has already been pointed out, that’s not likely to happen, the part about ABC cancelling this show. This show is part of a much larger universe and Marvel and Disney have big plans to introduce plot points that will play out in the movies in this show. It’s not your ordinary slave-to-the-ratings show, and I frankly LOVE that about it.
I literally yelled for joy when Absorbing Man showed up. But I wish he’d been played by WWE’s Ryback. That guy looks just like the guy does in the comics. Not that this guy was bad, just one of those “what if” things.
I’m a fan, too, and want the show to succeed, but incestuousness aside, if the ratings suck then it’s a straight up bean-counters decision. I really hope you are right and I am wrong, but what good does it do to introduce characters or plot points when there are only 15 people watching the show?
Ohh man. I just googled that guy to see… YEP. He would have been great.
I also disagree with people saying the show is bullet-proof. It was on the bubble last year and didn’t even get a full season order right away.
If the show tanks in the ratings it will get cancelled. The movies don’t NEED a tv show to help them along.
I’ll third it. The only bullet-proof show on network TV is Big Brother. Corporate connections might have given Agents of SHIELD a second chance but it will have to improve its ratings or it’ll be cancelled.
The good news is the show’s been moved to a better time slot. It’s no longer competing against NCIS and it has Dancing with the Stars as a lead-in.
Why is that?
The host Julie Chen is married to the president of CBS.
I think DWTS is back to Mondays only starting next week.
On the bubble according to whom?
The full season pickup was announced on October 10, after the third episode aired. It was one of the first full season pickups announced last season. I think only The Blacklist was picked up sooner last season.