Interns of F.I.E.L.D.

Interns of F.I.E.L.D. promotional poster

Interns of F.I.E.L.D. was an original scripted sitcom produced in 2016 for the paid subscription service Screen Junkies Plus. It was a humorous deconstruction of the superhero genre that "follows the misadventures and shenanigans of four interns who work in the basement of a top secret Superhero Agency" and spend most of their time cleaning up other people's messes. The show directly parodied the Marvel TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and also included a lot of meta humor about superheroes and TV tropes more generally.

Interns of F.I.E.L.D. ran to 1 season of 8 episodes, all around 10 minutes in length. It was created by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell and Andy Signore, who also co-wrote all 8 episodes. Ian Weinreich and Brett Weiner also had writing credits on two episodes each.

Screen Junkies Plus did not release viewer numbers, so the popularity of Interns of F.I.E.L.D. is unknown. The first episode was uploaded to YouTube has been watched over 720,000 times. Screen Junkies made the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Honest Trailer in part to advertise Interns of F.I.E.L.D. to new subscribers. Apart from the first episode that is freely available on YouTube, Interns of F.I.E.L.D. is no longer available in any format.

Episode 1 of Interns of F.I.E.L.D. (17 minutes) can be viewed in full on YouTube.

Production

Interns of F.I.E.L.D. - Episode 1- "Villains"

Full episode: Interns of F.I.E.L.D. - Episode 1: "Villains"

According to Mashable the Screen Junkies writers chose to make the show because they were fans of other superhero TV shows like Gotham and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Head Honest Trailers writer Spencer Gilbert came up with the initial idea for the show by posing the question, "What if we worked in the mailroom of a S.H.I.E.L.D.-type agency?"

Interns of F.I.E.L.D. was Screen Junkies's first narrative project. It was developed especially for Screen Junkies Plus as a way to show the value of the paid service to new subscribers. Defy Media VP of Programming explained, "We don’t want to just offer them our shows early. .... On top of our YouTube shows, we wanted to invest in more of these premium level projects to excite our fans. It was important for us to not be stuck in simpler formats, do bigger projects to put ourselves out there. It was important...and for us to grow our brand."

Screen Junkies chose to make their first scripted sitcom a comedic superhero parody because the tone was similar to their existing Honest Trailers series. Defy Media VP of Programming explained, "That was key to help transition our audience. If we had gone out and made a dramatic science fiction epic, I don’t know if people would know of or be ready for that yet. This was a natural progression for us to show a high level comedy written. It shows that we are more than just commentators, that we are creators as well."

Reception

Episode 1 of Interns of F.I.E.L.D. has an 83.6% approval rating from YouTube viewers. In their review of the series, Geeks of Doom found lots to like about Interns of F.I.E.L.D, writing:

The show mocks and spoofs all the MCU/Marvel issues, the budget goes to getting more heli-carriers since all they do is fall out the sky (HAHA). I love how the goons (henchmen they prefer) have a union and get paid, but the Interns don’t. Of course, being loser interns, they get easily defeated by Skull and his goon and they even mock his “Throwback Thursday” evil plan involving a dynamite countdown… cue the evil laugh! In only 17 minutes total, Interns of F.I.E.L.D was as good a spoof of modern mainstream cinema as the horrible Wayans Brothers movies, and they take 80-90 minutes and cost over $10 a ticket. There were some great puns, pretty good special effects, and the dialogue had me chuckling. (Dr Zaius, January 24, 2016, Geeks of Doom)

Sam Gutelle of Tubefilter was more mixed in his review, noting:

In terms of its production values, Interns of F.I.E.L.D. certainly holds up as the sort of “premium content” Defy Media wants it to be. It is brightly-lit, well-paced, and filled with all of the flashy superpowers and futuristic technology required for a good Marvel parody. At the same time, some viewers have quibbled with the quality of the acting, writing, and plotting, and it’s hard to imagine Interns of F.I.E.L.D. will sell many subscriptions on its own. (Gutelle, S. January 26, 2016. ScreenJunkies Gets Scripted With ‘Interns Of F.I.E.L.D.’ Tubefilter)

List of Interns of F.I.E.L.D. episodes

Promotional image from Interns of F.I.E.L.D.

Ep 1: Villains

Working at a top secret world saving agency isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when newcomer Skyler Murphy learns that F.I.E.L.D.'s super-villains kinda suck.

Duration: 16 min. Published: January 10, 2016. Directed by: Tim Baldini. Written by: Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Andy Signore and Ian Weinreich.

Ep 2: Hype

The Revengers are coming into the office for their tri-annual meetup and some of the interns can't wait to be there. Unfortunately, an artificially intelligent coffee machine gets between them and their heroes.

Duration: 13 min. Published: January 17, 2016. Directed by: Tim Baldini. Written by: Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, and Andy Signore.

Ep 3: Sexism

Unwilling to sit back and "support the boys" any longer, Skyler takes charge to prove that girls deserve their own solo missions.

Duration: 10 min. Published: January 24, 2016. Directed by: Tim Baldini. Written by: Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Andy Signore and Ian Weinreich.

Ep 4: Origins

Promotional image from Interns of F.I.E.L.D.

While the others help F.I.E.L.D. refresh their supply of situational quips, Skyler learns that her favorite Revenger isn't as heroic as he seems.

Duration: 9 min. Published: January 31, 2016. Directed by: Tim Baldini. Written by: Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Andy Signore and Brett Weiner.

Ep 5: DC Disease

A viral outbreak has dark, angsty consequences for the office.

Duration: 8 min. Published: February 7, 2016. Directed by: Tim Baldini. Written by: Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell and Andy Signore.

Ep 6: Hawk Guy

The interns are forced to entertain a Revenger while F.I.E.L.D. takes steps to replace him with a member of the elusive Z-People.

Duration: 12. Published: February 14, 2016. Directed by: Tim Baldini. Written by: Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell and Andy Signore.

Ep 7: Reboot

The interns learn no one is safe when one of their own is rebooted.

Duration: 9 min. Published: February 21, 2016. Directed by: Tim Baldini. Written by: Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Andy Signore and Ian Weinreich.

Ep 8: Double Cross

The whole summer comes to a head when the interns learn there is a traitor in their midst.

Duration: 11 min. Published: February 28, 2016. Directed by: Tim Baldini. Written by: Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Andy Signore and Brett Weiner.

SHOW CREDITS - Episode 1

Interns of F.I.E.L.D. show logo.

Written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Andy Signore & Ian Weinreich

Directed by Tim Baldini

Produced by Brent Lydic

Executive Produced by Andy Signore

Cast: Benita Robledo, Jonathan Lipnicki, Joe Burke, Dayton Sinkia, Scott Beehner, Barak Hardley, Joe Hartzler, Madeline Walter, Dan Hartley and Special Guest Star: Jamie Kennedy!

Director of Photography Corey Jennings

Production Designer Jeremy White

Costume Designer Jocelyn Fizia

Edited by Tim Baldini

Music by Patron Saints of Music

See Also

• Honest Trailer - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Screen Junkies Roasts
• Screen Junkies Plus
• Flick Bait
• Movie Fights
• Honest Trailers

  External links

• Interns of F.I.E.L.D. IMDb page
• Interns of F.I.E.L.D. TV Tropes page
• Interns of F.I.E.L.D. Trailer on YouTube
• Interns of F.I.E.L.D. Twitter profile - contains some behind the scenes photos