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Regarding comparisons to SHIELD, that's pretty difficult to do since the shows are so radically different.
Carter is (so far) focused on the titular character with some support roles around her. SHIELD is an ensemble show in the classic Whedon style. Gregg is sort of a hybrid Rupert Giles/Mal Reynolds character, with Chloe Bennet filling the Buffy/River Tam role (speaking of Bennet, I'm not sure I can think of anyone who's improved so drastically over the course of a year - I'm not sure how she's done it, but kudos to her). You can go down the rest of the list and fill in the lines, but in SHIELD's case I think every member of the cast is key. Which is why you've seen time committed to establishing some degree of back story for every single one of them. Whereas with Agent Carter, you already know her for all intents and purposes, you already know Howard Stark, it's easy to set up Jarvis (no real need for backstory with him...), it's easy to set up her co-workers, who can essentially be cardboard cutouts for her to play off, and you can spend plenty of time establishing whatever the opposition is (leviathan I guess). Which means in Carter's case I think it's a little easier just to ask Atwell to carry the whole thing herself, rather than spending time and energy making sure the rest of the cast is living, breathing and interesting. Which is not to say that everyone didn't do a great job, just pointing out the differences... Beyond that you have fewer episodes to fill, fewer supporting actors, and the focus of everything can be almost entirely on her. And of course there's the period setting, and how she's essentially a fish out of water (even if she's not, really....) as a strong, independent woman in the mid 40's doing what would have ostensibly been a man's job.
That part of the show is particularly attractive to me. I'm not sure if I can adequately verbalize what I mean by this this but I love how she's a strong female character, rather than written like she's this idealized version of what what a (male) nerd would fantasize about, rather than an actual woman. I loved the interplay there, how she was outwitting the boys by being herself, rather than just being one of them, or being a better man than they are. Playing the secretary, getting coffee when it suited the situation, that kind of stuff. And they were able to do it without in any way demeaning or marginalizing the other female characters.
(Hopefully that makes sense).
In any case, the only real connective, comparative tissue I between Agent Carter and SHIELD is that they both rely to a large degree on the existence of Captain America as a movie franchise. In SHIELD's case I wonder how much better the series might have been had they been able to launch the series in January, as Agent Carter has been, and spent less time trying to fill in the fall season until the big event happened. I don't think it's a coincidence that the show has been pretty great for about the last 16-20 episodes.
And of course Agent Carter, in her own right, started great last night. The next time you talk to Hayley I give you permission to tell her that a random old guy in Kansas clapped for both her performance and the show as a whole.
In the end, don't really see a reason to need to compare the two, or to demean anything or anyone involved with SHIELD. They're both awesome.
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