ABC picks up ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ for full season

Comic book nerds can rest easy: After airing three episodes, ABC has picked up “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” for a full season.

The new series, an offshoot of Joss Whedon’s blockbuster movie “The Avengers,” will get a 22-episode run, Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment Group, said in a statement Thursday.

FULL COVERAGE: Fall TV preview 2013

The series, which airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, opened last month with a strong 4.0 rating in the key 18-49 age demographic, but has slipped in the following weeks. It has gotten a significant lift from people watching episodes through digital video recorders and video-on-demand.

It is ABC’s first new series to get a full-season order. The network last week canceled another new show, “Lucky 7,” after just two episodes, making it the first casualty of the fall season.

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