I think the show could have potential in a way that Smallville wrote itself into a corner. By making Clark the main character, they could only do so much because we know at some point he's going to officially become Superman. By putting Bruce Wayne as a background character, we're not limited to focusing on his development (which was pretty well covered in Batman Begins, plus all the comics). I think it has to potential to show WHY Gotham needs a Batman. We see how "ordinary" cops would have to deal with extraordinary villains in a David v. Goliath scenario, which is also something Smallville could never do, because even inexperienced, Clark is still super powered. And since we're not focusing on Batman, they have a bit more room to play around with continuity, unlike SHIELD which still has to make sure they acknowledge the movie-verse (which is something I like about SHIELD, btw). In some ways, the stakes could be higher because none of these character incarnations have to saved because they're appearing in the movie-verse.
As I've stated before, I also have Batman-fatigue, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I'm okay with not seeing Batman for a while. And truthfully, I'm not really invested in this show. If it succeeds or fails, at the moment, makes no difference to me. But I've been to a lot of sites that cover it, and the opinions on it range wildly from "I can't wait for it!!!" to "Why are they doing this?". Just from what I've read, this is my own take on it.