The Great Indoors

It's funny to read the reviews that take this series to task for its depiction of Millennials. And those who think the show belittles Gen-Xers. In reality, I think it does disservice to both groups, first by trying to define every character by one of those two groups, promoting stereotypes.

Almost all of the "humor" in this show stems from the generational skirmishes that occur between the two camps--the Gen-X lead character (Joel McHale) and the Millennials who staff the digital magazine. The comedy is treated like a zero-sum proposition, where one side can only gain laughs at the expense of the other.

Frankly, I think the Millennials take a worse comic beating, but that may just be my personal perspective. These "journalists" seem to know almost nothing about the subject of the magazine, journalistic methods, or even how to relate to readers (or anyone else).

At its core, I think the show should be judged, in part, by how funny it is, i.e. how many laughs it generates. And the first two episodes did not elicit many. There was a brief scene involving a bear cub that managed to feel real and connected to actual feelings (though it was nearly undermined by some weak jokes about the three-second attention spans of the Millennials). Maybe the show will have to reach for more of those moments and fewer laughs to be watchable.

Sick of stupid "10 things to do" listicles? Want to hit thos special unicorn millenials with their stupid selfiesticks every time you see them? Have you actually been out of your house recently?

Then this might be just the sitcom, you have been waiting for!

The great Indoors is an entertaining clash of the generations sitcom, dragging out every cliché there is about young and old people and lets them struggle through everyday life working at an outdoor magazine... indoors.

If you're easily upset, like most of the current generation is, this might not be the one for you. But grab you participation award at the door anyways.

This was Joel McHale's first venture back into sitcoms after Community and although he's always good for a laugh, this show just felt like someone clicked a sitcom plot generator and this was what it spit out. I won't lie and say I didn't enjoy the cast and given a better show, they would have been hilarious, but this show just wasn't built for the long run. I suppose that's why it only lasted for a single season...

Joel McHale tickles me, but miscast as outdoors stud.

Stephen Frye is good. The millennials suck, or blame the gawd-awful writing.

I would laugh a couple times per episode, but not worth the other 28 minutes of pain.

I wanted to like this, I really tried, but it's impossible. Joel McHale was hilarious and incredible witty in both "Community" and as presenter of E!'s "The Soup". Why he accepted to star in this incredible dim-witted show is beyond me. The premise of the show is that McHale plays a former outdoor reporter, who now has to work in an office with a bunch of pampered millennials. Yes, it's the old, stillborn sitcom idea: the generation gap. So a typical joke would be that Joel (who is 40something, I guess), has no idea how to use an iPhone (cue to canned laughter) and then Christopher Mintz-Plasse (30something?) helps him out. Now, isn't that funny? Hell, NO! And then there is veteran Britishcomedian Stephen Fry. He plays Joel's boss. And, like him, is completely wasted on this show. I have no idea what leverage CBS used to blackmail them into this stale sitcom, but it must be something punishable by death sentence, because anything less would be the better option.