Watch The Great Indoors
- 2016
- 1 Season
The Great Indoors is a comedy TV show from CBS that aired for one season in 2016-2017. The show was created by Mike Gibbons and produced by Gibbons and Chris Harris. The Great Indoors is set in a magazine publishing office and follows a group of millennials and their baby boomer boss. The main character of the show is Jack Gordon (played by Joel McHale), an adventure reporter who travels the world and writes about his experiences for the magazine Outdoor Limits. When Outdoor Limits is shut down, Jack is forced to return to the office and work for the magazine's digital department. There, he finds himself working with a group of millennials who are more interested in their phones than his stories. The millennials on Jack's team include Clark (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Emma (played by Christine Ko), and Mason (played by Shaun Brown). Clark is socially awkward and has a hard time communicating with people. Emma is a social media expert who is always on her phone. Mason is eager to please and has a crush on Emma. The baby boomer boss is Roland (played by Stephen Fry), the founder of the magazine. Roland is out of touch with the digital world and has a hard time understanding the younger generation. He often clashes with Jack over the direction of the magazine. The Great Indoors explores the generation gap between millennials and baby boomers. The show is filled with humor and satire as the characters navigate their differences. Jack often finds himself at odds with his team, who he sees as entitled and lazy. Meanwhile, the millennials view Jack as old-fashioned and out of touch. The show also tackles issues such as social media addiction, workplace diversity, and the changing nature of the publishing industry. Emma's character, in particular, is used as a vehicle to explore the role of social media in modern society. Her obsession with likes and followers is contrasted with Jack's old-school approach to storytelling. Despite its promising premise, The Great Indoors was not well-received by critics or audiences. Many criticized the show for being too clichéd and predictable. The characters were seen as one-dimensional and the humor was often juvenile. The show was also criticized for relying too heavily on outdated stereotypes of millennials and baby boomers. Ultimately, The Great Indoors was cancelled after one season. The show's creators and producers were disappointed with the decision, but they acknowledged the show's flaws. In an interview with Deadline, Gibbons said, "We’re proud of the show we made, but we also recognize that there are things we could have done better. We’ll take those lessons with us as we move forward." While The Great Indoors may not have been a critical or commercial success, it did attempt to address important issues facing modern workplaces. The show's exploration of the generation gap between millennials and baby boomers is relevant and timely. However, its execution fell short of its potential. The Great Indoors serves as a cautionary tale of the dangers of relying too heavily on stereotypes and clichés in comedy.
