The Great Indoors

The Great Indoors is a refreshing and comical take on modern-day news media, with a witty contrast between the "old school" way of life and the "millennial" lifestyle that continues to baffle earlier generations.

This CBS sitcom aired from 2016 to 2017 is centralized in Chicago, featuring the adventures of Jack Gordon (Joel McHale), a renowned adventure reporter who made a living in some of the most extreme environments on Earth. The storyline unfolds as his career takes a sudden turn due to budget cuts at the magazine he works for, Outdoor Limits.

No longer requiring his off-grid survival reports, his boss and outdoors magazine founder Roland (Stephen Fry), bets on the shift triggered by the digital era and decides to take the publication purely online. This decision sets the stage for a comedic interaction between Jack and his millennial colleagues who now work from an indoor office space under the lead of Roland's daughter, Brooke (Susannah Fielding).

Jack finds himself in the role of overseeing the young, tech-obsessed office team, who mostly lacked any real-world experience of the great outdoors, instead of his usual, trudging through the world’s toughest terrains. This was no ordinary team. Picture Clark (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a tech nerd and social media expert who hardly leaves his home, Emma (Christine Ko), the mastermind behind the online content that's never set foot outside, and Mason (Shaun Brown), a fitness aficionado with zero outdoor survival skills. Jack's relation with his new colleagues is a daunting challenge that tests his patience and adaptability.

Beyond guiding his new team, Jack also has to navigate his relationship with Brooke, his boss's daughter, who performs her duties rigidly. Brooke is not afraid to put Jack in his place, adding another layer to the already amusing office environment, contributing to the romantic string in the otherwise humor-driven plot.

Human interaction extends beyond the office, though, and that's where Eddie (Chris Williams) comes in. Eddie is Jack's best friend and owner of the local bar where the characters often unwind and reflect on the day’s chaotic events. As an older character who shares Jack's astonishment and amusement at the younger generation's lifestyle, Eddie provides a sounding board for Jack's frustrations and occasional bewilderment.

As the plot unravels, Jack, with his traditionalist perspective, sets out to prove the value of his old-school journalism methods and the allure of the great outdoors to his bewildered, tech-addicted team. Meanwhile, the Millennials also have their day, showcasing their values - inclusivity, work-life balance, and environmentalism - often leading to hilarious exchanges and mutual growth.

Serve in a tech-savvy and yet innocent office environment, the show brims with the clever use of millennial-themed humor—exploring areas such as internet lingoes, social media addiction, and emoji communications. The Great Indoors stands as an unapologetic caricature of the millennial work culture, peppered with wit, sarcasm, and a healthy dose of light-hearted mockery.

Intertwining generational differences, humorous characters, and often absurd situations, this sitcom offers a hilarious and insightful commentary on journalistic shifts within digital era, generational clashes in the workplace, and the struggle of finding a common ground amidst such vast disparities.

From tackling an outdoors magazine going digital to facing challenges of managing a generation known for their obsession with the internet, avocados, and hipster culture, The Great Indoors skillfully captures the humor and irony that arises from this collision of worldviews. This, combined with a remarkable cast, contributes to a bracingly original sitcom that delivers laughs alongside thoughtful social commentary.

As a sitcom that’s bound to bring a smile to anyone dealing with generational gaps, The Great Indoors serves as a celebration of diversity and harmony that can exist amidst contrasting viewpoints while hilariously spotlighting the yawning chasm that lies between the 'old-school' way of life and the new 'millennial' generation.