The Great Indoors - General Discussion

[iMonrey]

So is Mason going to always be the ambiguously gay character or are they ever going to clarify that? Or is that part of the joke, that you can't tell one way or another?

Clark is really the funniest character on the show, which doesn't say much for Joel McHale.

[Browncoat]

Clark is definitely the shining star in this somewhat bleak universe.  I haven't been overly impressed.  But I was surprised that the Millennials could recognize paper concert tickets.

[DeLurker]

I've liked Emma - reminds me a bit of Daria.

[Chaos Theory]

I actually think Emma is the stand out.  I think Christine Ko is hilarious and has been over that last few episodes.  I loved her in the scenes where she jumped into the guys arms so she she wouldn't technically be moving so she could use the bathroom.  

I think McHale is doing fine.  He has chemistry with all the millennials and his bartender friend.  I think the only character that doesn't work is Brooke.  I know what the show is going for it just isn't working on any level.  

I thougjt the Jack and Eddie scenes were very well done.  

[Big Mother]

The cameo by the Nolan twins was so bizarre!

[DeLurker]

I'm assuming those were the women at the bar Eddie was talking too - who are they? 

[Big Mother]

The Nolan twins were on Big Brother 17 in 2015. They were part of a 'twist'; they kept swapping in and out of the house and the housemates were not supposed to find out. One of them got into a showmance with Austin "Judas" Matelson, an MMA wrestler, but it didn't work out outside the house. it was so bizarre and out of left field to suddenly see them on this show.

[Roaster]

First time I've seen this show.  What a waste of Stephen Fry!  They could have gotten any no-name middle-aged actor to play that role (at least based on tonight's episode).

Too much "oh, isn't this new media stuff strange!  Old dudes can't master it." content.

I did like the magician bartender. 

[Browncoat]

The best bits for me were the vocal fry imitations.  

[Chaos Theory]

13 hours ago, Roaster said:

First time I've seen this show.  What a waste of Stephen Fry!  They could have gotten any no-name middle-aged actor to play that role (at least based on tonight's episode).

Too much "oh, isn't this new media stuff strange!  Old dudes can't master it." content.

I did like the magician bartender. 

Stephen Fry is kinda wasted in the roll but he is only a supporting character.  This was actually a bad episode for a starter episode.  Last episode was better and actually hilarious but if Stephen Fry is your reason....  But the show is in a lot of ways about communication and  Gen X's and mellenials learning how to in the age of Twitter and the like.  There is a lot of too old/too young jokes but they are not written as mean and more a comment on how communication has changed and the world in general has changed.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[reggiejax]

I have liked this show, and I know I should not take any of the plotlines seriously, but it seems to me that if that one girl quit, they could easily just go down to the pound and pick up another millennial with their head up their Instagram account. I mean it's like they practically grow on trees FFS! There really was no need for McHale and Fry to do the social media version of the "Lucy working the conveyer belt" bit.

[Ms Lark]

14 hours ago, Browncoat said:

The best bits for me were the vocal fry imitations.

Vocal fry by Stephen Fry! The incredibly funny thing is he has a massive Twitter following, Tweets frequently, and at one point someone was actually taking his tweets and illustrating them.

[romantic idiot]

He's quite tech savvy in general, as seen on QI.

[iMonrey]

Clark is about the only reason to watch this show. I did enjoy the showdown between Mason and Brooke about keeping secrets, but it felt a little unearned because neither character has been very well defined so far. Same with Eddie the bartender, it seems like there's potential there but they're not really doing anything with him. 

Is there still some guy living in that tent and are they ever going to show him?

[tessaforever]

This is the first episode I watched of this show. I love Joel McHale and he practically gets a lifetime pass from me because of Community, but I was meh-whelmed by this episode. Should I watch the previous ones? 

[Big Mother]

I actually loved this episode. I laughed out loud many times. Love the kooky cast. Rooting for Emma and Clark.

It's funny bc I'm a big fan of Survivor/Big Brother, and contestants like Clark - the nerd with the glasses and facial hair - are a dime a dozen. I keep comparing him to Jordan Parhar and others :)... lol

[DeLurker]

16 hours ago, tessaforever said:

This is the first episode I watched of this show. I love Joel McHale and he practically gets a lifetime pass from me because of Community, but I was meh-whelmed by this episode. Should I watch the previous ones? 

It hasn't found its rhythm yet and comes off a bit limited to jokes about millenials.  I think it has potential though, but they're not there yet.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

There's a false equivalency to the joke that just because older people struggle with new technology, younger generations are equally puzzled by old methods. We actually experienced paper maps, encyclopedias, libraries, wall-mounted cord phones, CDs, and all the other legs on the dead horse that writers of this ilk can't stop beating. 

Even if that joke was clever once, we've passed the point of no return. 

[Driad]

I agree, ZuluQueenOfDwarves.  And I know plenty of people in their 60s and older who are comfortable with new technology. Some of them invented and developed that technology.  So the "situation" of this sitcom eludes me.

[juliet73]

On 12/18/2016 at 10:03 PM, tessaforever said:

This is the first episode I watched of this show. I love Joel McHale and he practically gets a lifetime pass from me because of Community, but I was meh-whelmed by this episode. Should I watch the previous ones? 

I like this show and think it does have potential.  I think the show is funny - maybe because I'm Jack's (Joel McHale's character) age and I'm annoyed by millenials too.  I think they need to get rid of the female British boss and her boss father.  Those two characters are the weakest links IMO.  

[Big Mother]

I call this "Survivor". It's more fun to watch :D

[Browncoat]

If only it were that easy to start a fire without matches!

[Chaos Theory]

I thought this episode was hilarious.  I loved the scene where Brook killed and gutted the snake.  Also when the Millennials tried to get Siri off the tree.

i especially however liked that they were able to make things work in the end.  The show makes fun of millennials but not so much that they aren't able to figure things out on their own terms.

"Time for a scary story.! It starts  with my first marriage without a prenup"

Edited January 6, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[DeLurker]

I was expecting them to accidentally start a forest fire with that torch up the tree

Edited January 7, 2017 by DeLurker

[Big Mother]

Browncoat and others, as I mentioned many times in the Great Indoors forum here, I'm a huge Survivor fan, and this season they had the theme of Millenials vs Gen x, so this show keeps giving me a great chuckle. I compared the 'camping' experience in this episode with a typical Survivor premiere. The phone thing had me giggling; the poor kids couldnt do a thing withoug consulting google or youtube. They shouldve done all that prior to going to the campsite! But as for the fire, it *is* very possible to make fire using a knife and flint, though it takes a lot more practice than just one little swoosh. And building shelter doesnt mean simply gathering branches. They had to *build* a shelter with it. And a fishing net? Did you SEE a body of water nearby? nope. But hey, this isn't a survival guide video, so I went with it.

[Browncoat]

I know it's possible to make a fire with a knife and flint.  I meant that it just isn't as easy as this show made it seem.

I have never watched Survivor, but this ep did put me in mind of the "3rd Rock From The Sun" ep where they went camping.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Roland: The sound! Even to this day I can still hear the sound of his bowels, like a tuba submerged in gravy, like machine guns being fired into wet baked beans, like a camel slurping Thai noodles. I know that if he were alive today, Arturo would thank you, though he'd have to his thanks over the sound of his gurgling, burbling, popping bowls, like the sound of a washing machine filled with spoiled sloppy joe meat.

[DeLurker]

Thanks - I missed a good part of that because I was laughing too hard.

[Big Mother]

The last line of the description didnt seem to come true.

I did like that Jack finally realized that the young generation has plenty to offer and the old generation isnt as amazing as he thinks they are.

Clark's pratfalls were pretty hilarious. As were the endless descriptions of the explosive diarrhea.

I laughed a lot this episode.

[Ailianna]

There was just a quick line from one of the young ones that Jack is the Clark of the Explorer's Club, and I think that was it.

[needschocolate]

I think it might be time to switch to an all episode thread.  

That is the only thing I can think to write about this episode.

[Big Mother]

I'm really enjoying the show. I just don't get around to watching it until days later and that's why I don't comment righta way.

[SmithW6079]

I think my biggest issue with this show is Joel McHale as a macho he-man outdoor explorer. I just don't buy it -- maybe because I first saw him on "The Soup" as a comedian. I would totally believe Geoff Stults (late of the new "Odd Couple" and the too-short "Enlisted") in the role.

The millennial/"old folks" jokes are getting tired.

[willco]

This show is constantly trashed on boards that I read, but I think it's pretty funny. Part of it is it appeals to me, because I'm Jack only older & less successful than they portray him to be. I know it's simple, but last night, for example, when he was sighing every time he sat down, my Dad used to do that. And now, if I don't actively stop myself, I do it. You always hear, oh you're still a young man, comments ( for me, mostly relatives) but I guess that's true when they are 30 years older than you are ! Jack, on the show, is still a little young to be doing these "old man" kind of things, but that's the joke. I'm fairly healthy now, but my body has been thru hell and back, so I ache, and can't do all the things I used to do. Happens to everyone at some point. As for the behavior of the millennials, some of it is not that far off. My nephew is 24 and , for example, would not  use a phone book to save his life. You look that stuff up online, even if you can't find it, you keep looking, dammit ! Myself, I still keep & use a phone book.

[Ailianna]

If Jack did all the adventuring and mountain climbing and wilderness things they are telling us he did, then his body has been through hell and back too.  Just like many serious athletes--they put their bodies through a lot that most of us couldn't begin to do, but there's a price to pay.  I'm old enough though that he doesn't feel all that much older than the kids, although definitely I'm still younger than Roland!

[AManfred]

My husband and I watch this because we are big Joel McHale fans, the first few episodes weren't the best, but now we look forward to this show. Only thing that bugged me with this past episode was when Roland said Jack was "nearly 40'. Come on. Joel McHale is 45, and the whole premise of the show would be funnier if that was the same age as Joel IRL.

[Chaos Theory]

I love this show.  It's by no means brilliant tv but I find it genuinely funny and even sweet at times.  Like in the latest episode when everyone realized they really were Jack's friends and how they had all let him down instead of helping him impress his girlfriend.  I thought the scene and the next scene back at the bar was great. 

Again not brilliant but since most comedies these days don't impress me at all finding one I like is rather impressive.

[needschocolate]

This isn't my favorite show, but I like enough to keep watching.  I think the writing is rather fresh (to me anyway, I don't watch a lot of the newer sitcoms). And, while the characters can be a bit silly or OOT at times (it is a sitcom), I find that they seem to stay true to their personality traits.  My biggest complaint is that the acting seems wooden - like it was one of the first read-throughs of the script.  Jack has the most lines/scenes, which may be why I notice it most with him (I haven't watched JM in anything else), but often he very wooden -  looks at person, says the line, looks at person, says the line, etc without much emotion/inflection.  I think that it could be a really good show if the acting lived up to the writing.

[Big Mother]

I was cracking up when a ripped, almost-naked Jack showed up at his underlings' apartment. How weird is it to see your 40 year old roommate in his skivvies???

Anyone else cracking up from Esther's ever-more-bizarre and ridiculous one-liners to Jack's "How are you?"

[Big Mother]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was going crazy trying to figure out where I knew Jack's new girlfriend Rachel from...

It's Allison from Angel from Hell!

I loved her on that show! So glad she's getting another good gig.

[chitowngirl]

She was also Juliet O'hara on Psych.

[Browncoat]

11 hours ago, Big Mother said:

It's Allison from Angel from Hell!

Thank you!  I couldn't figure out why she looked so familiar!

[SmithW6079]

I'm glad they didn't break up Jack and his girlfriend when they needed "old" Jack back. I like that he has a girlfriend who's not one of his coworkers. 

[joanne3482]

I like Racheal too. I hope they don't get rid of her to open the door for him and Brooke. I don't like them together. I do love that he thinks Brooke's fiance is basically a cat. 

[Big Mother]

I really love this show. Of all the sitcoms CBS debuted this year this is the only one I stuck with.

I loved hot Clark. I like that he finally got Emma's attention. 

[wayne67]

I like this show. It tickles my funny bones. I like that the show makes fun of the old and the young equally and has some digs at the british at the same time. 

[Muffyn]

I feel like the show has been improving.  I am catching up on episodes (it's not appointment TV for me).  They have, however, done something I find unforgiveable.  They put Chris D'elia on my TV screen.  Why?  Whhhhhyyyyyyyyy? I find him so exceptionally unwatchable.    

[Big Mother]

Ha! Gabriel (Kin)Cade, a Survivalist from Australian Outback? That was a funny almost-shoutout to Survivor. When are they having a crossover already? They should have some Survivors guest star. This is too funny.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Joel McHale is on S1.E10 (Saving the World -- with Space!) of Bill Nye Saves the World!

Quote

Bill and the panel discuss private space travel. Mean astronaut Joel McHale answers questions, and lunar gravity gives a young basketballer a boost.

[SmithW6079]

This show has grown on me. I still have trouble with Joel McHale as a muscular, macho explorer, but I've come to enjoy the group of coworkers. I didn't care for Brooke at first (the character seemed useless), but she's really come into her own. I think showing she had a mean-girl past helped, and she's had some nice, bitchy interactions with Mason.

I know they're pushing Jack and Brooke, but I'm not opposed to it, although there seems to be a bit of an age gap. As funny as I'm finding her fiance, she definitely has more chemistry with Jack than with Paul.

Clark and Emma, however -- while I enjoy the characters separately, their kiss left me completely cold. Clark has more chemistry with Jack or even Emma's ex-boyfriend than he does with her.

Edited May 12, 2017 by SmithW6079