McHale Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Marking the 'Community' grad's series regular follow-up role and first gig since the end of 'The Soup.'
Joel McHale is headed for CBS.
The in-demand actor has signed on to star in CBS comedy pilot The Great Indoors, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
From Tosh.0's Mike Gibbons, the multicamera comedy pilot centers on an adventure reporter who must adapt to the times when he becomes the boss to a group of millennials in the digital department of the magazine.
McHale will star as Joel, an outdoorsy guy's guy with a sardonic sense of humor. The longtime star reporter for The Great Outdoors magazine, Joel has climbed mountains, confronted bears and led a life of excitement and adventure. But when he's sidelined by an injury, he's forced to take a desk job in the publication's digital and social media department, surrounded by a team of millennials who view him as an exotic and ancient oddity from another place and time.
Gibbons will pen the script and exec produce the CBS Television Studios comedy.
For McHale, the role marks his first series regular scripted role following Dan Harmon's NBC-turned-Yahoo Screen comedy Community. The actor, who was aggressively pursued for multiple projects at CBS, most recently signed on as a guest star in Fox's The X-Files revival.
The Great Indoors also marks McHale's first full-time gig following the conclusion of his E! pop culture clip series The Soup. The series wrapped up its 12-year run in December.
McHale is repped by WME and attorney PJ Shapiro at Ziffren Brittenham.
Keep up with all the latest pickups, castings and eventual series orders with THR's handy guide to pilot season.
Pilot Season
