Night of debuts for ‘The Great Indoors’ and ‘Pure Genius’

» Joel McHale returns to prime time. He stars in “The Great Indoors” (7:30 p.m., WREG-TV Channel 3) as Jack, a famous adventurer-type and icon for an outdoor life magazine. It’s a stretch to think of the goofball lightweight from “Community” playing Sebastian Junger, but that’s what sitcoms are for.

After shutting down the print magazine, Jack’s boss, mentor and publisher, Roland (Stephen Fry), wants him to put some meat on the digital bones of the online edition, which has devolved into a Buzzfeed-like collection of lists and captions.

While it’s easy to think of this series as a reheated version of Tim Allen’s “Last Man Standing,” that ABC sitcom puts more emphasis on family dynamics. “Indoors” sticks to office life and the conflicts between old print fossils and digital “kids.”

As Roland, Fry is reduced to spouting Kiplingesque bromides and drinking heavily. The young staff members are reduced to every millennial stereotype imaginable. Spoiler alert: At the end of an un-strenuous workday, they receive trophies just for showing up.

» “Pure Genius” (9 p.m., WREG-TV Channel 3) stars Augustus Prew as James Bell, a Silicon Valley gazillionaire who sets up a private clinic armed with every gadget and gizmo known to man dedicated to nothing short of changing the face of medicine. As such, it’s much like the new CBS drama “Bull” and its high-tech assault on the law.

Bell hires only the best and takes only the special cases that may lead to medical breakthroughs. He has a lot of time to micromanage his team of physicians, which includes Dr. Walter Wallace (Dermot Mulroney), a glum, superelite surgeon.

Bell’s eagerness to promise “miracles” gets under the nerves of his staff, particularly the gorgeous and brilliant Dr. Talaikha Channarayapatra, portrayed by Reshma Shetty. Viewers may remember her from “Royal Pains.” Like that series, “Pure Genius” features a private and completely selective practice.

As such, it has none of the frantic, emergency-room-under-siege tension of series like “Code Black.” And that’s too bad. For a medical drama complete with life-and-death situations, “Pure Genius” is decidedly decaffeinated. It would be unkind to call it boring — but not inaccurate.

Season Premieres

» Cohabitation on “Mom” (8 p.m., WREG-TV Channel 3).

» Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman guest-star on “Life in Pieces” (8:30 p.m., WREG-TV Channel 3).

Other Highlights

» Catch seven consecutive episodes of the period thriller “Quarry” (4 p.m., Cinemax).

» Penny realizes that she has fans on “The Big Bang Theory” (7 p.m., WREGTV Channel 3).

» New security measures on “Superstore” (7 p.m., WMC-TV Channel 5).

» The designers find inspiration at a theme park on “Project Runway” (8 p.m., Lifetime).

» A Victorian therapist confronts the supernatural in the limited-edition series “The Living and the Dead” (8 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., BBC America).

» The trade deadline nears on “Pitch” (8 p.m., WHBQ-TV Channel 13).

» Kirk tips his hand on “The Blacklist” (9 p.m., WMC-TV Channel 5).

» Shocking details emerge about the Mahoney killing on “How to Get Away With Murder” (9 p.m., WATN-TV Channel 24).

» Taka takes on the cult on “Falling Water” (9 p.m., USA).

» Sam makes a point on “Better Things” (9 p.m., FX).

Kevin McDonough can be reached at kevin.tvguy@gmail.com.