Most people got to know Ted Danson when he starred as Sam Malone on Cheers from 1982-93. But he started on screen in the mid ’70s, first on soap operas then as a guest star on various shows. That’s almost 50 years on our screens. That’s a lot of trust built up with an audience, but that’s also a lot of time to show just how nuanced his acting style is. All of it comes into play on his new Netflix series, which was created by Michael Schur.
Opening Shot: A fuzzy video of a wedding, where a young Charles Niewendyk (Ted Danson) asking his new bride to grow old with him.
The Gist: Decades later, Charles, a retired college professor in engineering, has been adrift since his wife died. He gets up, puts on his usual jacket and tie, reads his spy novels, cuts out articles to send to his daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) and goes to bed.
After getting one of those articles, Emily decides she needs to visit her dad. She and her husband Joel (Eugene Cordero) and their three boys take the two-hour drive from Sacramento to San Francisco to check in. She tells him that he needs to find a hobby or project in order to meet people and fill his days.
At the same time, private investigator Julie Kovalenko (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) is trying to figure out a way to get inside the Pacific View retirement community; she’s been hired to investigate the theft of a necklace belonging to her client’s mother. Then it comes to her: Put out a newspaper ad (not one online) for a man between the ages of 75-85 to go undercover. The only requirement: “Must have phone.”
Charles responds to the ad and is easily the best candidate, because he’s the only one who can text Julie a picture. Julie comes with him, posing as Emily, and they’re shown around by the community’s director, Didi (Stephanie Beatriz). He also meets the very horny and eager Virginia (Sally Struthers).
When he sees the memory care unit, he hesitates to take on the job, telling Julie that his wife had Alzheimer’s disease. Julie is able to relate, because her grandfather had it, and watching him decline was tough on her. Charles decides to go ahead, wearing a wire and camera-equipped glasses.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? A Man On The Inside, created by Michael Schur (Parks & Recreation, The Good Place), is based on the Oscar-nominated documentary The Mole Agent. Yes, this situation actually happened in real life. The show has an air about it that’s reminiscent of Only Murders In The Building.
Our Take: While A Man On The Inside has its share of funny moments, the show isn’t the laugh-a-minute pacing of Schur’s other shows, but in this case, that’s just fine. The vibe of the show is supposed to be poignant as well as funny, with Danson putting in a performance that’s equally funny and emotional.
One of the reasons that Danson is able to get audiences to buy in on this insane adventure Charles is going on isn’t just due to his acting ability, which of course is substantial. It’s fifty years of trust that he’s built up with the viewing audience; the de-aged version of Danson that’s shown in the opening wedding clip certainly doesn’t look far off of the thirty-five year-old Danson we saw on the first season of Cheers 42 years ago.
It’s that journey we’ve taken with Danson that makes us believe him as a lonely widower who has conflicting feelings about what he’s doing for Julie at the retirement community. He’s enjoying connecting with new people, but also awkwardly tries to be a spy, even though he has no idea what he’s doing. Danson is one of the few that can pull off that good-natured dichotomy; it’s the reason why he was so good in The Good Place, his previous show with Schur.
We’ve seen other shows where veteran actors play retirement-community residents who act like they’re back in high school, so that part of the story is nothing new. But having veteran comedic actors like Struthers in the mix ensures that characters like Virginia will have some nuance to them. Some of these concerns will be minimized due to the presence of Danson, however.
Sex and Skin: Nothing explicit in the first two episodes.
Parting Shot: Charles wakes up on his first day at Pacific View, puts on his jacket and camera glasses, and starts his day.
Sleeper Star: In the second episode, Charles encounters Victoria again and her buddy Florence (Margaret Avery), who is the welcome committee. He also encounters an enemy in Elliott (John Getz), a former beau of Virginia’s.
Most Pilot-y Line: Emily and Joel having to deal with their somewhat dopey teen and preteen boys doesn’t quite fit in to the story, at least at first. But we did laugh at their vain attempts at getting through to them as they stared at screens, but that’s only out of painful recognition. Aside from Emily potentially blowing Charles’ cover, we have yet to see what her role is really going to be.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Danson’s poignant lead performance is what we like the most about A Man On The Inside, but we see enough of the world inside Pacific View to think that the series will become more than just about his character being a mole.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.