Perhaps what the world has been missing most of late is a heartwarming Mike Schur sitcom. Luckily, The Good Place creator has re-teamed with Ted Danson for a new Netflix series that brings his signature warmth and silliness back to our screens beginning November 21. In the A Man On The Inside trailer, Danson is a widow who gets a new lease on life by gaining purpose (assisting a private investigator on an intriguing case) and finding community (the residents of the retirement home he’s spying on).
“When Charles spies a classified ad from private investigator Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada), he’s inspired to roll the dice on a new adventure. Charles’ mission: to go undercover inside the Pacific View Retirement Home in San Francisco and solve the mystery of a stolen family heirloom,” reads the series synopsis (via The Hollywood Reporter). “Everyone, residents and staff alike, is a potential suspect, and it’s up to Charles to solve the case without landing on the radar of Didi (Stephanie Beatriz), the all-seeing, all-knowing director of Pacific View. But keeping a low profile proves difficult as the affable Charles quickly endears himself to his fellow residents. Being a ‘man on the inside’ sends Charles on an exciting journey that makes him realize there’s a lot more life left to be had—and allows him to reconnect with Emily in the process.”
Charles’ daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) issues him a challenge in the A Man On The Inside trailer: “Find something that excites you.” His investigative mission certainly lights a fire under Charles, as does the promise of 3 P.M. happy hour at Pacific View. “For the majority of seniors, the threat to their well-being isn’t an accident or health. It’s loneliness,” Didi says. Connecting with the other residents—an all-star cast that includes Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sally Struthers, Margaret Avery, John Getz, Susan Ruttan, Lori Tan Chinn, and Clyde Kusatsu—alleviates some of Charles’ loneliness, but it also complicates his secret mission to uncover the missing necklace Julie was hired to find.
A Man On The Inside is based on the Oscar-winning documentary Mole Agent. “This is a multigenerational show, and it is equally important to investigate the inner lives of the people who are my age—because it’s a weird thing, when your parents start to need your help. You’re not used to that,” Schur told Netflix’s Tudum. “The whole basis for the relationship was that you need their help. It struck me as such a good idea to adapt this because we just don’t talk about this stuff. It feels painful, and it’s especially hard to talk about it directly with your parents.”
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