A Man on the Inside: Ted Danson shines in a delightfully clever crime-comedy

Character actors and former TV stars have been the biggest beneficiaries since Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO expanded their reach. While Hunters brought Al Pacino to the smaller screen and Westworld brought Anthony Hopkins to the smaller screen, many former stars have benefited from the advent of OTT platforms. Ted Danson is one of them, and after The Good Place, he gets another chance to prove that age is no barrier to talent.

His latest offering – A Man on the Inside – has him playing a widower and a retired college professor who decides to break free from his boring routine on the insistence of his daughter, only to find himself in a complicated situation. He ends up in a retirement home under strange circumstances: his employer poses as his daughter, his daughter pretends to be his niece, and he secretly investigates a crime as ‘a man on the inside.’

Add to that the people he meets, the friends he makes, and the enemies he avoids, and you have an eight-episode series where you can’t stop laughing because of hilarious misunderstandings and laugh-out-loud moments. Created by Michael Schur and inspired by The Mole Agent, the series evokes the charm of Only Murders in the Building—high praise, given its four successful seasons so far.

What works

Ted Danson’s Charles Nieuwendyk is easily the show's star, and he dives right in after his daughter Emily Nieuwendyk (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) urges him to break free from his monotonous routine. He applies for a job where the criterion is to be old and able to use gadgets, where the job is to snoop around an old-age home, and where the time limit is 30 days.

Ted uses all his experience from Cheers and the Three Men and a Baby series to make the character believable. How his employer, Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada), handles him gives him all the support he needs. Both the ladies in his life—the real and the fake daughter—support him throughout his mission, which results in hilarious moments.

The scenes where his two daughters meet for the first time, where he remembers her late wife, and where he finally cracks the case are highlights of the show. The script doesn’t move away from the plot, and even though it could have ended in many different and happy ways, the way it concluded will bring a smile to your face.

Knowing this is based on actual events makes the story instantly relatable. However, one must also commend the many supporting characters who meet Charles, help him in his mission, and make him realize he isn’t lonely.

What doesn’t work

For me, the biggest disappointment of the series was Stephanie Beatriz as Didi, the managing director of the retirement community. Her performance feels constrained, as her overly stoic delivery and deepened voice echo Detective Rosa Diaz too closely, distracting her from the new role. Had another actor been cast in her character, an audience like myself would have enjoyed the series more instead of waiting for Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) to turn up from some corner.

Naming Ted Danson’s character, Charles feels like an oversight, as it draws unintended comparisons to Steve Martin’s similarly named character in Only Murders in the Building. They could have given him another name, which would have helped the series. Still, by providing the same first name to the title character, they unwittingly reminded the audience of the ‘other’ series where not one but two oldies solve crimes as a pastime.

Verdict

Charles or not, A Man on the Inside is one of the best TV shows aired/streamed this year. It offers a refreshing break from a typical action series with ensemble casts saving the day and takes the audience back into the 1980s and 1990s when things were much more straightforward.

The issues of the older generation are discussed and pondered, which doesn't happen much on TV these days. In fact, unlike modern TV shows, no computer genius was needed to solve the case here, and no ensemble cast was required, just like it was done in the past.

Whether A Man on the Inside earns a second season or award recognition like Only Murders in the Building remains uncertain. Still, its success proves a growing demand for clever, character-driven crime comedies. Thanks to the expanding opportunities on streaming platforms, aging actors who once led blockbuster hits can now seamlessly transition to rich character roles.