A Man on the Inside

As I update this in NOV 2025 we just finished watching season 2, again just great entertainment with accomplished actors and interesting characters.

Ted Danson, about 76, stars as Charles, about 76, a retired Professor of Engineering and living in San Francisco. He also is Producer of this series which sets itself apart from most by avoiding the all-too-common filthy language dialog. This in fact is very clean and more pleasant as a result.

In the story his wife had died perhaps a year ago from the effects of Alzheimer's. He is healthy but perhaps bored with his daily routine. He has a habit of reading periodicals and newspapers and often cuts an interesting one out to send to his married daughter in Sacramento. One day, through a cut-out hole he glimpses a small, short ad. Looking for someone in the 75 to 85 years age range for a specific job as a private investigator.

Season 1: This takes him to a private investigator hired by a man whose mother is in a type of upscale old folks home in San Francisco, some meaningful jewelry was stolen and the son wants the thief to be caught. Charles will be the key.

So he is hired to check into the place and observe and report as the person to expose what is going on.

Ted Danson is just perfect in this role which he plays with lots of humor. Quickly it becomes less about who the thief was and more about the relationships. The cast of characters are played by a group of fine actors, many of them old favorites we have come to know from the past 50 years or so.

Season 2: This job takes him to a private college, as a retired engineer he takes a job as a visiting professor. The story is totally different, it involves solving a mystery about a mega rich donor who has unsavory plans for the school. Some of the characters from the nursing home reappear but there are many new characters also. Including his real-life wife and the two develop a relationship.

My wife and I enjoyed both seasons, streaming. We generally watched two episodes a night.

One of the more enjoyable mini-series that we have watched. We hope there will be another season with a novel storyline next year.

Loved it! What I was expected was a comedy full of clichés about somebody going undercover,his crazy antics & so forth.

Instead we get a series about a man that not only helped others,but actually helped himself heal from losing his wife.

This great series wasn't full of cheesy laughs & corny lines,found myself actually emotional during some parts because of the way topics were handled-Like the resident with memory issues.

However it wasn't all serious that made you feel down or bored getting through episodes,it kept the series watch worthy because you wanted to see how it played out-Who did the stealing,etc.

The casting to acting was great,cinematography & locations nicely done.

I really hope they do another season & bring a great mixture of laughs,emotions,script,location plus cast like they did on Charles next detective styled adventures as they did on this one.

Son and I watched over holidays and we both enjoyed it immensely. Ted is a true gem, the guest stars were all people we knew from past shows and we got to see them again, reminding us how good they are. We binge watched this because the episodes were short which is perfect to keep our interest. There is a great chance for this to continue with so much more fun and games among an aging population. So much information just in the storyline about nursing homes, aging/elderly, grief and loss, friendships and honesty. It has a small tinge of murders in the building but unique in its own way with the mix of young and old in thoughts and technology. This show is a winner for me.

Loved this show. It's just a good watch. The plot might seem cliché but it unexpectedly surprised me with the depth they managed to put in this show. It explores the experience of old age via exploration of many issues related to it like loneliness, friendships, grief/loss, death, and dementia. I was incredibly impressed they managed to balance the humor of solving the case and the seriousness of these heavier topics.

Besides that, the characters are super likable and the episodes are on the shorter side so it's a pretty easy watch. The acting is pretty good, they capture cringe comedy well (in a good way). You could watch this as a family with older kids (tween and above).

I'm honestly pretty excited for the next season, one of a kind show for sure. You should give it a watch!

A Man on the Inside was so much better than I expected. I thought it was going to be a show aimed for older adults because most of the cast is older, I mean it takes place in a retirement home. I was wrong, this can be enjoyable for people of all ages. Ted Danson continues to add to his already incredible legacy. It seems like everything he does these days is at least worth watching. It also stars the incredibly beautiful Lilah Richcreek Estrada, Stephanie Beatriz, among others. The show just came out last month and has already been renewed for another season, that's how good it's been doing on Netflix. I'm already looking forward to next season.