Oct. 28 (UPI) — Ted Danson (The Good Place) goes undercover at a retirement home in A Man on the Inside, finding a renewed sense of purpose along the way.
In a preview released Monday, viewers see Charles (Danson) waking up, and going through the humdrum of his morning routine.
Viewers hear his daughter, Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) express her concern.
“He’s retired now,” she says. “When mom was alive, they lived this big, full life.”
The trailer then cuts to Emily sitting across from her dad.
“I’m giving you a challenge,” she says. “Find something that excites you.”
“It’s a good challenge. I accept,” he replies.
When he sees an ad for an “investigative assistant” between 75 and 85 years old, he jumps at the opportunity to try something new.
A family heirloom disappeared at a senior living community, and he is hired to move in, pretending to be a resident as he tries to crack the case.
The series, which consists of eight episodes, is based on the documentary The Mole Agent.
“I knew almost nothing about [The Mole Agent], and I just fell for it so hard. The hero, Sergio, is so wonderfully wrought, so real, just a lovely human being,” executive producer Mike Schur (The Good Place) told Netflix’s Tudum. “It’s a beautiful meditation on aging, a subject we are uniquely terrible in this country at confronting, dealing with, or discussing.”
He said the idea for an adaptation came from his colleague, Morgan Sackett, who suggested Danson for the lead.
“As soon as we had that idea, things happened very quickly,” he said.
Stephanie Beatriz, Lilah Richcreek Estrada, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sally Struthers, Eugene Cordero, Margaret Avery, John Getz, Susan Ruttan, Lori Tan Chinn, Clyde Kusatsu, Marc Evan Jackson and Jama Williamson also star.
The series will stream on Netflix. Nov. 21.