A Man on the Inside

⭐ 7.5/10

Mike Schur show, Ted Danson, what's not to love! A lot actually, but I'll get there.

This is an 8 episode show about an older man who goes into a retirement home as a secret agent to try finding someone who has been stealing jewelry.  Great concept! However, this show has a Netflix sheen I can't really describe.  It has a high budget as they hop around San Francisco, but something about the home looks so stagy and spotless and weird. Its something I got over eventually, but it took me a bit.  Even the house his daughter lives in is spotless and perfect, not to mention his own home which is straight out of an AD youtube video.

The daughter is the real turd in the punchbowl here - she can't act! There are these scenes with her and her family and they are so cringy, trying to be relevant modern parents.  The way the mom and dad talk is so unbelievable, it makes me think Schur was given no notes and just got a fat cheque to go off and make this show in isolation.  I found the first 3 episodes really tough because of her. She is so flat and robotic and unbelievable, especially when paired with the charm of Ted Danson.

After episode 3 I thought this show was great!  We get to know some of the other people in the retirement village and they are cute and a bit cookie cutter, but the actors that played them were lovable.  There is another older man who is kind of the antagonist who I thought was really funny and felt like a real person. I hated the staff, especially the lady running the the home, but then she gets a solo episode and I did a 180! If the first 3 episodes were too sweet and overly earnest I thought the back 5 were pitched just right. The final episode ended the series well, and at the end of the day it was a feel good miniseries that made my wife cry every episode. I like to feel somewhat challenged by what I watch, but a mushy "comedy" about purpose and death and family is fine too.