(TV SERIES) A Man on the Inside Season 1 - A Delightful and Wonderful Comedy Series that Would Warm Your Heart

I found out about this in the Coming Soon section of Netflix some time ago and thought it seemed interesting. But when it was released mid of last week, I only realized it was a series instead of movie. Since I was in the middle of another series, I began watching two nights ago and finished it last night. And how was the series then? I'll just get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson - Three Man and a Baby, Cheers TV series etc) was a widower whose wife passed away a year before and did not really have anything to do as he had retired from his position as engineering professor. His daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis - Red One, Licorice Pizza etc) encouraged Charles to do some kind of activities. After seeing an Ad placed by Kovalenko Investigations led by Private Investigator Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada - Chicago Med TV series etc) for a simple job, Charles decided to apply for it.

Apparently Julie was looking for an elderly to infiltrate the Pacific View Retirement Community managed by its Director Didi (Stephanie Beatriz - Encanto, Twisted Metal TV series etc) to search for clues of the missing necklace owned by one of its resident. Excited with the prospect of being a spy/investigator, Charles prepared himself to work on this without the knowledge of his daughter. 

So how would the investigation go for Charles who had no experience in this kind of job whatsoever? You could find out in this series.

End of Brief Story Line

Now that was really delightful. I had a wonderful time watching this series from beginning till the end as it was filled with a lot of charm, humor and even some touching moments as well. Plus the series only had 8 episodes with duration of around half hour each, which meant it was quite brief and did not take a lot of time to complete. It was really refreshing to watch this kind of series on Netflix and I was happy to have given this a try, especially after finishing a series that did not exactly lift the mood earlier.

From the first episode when we were introduced to Charles (played amazingly by Ted Danson), we could immediately feel the sympathy due to his loss and closeness to him, especially looking at his relationship with the daughter which looked very realistic. But once he answered the Ad, the comedy was felt very strongly. I was laughing many times with the way he acted, like a child so excited with new experience and that "training" was totally hilarious. The humor also seemed to come naturally which made it even more enjoyable. However, when Charles finally infiltrated the retirement home, there was a different feeling. In addition to the comedic nature, somehow the dramatic feeling was stronger felt. And it was really enhanced during the final two episodes which were emotional and touching.

This series was so awesome due to the performance of the cast. Aside from those 4 lead actors, there were plenty of recurring characters. Some of them were the residents who were such a joy to see and definitely the ones that made this series truly fun, such as the two good friends Virginia (Sally Struthers - All in the Family, Gilmore Girls TV series etc) & Florence (Margaret Avery - The Color Purple, Being Mary Jane TV series etc), the rather bullying Elliot (John Getz - Jobs, MacGruder and Loud TV series etc), the loner Calbert (Stephen McKinley Henderson - Civil War etc), the kind hearted Gladys (Susan Ruttan - L. A. Law TV series etc) and few others. There were also few staff like Jaylen (Miles Fowler) & activities director Beatrice (Jama Williamson - School of Rock TV series etc) who provided additional color. And let's not forget Emily's husband Joel (Eugene Cordero - Loki TV series etc) along with their 3 teenaged children and several other support cast. 

The writing was also an added value. I noticed the name Michael Schur as the creator (you might know his name as he was co-creator of Park and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-nine as well as writer for The Office and several other hits). However, during the closing credits, I read the series was said to be based on the film "El Agente Topo". After further reading on the internet, apparently it was a Chilean Documentary film directed by Maite Alberdi which was nominated for 2021 Academy Awards. So Schur was more suitable to be series developer. But whatever his role was, he should be applauded for creating this into a really good series.

Overall, this was a fun, interesting and entertaining series that warm the heart and very pleasing due to its good story, lovely interaction among the characters and the natural humor. The mystery itself was not the major highlight but it was a good enough background. Supported by wonderful writing and brilliant acting made this series worth the while. I also like the ending which seemed to open up to possibility of renewal (should they choose to do so). Not sure yet whether it could be done, cause even if it was so good, the topic might be a bit heavy for some (it did not even reach the top 10 in Indonesia). So if you are in the mood for series with attributes I mentioned above, definitely give this a try. Who knows you could enjoy it as much as I did.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars