2 out of 5

Created by: Michael Schur

covers season 1

I am totally down with low stakes mysteries. There can be something really charming about that approach if it’s backed up by quality characters, and / or a story that swaps in relatability or cleverness for something more grandiose, and allows for an even more disarming concluding act, if everything aligns.

Across various genres, Man on the Inside creator Michael Schur has rather defined “low stakes” TV to great effect, leveraging my above equation upon even high concepts like The Good Place that manage to succeed with big ideas told with humble charm. Taking the enigmatic Ted Danson from that series, and porting over Stephanie Beatriz from Brooklyn 99, and plugging them into a Schur-toned mystery lite should absolutely work. And for sure, it’s carried on some definite charisma from not only Danson, but also other leads like Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Lilah Richcreek Estrada, however, the core conceit never quite clicks enough to merit the show’s leaning into drama / mystery elements, and the older demo towards which it’s aimed will surely tire of the thin range of old folks humor employed.

On the one hand, such TV is harmless. But it’s also so effete as to cross a line into being an active waste of time, abusing casualness to make nearly no character progress beyond bookend episodes, establish not even minimal stakes for its story, both of which expose moreso the sitcom logic being applied (i.e. a lack of), as well as the mystery solution pretty much being covered as soon as we start. (Presumably not purposefully adding irony to the actual solution, given a focus on old age decline – like, did we all forget this was kind of obvious?)

Man Inside finds PI Julie (Estrada) in need of someone to go under cover in a retirement home to suss out a thief. Widowed and isolated Charles Nieuwendyk (Danson) fits the bill, surprising himself by acclimating to the task of spy – albeit in hijinx-y fish out of water ways.

Schur and team do find some funny situations, and eventually get around to some salient and realistic thoughts on age, and how we treat our elderly, but such positives would have been better communicated in a 90 minute movie, not treading water for 8 episodes.