Here’s the Lesson Ted Danson Hopes ‘A Man on the Inside’ Will Teach Young People
Inspiration has no age limit — nor does justice.
That is, in very abstract terms, the philosophy of sitcom magnate Michael Schur’s newest comedy, A Man on the Inside, starring slightly older sitcom legend Ted Danson. In the Netflix original series launched this past week, Danson plays a widower and retired engineer whose life takes a sharp turn in his Golden Years when he decides play private investigator by going undercover at Pacific View Retirement Community in San Francisco to track down a missing ruby necklace.
Based on the true story of a 83-year-old Chilean man who went undercover at a nursing home to expose elder abuse, A Man on the Inside has already made a strong impression on fans and critics alike with a near universally positive reception, but the real impact that Danson hopes his newest project will have is to change America’s perception of aging’s affect on the creative process.
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In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Danson, 76, says that he hopes A Man on the Inside will teach young people (and the young at heart) that “there’s no shelf life to your creativity, your productivity and to your contribution to the world. So keep going.”
“I realized what I really want to do with my life and my acting is, with whatever life I’m given, to experience what it is to try to be funny at every age, just to keep exploring what it’s like to be human, and human with a sense of humor at any age,” Danson told his interviewer, saying of Schur’s project. “Then this came along, and it was like, wow, this was perfect.”
Danson sees A Man on the Inside as an extension of his own philosophy, explaining, “One of the messages I feel in life and in this story is, Mary (Steenburgen) always says that we tell our children, ‘You can do anything, you can be anything.’ And then there’s a period in life when we stop telling that to ourselves.” Danson continued, “All of a sudden we think there’s an age limit or something, a shelf life to our being creative and productive and giving in life. And there isn’t, shouldn’t be, and it’s up to people my age to keep going.”
“Look, here I am in my 70s, 80s, and I’m still going,” Danson pointed out. "It is a good message to younger people, too. So it’s not just about aging — we think that life sort of starts to end at a certain age. Life doesn’t end until it ends, and we should be celebratory from birth to death. Life is not just that younger part. Yes, it hurts, and there’s grief and sadness and loss, but keep going. Keep going.”
As long as young people keep going and keep their creativity alive, there’s no reason why Gen Z can’t one day make their own nursing home comedies.
