“Why aren’t more people talking about this?” is one of the more annoying knee-jerk phrases of our culturally scattered time. Usually, people are talking about it, just perhaps not where you’re looking and not in the same numbers as people once did back when there was less stuff competing for our collective attention. So even though I really want to ask, “Why aren’t more people talking about A Man on the Inside?” I’m going to guess that people somewhere are indeed chattering about a Netflix show with a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But if, like me, you’re just not hearing it, let me be the first to tell you that A Man on the Inside is a warm and somber little show that stars newcomer Ted Danson as a lonely retiree-turned-private detective who goes undercover in an assisted living facility. It’s a lot breezier and funnier than that might sound, but the show also handles sensitive topics like death, dementia, and estrangement with care and consideration. It reminds me a little of another Danson detective show, the gone-too-soon Bored to Death, in its pace and absurdity but also in that it’s just plain enjoyable. I think this Danson guy is really going places. -DW
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