When The Mole Agent, a Chilean documentary, was nominated for the Oscar for the Best Documentary Feature, the chances of it being adapted into a comedy starring Ted Danson were slim, at best. But that’s exactly what Morgan Sackett, the producing partner of The Good Place creator Mike Schur , thought when he watched the doc. The film follows an elderly man who goes undercover in a nursing home to investigate claims that a resident was being mistreated.
The series takes a similar, if slightly more lighthearted, route with Danson playing retired professor Charles, who, after struggling to deal with his wife’s death and growing distant from his daughter Emily, played by Mary Elizabeth Ellis, spies a classified ad from private investigator Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) and takes on a new adventure. He goes undercover at the Pacific View Retirement Home in San Francisco to solve the mystery of a stolen family heirloom. But after meeting the residents, and boss Didi (Stephanie Beatriz), he realizes there’s a lot more life left to be had.
The series touches on themes such as aging, loneliness and friendship, albeit in a very funny way. Danson has said that he was inspired by his friend Jane Fonda, who still “had her foot on the gas pedal at 80”. “It was lovely to be funny in the attempt of doing something serious,” he told Deadline in an interview alongside Schur, who serves as showrunner on the Universal Television-produced comedy.
The eight-part series also stars St.
