Everybody’s favorite acronym-inventing, Manhattan-swilling, nose-tapping retiree turned sleuth Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson) is back with Season 2 of A Man on the Inside. Watch the trailer to check in with Charles before diving into the latest installment from creator Mike Schur (The Good Place), streaming now on Netflix.
After Charles mails his daughter one too many newspaper clippings, Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) insists her widowed, retired father find a hobby to fill his less-busy days in Season 1. He stumbles into a private investigator assignment that takes him to Pacific View retirement home in search of missing jewelry. Not only is he the perfect man for the job, but he’s hooked on his new calling.
Season 2 takes Charles to Wheeler College, where a game-changing donation from billionaire alumni Brad Vinick (Gary Cole) hangs in the balance. Charles goes undercover as an engineering professor to find out who is blackmailing school president Jack Beringer (Max Greenfield), and soon Charles’s hands are full with a roster of shady suspects, brought to life by a peerless group of funny people.
“We shot the moon in some ways with the folks who joined us,” Schur says of assembling the cast. “It felt like one of those kismet-y things where every time we had an archetype in our head of what kind of person it should be, that person actually was available and said yes. Some of them were people we’ve worked with before in different ways, but then we just got really lucky.”
As the big man on campus, Danson oozes charisma, setting the tone for an equally magnetic cast of new actors and returning Season 1 favorites. One of the people Charles investigates is Mona Margadoff, a hit rock star turned fierce advocate for her music students at Wheeler. Mona is played by Oscar-winning actor Mary Steenburgen (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Book Club), to whom Danson is married in real life.
In an industry where opportunities for older actors, particularly women, are lacking, A Man on the Inside is a breath of fresh air and proof that humor really only gets better with age. “Even before [Mike] reached out to me, I was thinking I wanted to discover what it is to try to be funny and act at every age of my life,” says 77-year-old Danson, two-time Emmy winner and 18-time nominee. “I want to know what it’s like with all the aches and pains.”
The legendary cast members deliver their signature irresistible charm, honed over decades spent defining the comedy genre. Learn more about the A Man on the Inside Season 2 cast and the characters they play, below.
Usual Suspects
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Ted Danson
as Charles Nieuwendyk
About the Character
As a longtime engineering professor and devoted husband, Charles Nieuwendyk is a man of routine and stability. When he retires and his wife passes away from Alzheimer’s disease, he’s set adrift, much to his daughter Emily’s concern. But becoming private investigator for a potentially dangerous jewelry heist at a retirement community probably isn’t what Emily had in mind when she encouraged him to find a new project to fill his days.
On the heels of his success uncovering missing heirlooms in Season 1, Charles is ready to level up and asks his boss, the unflappable Julie, for a juicier case. She sends him to Wheeler College, where he wades through campus politics to figure out who is trying to thwart a massive donation from a problematic billionaire.
“Ted is a marvel. He is tall and handsome and suave and debonair, but he’s also incredibly goofy and silly. I’ve never met anyone who likes acting as much as Ted does,” says Schur. “He’s been on TV for 50 years, won every award you can win, and is universally regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th and 21st centuries. And still, after takes, he’ll come over to the director and say, ‘Help me out. What can I do? How can I make this better?’ Add to that the years of practice and his natural ability — no one has better comedic timing than he does. That … thing of ‘10,000 hours of practice makes you an expert.’ Ted’s got 100,000 hours of comic acting on TV.”
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
as Emily
About the Character
Last season, Emily and her dad paved a new dynamic in their relationship in the wake of her mother’s death. She’s a big supporter of Charles trying new things, no matter how unexpected her role in that may be (see Emily stealing Pacific View retirement home’s files to help her dad’s case in Episode 3 of Season 1).
Season 2 presents other unexpected ways for Emily to show up for her dad, whose latest case takes him to her alma mater. The two continue to learn how to better communicate with and show up for each other, all while grieving the missing piece of their family trio.
Meanwhile, Emily and her husband, Joel, are busy with their three sons, Jace (Deuce Basco), Wyatt (Wyatt Yang), and Nico (Lincoln Lambert), who rarely say anything besides “bro” or “where’s the peanut butter?” while looking directly at it in the refrigerator.
Previously In
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, New Girl, Masterminds
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Follow Mary Elizabeth Ellis
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Lilah Richcreek Estrada
as Julie
About the Character
Season 2 finds Julie as uncharmed and unphased by Charles as ever. When the president of Wheeler College, Jack Beringer, taps her to uncover who is sabotaging Brad Vinick’s donation, Julie leans on Charles once more. She looks to another unexpected source for help on this season’s case as well: her estranged mother, Vanessa.
Previously In
Chicago Med, Dave, The Wonder Years
Follow Lilah Richcreek Estrada
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
About the Character
Didi oversees San Francisco’s Pacific View retirement residence. Now that she’s been looped into Charles’s clandestine occupation, she enlists his boss, Julie, for some of Pacific View’s PI needs, and they strike up an unexpected relationship.
Previously In
Encanto, Twisted Metal, Hazbin Hotel
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PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Stephen McKinley Henderson
as Calbert
About the Character
Calbert and Charles may not be living under the same roof this season, but their friendship is as strong as ever. Now that Calbert knows that his friend is a spy, he even helps with Charles’s Wheeler College case, putting his time at the Pentagon (as part of the food services department) to work. This season, his stoicism is put to the test, and he learns to take care of himself, instead of just those around him.
Previously In
Fences, Civil War, Lady Bird
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PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
About the Character
Elliott, Pacific View’s resident bad boy, returns for Season 2. He’s as grouchy and churlish as ever, even after finally convincing Virginia to marry him after years of will-they-won’t-they drama.
Previously In
Blood Simple, The Fly
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Sally Struthers
as Virginia
About the Character
Married life has not made Virginia any less of a charmer, and this season, Charles put her superpower to work during his case.
Previously In
All in the Family, Archie Bunker’s Place, Gloria
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PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
About the Character
Emily’s husband, Joel, is a supportive and exceedingly competent 10th-grade science teacher. With Charles’s case taking place at Joel’s alma mater, he gets to relive some of his glory days, which include when he first met Emily.
Previously In
The Good Place, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Loki
Welcome to Campus
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Mary Steenburgen
as Mona Margadoff
About the Character
Mona rose to fame as part of the band Lavender Highway in the ’60s with her track “Goodbye Baby.” For the past 40 years, however, she’s put her rock-and-roll charisma toward advocating for the Wheeler music department and her students. She plays a key role in Charles’s case.
“The character was such a joy to play,” says Steenburgen. “She is so wonderfully wise and cuckoo all at the same time and a lot like me, but [she’s] also different enough that it fascinated me, too.”
Schur got to know Steenburgen while working with Danson on The Good Place. “There was only one possible person to play this role, and it was Mary,” says the show’s creator. “It’s been in the works for a very long time. It was not a story that could have been told without her. I’m very glad that she said yes.”
Previously In
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Book Club
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Max Greenfield
as Jack Beringer
About the Character
Jack is the president of Wheeler College, and his drive to raise money for the school sometimes clouds his ability to see what’s right in front of him.
“Max lives four houses away from me. As we were trying to figure that character out, I was walking my dog and saw him and was like, ‘Wait a second…,’ ” says Schur.
Previously In
The Neighborhood
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PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Jill Talley
as Holly Bodgemark
About the Character
Holly is the overworked, perpetually frazzled, Pepto–guzzling provost of Wheeler College.
“Jill Talley showed up out of nowhere, hadn’t acted in a long time, and just decided to go back to acting,” says Schur. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, perfect.’ When[ever] we needed someone to step into a role, we found the perfect person.”
Previously In
Mr. Show, Spongebob Squarepants
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PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
David Strathairn
as Dr. Cole
About the Character
Dr. Cole is the head of the English Department at Wheeler College and one of the most famous and popular professors on campus. His dedication to Wheeler makes him distrust new-to-campus Charles, whom he disses more often than he doesn’t.
“David Strathairn was thrown out as an idea by one of the writers, and my immediate thought was, ‘We’re not going to get David Straithairn to play this part,’ ” says Schur. But “that guy just loves acting.”
Previously In
The Bourne Legacy, Alphas
Linda Park
as Elizabeth Muki
About the Character
Elizabeth is the director of the Fine Arts Department at Wheeler College.
Previously In
Bosch, For All Mankind
Michaela Conlin as Andrea Yi (bottom right)
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Michaela Conlin
as Andrea Yi
About the Character
Andrea teaches economics at Wheeler College and is excited about the changes coming to the school.
Previously In
Bones, For All Mankind
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Sam Huntington
as Max Griffin
About the Character
Max Griffin is a rabble-rousing, motorcycle-riding professor of journalism at Wheeler College, and his dedication to his students knows no bounds.
Previously In
Superman Returns, Being Human
About the Character
Claire is a Wheeler College junior who works a double-digit number of campus jobs to pay for her tuition.
Previously In
The Boogeyman
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New Suspects
Lisa Gilroy
as Kesleigh Rose
About the Character
Kesleigh Rose is a budding photographer and the new, much younger wife of billionaire Brad Vinick.
“We wrote this part [of] Brad Vinick’s young third, fourth, fifth wife, whatever she is, and Lisa Gilroy came into the room and just absolutely blew the doors off the place,” says Schur. “I knew who she was, and I know people who had worked with her were like, ‘She’s so funny.’ But seeing it in person was really special. It was like, ‘Oh man, she is a force to be reckoned with.’ ”
Previously In
Interior Chinatown, Jury Duty
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Constance Marie
as Vanessa
About the Character
Vanessa is a former con artist who helps her daughter, Julie, with whom she has a complicated relationship, and Charles with their case.
Previously In
With Love, George Lopez
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PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
About the Character
Brad Vinick is a successful executive whose sizable donation to his alma mater starts a chain reaction that leads to Charles getting hired. Why might someone protest his donation? Well, for one, because his private plane has made round-trip flights from San Francisco to Aspen every day for four years: his dog is in San Francisco, and his dogwalker is in Aspen. As Vinick puts it, “What else am I supposed to do?”
“We had [the] part of this billionaire Brad Vinick: We were imagining the archetype, and the archetype was Gary Cole,” says Schur. “We’re like, ‘Well, let’s just try to get Gary Cole.’ He had been on Veep, and [Schur’s producing partner] Morgan Sackett produced Veep, so he had some understanding of how we like to make TV. He had a break in his very busy schedule and he joined in.”
Watch them on Netflix
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Jason Mantzoukas
as Apollo Lambrakis
About the Character
Apollo is a hummus-devouring contractor who dreams of writing the Great American Novel.
“At some point in every show, there’s a character that’s so insane and such a lunatic that I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who could possibly play the part,” says Schur. “Every time, I’m like, ‘Oh, I have to call Jason Mantzoukas and see if he’s free.’ ”
Watch them on Netflix
