A Man on the Inside is coming to Netflix in November but it'll be different from the doc it's based on!

A Man on the Inside is coming to Netflix but don't expect it to be just dramatizing the documentary it's based on!

Adapting true-life tales for TV has become a hot trend lately. It's driven by the success of shows like Baby Reindeer, which became a monster hit and Emmy-winning series for the streamer. Netflix is tackling the genre again with A Man on the Inside, based on the 2021 Oscar-nominated short film The Mole Agent.

The documentary follows a Chilean private investigator who's hired to look into accusations of abuse at a nursing home. The investigator hires the elderly Sergio to go undercover as a resident to find out the truth. He eventually grows close to the people there, and while he uncovers some odd crimes, he decides it's better to let them live their lives without serious wrongdoing.

Among those who enjoyed the film was writer/producer Michael Schur, who created the acclaimed NBC comedy The Good Place. His longtime partner Morgan Sackett suggested turning it into a TV show with The Good Place star Ted Danson in the lead. 

Set to premiere on Netflix in November, the series puts an American spin on the concept with Danson playing Charles, who feels bored in retirement. He answers an ad for a new job, which ends up being from a private eye (Lilah Richcreek Estrada). He's hired to see if a nursing home patient is being abused. More out of boredom than anything else, Charles agrees to go into the home as a resident and soon finds himself getting excited about the case. 

The supporting cast includes Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Charles' daughter, Stephanie Beatriz as the nursing home director and Sally Struthers, John Getz, Susan Ruttan, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Lori Tan Chinn as among the facility's residents. It looks like a fun show but there had to be changes to make it more dramatic than the original film was. 

How is A Man on the Inside changed from the source?

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Schur acknowledged there were the obvious changes from an international film to an American TV show and having to dramatize things. However, he also wanted to make changes in the Charles character and how he shifted over the series. 

"I just wanted to make a bigger deal out of the case. I wanted the P.I. to be more involved. I wanted there to be more clues and more cliffhangers and more of a sense that this is a real crime that's being committed and a real thing that demands investigation. And I wanted to show Charles going from a person who was kind of bad at it and was playing dress up with the Sherlock Holmes cap, to all the way to being a person who was potentially capable of actually putting the puzzle pieces together and solving a case."

Schur stated those changes including beefing up Ellis' character as he wanted more on the father-daughter dynamic as well as Henderson's invented friend Calbert and how his bond with Charles is a core of the show. 

"And over the course of the season, we really in the writers' room talked about how ultimately — yes, this is a spy story, it's a comedy story, it's a story about families — but really it's a love story. And the relationship that you're following is the relationship between Charles and Calbert and their best friend romance is kind of the emotional core of the whole show."

Schur insists the show will have a typical mix of comedy and drama anchored by Danson's performance. Yet he says he was most drawn to the human elements of the story and the changes will make A Man on the Inside an even more compelling series for viewers.

A Man on the Inside premieres on Netflix this November. Stay tuned to Americans Undercover for more coverage and follow us on Facebook!