Active Adult Communities ‘A Man on the Inside’: Insights on Senior Communities 1/13/2025 | By Annie Tobey A new Netflix comedy series, “A Man on the Inside,” is set primarily in a retirement community. The show offers feel-good entertainment mixed with dramatic tension. It gives TV viewers a chance to see talented over-50 actors plying their trade, playing characters with rich, non-stereotypical lives. But is it an accurate reflection of senior communities? Charles Nieuwendyk has a unique and mysterious reason for moving into a senior living community. In the Netflix comedy series “A Man on the Inside,” Nieuwendyk infiltrates the facility in order to find out who stole a resident’s ruby necklace. Over the course of eight episodes, the “infiltrator” and viewers get to know – and perhaps to love – residents of Pacific View Retirement Center. Viewers may wonder, is the spy being himself or putting on an act to uncover the mystery? They may also wonder, does the show accurately depict life in senior communities? As the series begins, Charles, played by Ted Danson (best known as Sam Malone on “Cheers,” 1982-1992), is retired. He is still mourning the death of his wife, and as a result has become sedentary and withdrawn. His daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) worries about her father’s empty life and gives him a challenge: “Find something that excites you,” she says. He accepts. At the same time, private investigator Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) accepts a client who wants her to uncover who at Pacific View Retirement Center stole his mother’s ruby necklace. Julie realizes the futility of showing up to the center asking questions about the disappearance, so she decides to hire an “investigative assistant” to live there as a resident – and a spy. Charles sees Julie’s ad. Although his early attempts at spycraft are amateurish and amusing, he gets the job. Gregarious and smart, Charles does a fabulous job becoming a resident, but he runs up against dead ends as a spy. Reflections of reality at senior communities The fictional Pacific View Retirement Center comes across as a fun place to live, full of interesting people, caring staff, and enjoyable activities. To get insights into whether the show paints too rosy of a picture, I spoke with Katharine Ross, president of Ross Media Solutions, who has 24 years of experience of working in the senior living industry through Seniors Guide. “What I thought was really cool about ‘A Man on the Inside’ is that it showed senior living as something you want to be part of,” Ross says. “Typically in media it’s always been represented as something to fear.” For example, “The Golden Girls” character Sophia Petrillo had lived at Shady Pines nursing home and frequently told horror stories about the experience. However, says Ross, “That doesn’t represent the senior living industry as it is today.” In the interview establishing Charles’s residency, the managing director of the community, Didi (Stephanie Beatriz), shares one of the most important benefits of living there. She says of their residents, “They’re vibrant, they’re well taken care of, and they’re together. For the majority of seniors, the biggest threat to their well-being isn’t an accident or health – it’s loneliness.” Indeed, loneliness increases a person’s risk for cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and other health concerns. Aging is marked by life transitions – empty nests, retirement, disability, decreased mobility, divorce, widowhood, and friends and family moving away or dying – all of which can exacerbate loneliness. Living in a community surrounded by peers can help. During the first happy hour at the community, Charles and his new friends share an evening of conversation, laughter, and grand fun. Charles declares, “This place is insane! It’s like high school!” “The senior living industry as it is today puts a lot of time and energy and resources into building camaraderie amongst residents,” says Ross. Staff at Pacific View and at many contemporary communities help contribute to the positive feelings. “The way the managing director in the show interacted with the residents – that’s what I see when I tour communities,” says Ross. “They tend to know residents by name. They tend to also be very familiar with the families, and that sets people up for feeling seen for who they are and what’s important to them.” The diverse personalities at Pacific View provide laughter and drama. There is the flirtatious Virginia (Sally Struthers), the cranky romantic rival Elliott (John Getz), lovable and laughable Florence (Margaret Avery), and quiet Calbert (Stephen McKinley Henderson). Viewers can laugh at the HOA-style community meeting, and warm up to rich friendships and an on-again-off-again senior romance. The relationships aren’t so different from people of any age, just in a different setting. Charles the spy continues his sleuthing, while Charles the widower thrives among his new friends. “A Man on the Inside” also showed the emphasis communities place on activities, like birthday parties and art classes, outings, and freedom. In one episode, after a shuttle takes residents to a large shopping district, Charles and a new friend leave the group and explore on their own – with the blessings of the staff. “I think that’s unknown by the public, that the communities are meant to be supportive, not constrictive,” says Ross. “In independent living or active adult communities, people come and go just like you would in your own home.” On the other hand, “If you’re in memory care, it is very much like on the show, where it’s a secured unit.” Levels of care among retirement communities Rose-colored glasses in ‘A Man on the Inside’? Like any fiction worth its salt, “A Man on the Inside” includes painful moments, such as a woman falling deeper into her memories, death, and adult children who visit infrequently. It touches on Charles’s relationship with his daughter Emily and his grandsons, and on Emily’s struggles in raising her three teenage sons. Pacific View Retirement Center primarily portrays independent living, with apartments and amenities for retired individuals who need little additional medical care. It also includes a memory care unit, providing a poignant touchpoint for Charles, whose wife had battled dementia. However, the fictional community didn’t include other aspects of senior communities. “Where the show was very Hollywood,” Ross says, “is along the lines of the acuity level, meaning the type of assistance the residents needed. You didn’t see many wheelchairs on the show, and typically when you go into a community you’re going to see some mobility devices. That’s the nature of that stage of aging.” Ross reiterates, “Isolation and loneliness is one of the largest dangers to our seniors. We saw this play out so tragically during COVID – seniors that were isolated and didn’t have a lot of social engagement, their health fell off very quickly. It showed all of us the importance of having those connections with other people and enjoying laughing and storytelling together, sharing a journey with others who are … in the same time of life. “It’s been painted in people’s minds that you move into (this is a word the industry hates) a ‘home’ and that’s that, but that’s not really what senior living is today. You move into a place … and it really is a genuine sense of community.” “A Man on the Inside” is available for streaming on Netflix. It was renewed for a second season, which is planned to release in 2025. Read More Annie Tobey Seniors Guide editor Annie Tobey has been involved in publishing for more than three decades, editing magazines, creating hundreds of freelance articles for local and national publications, and publishing two books. Her first book, “For Any Young Mother Who Lives in a Shoe” (Judson Press, 1991), offered humor and guidance to parents of young children. More recently, “100 Things to Do in Richmond Before You Die” (Reedy Press, Sept. 1, 2023) gave Tobey the opportunity to share her love for her hometown of Richmond, Virginia.