Best Of: Comedy Writer Michael Schur / Actor Jimmy O. Yang
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Who is Michael Schur and what shows has he created?
From WHYY in Philadelphia, I'm Terry Gross with Fresh Air Weekend. Today, the co-creator of the TV series Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, who also created The Good Place and wrote for The Office, Michael Schur. He has a new comedy series called A Man on the Inside. Like The Good Place, it stars Ted Danson and draws on philosophy and ethics. Later, a talk with comic and actor Jimmy O. Yang. He stars in the new Hulu series Interior Chinatown. Yang is known for his roles in Crazy Rich Asians and the TV series Silicon Valley. He's also done stand-up specials and wrote the memoir How to American, an immigrant's guide to disappointing your parents. That's coming up on Fresh Air Weekend. This is Fresh Air Weekend. I'm Terry Gross.
My guest, Michael Schur, is one of the people behind some of the most beloved TV comedy series of the recent past. He wrote for The Office, co-created and wrote for Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and created and wrote for The Good Place. He created the new comedy series A Man on the Inside. All eight episodes just started streaming on Netflix. Before we hear from him, our TV critic David Bianculli is going to review the series. David says there's a couple of things that A Man on the Inside has in common with The Good Place. They both star Ted Danson, who became a star playing the bartender on Cheers, and both shows are entertaining and surprisingly philosophical. Here's David's review.
In The Good Place, series creator Michael Schur put an awful lot of trust in Ted Danson, not only in his audience appeal, but also in his acting ability. That series was about a woman, played by Kristen Bell, who awakens in the afterlife with Ted Danson as her guide. Its brilliant twist, revealed after a full season, was that Danson's character wasn't who he pretended to be. It required the actor to switch gears significantly in midstream, and Danson was great at it. And in A Man on the Inside, the new Netflix TV show re-teaming Shure as series creator with Danson as star, the story starts with him pretending once again. Improbably but charmingly, this new eight-episode comedy series is based on a documentary from Chile.
Called The Mole Agent, and also available now on Netflix, it was nominated for an Oscar in 2021 and shown on the PBS series POV that same year. It told the true story of an elderly man hired by a detective agency to go undercover in a nursing home. The client's mother, a resident of the home, complained of the theft of a family heirloom. So the detective agency advertised for an elderly man, hoping to place him in the home temporarily to find the culprit. Inspired by this story, Michael Schur starts his version by introducing us to Ted Danson's character of Charles in a home movie flashback from his wedding day many decades ago. Then it cuts to Charles in the present day in Oakland, California.
He's a widower, a retired professor, and even though his daughter and her husband and kids live nearby, has a rigid and solitary daily routine. That routine is interrupted one day by a suggestion from that daughter, Emily, played by Mary Elizabeth Ellis.
Look, I know that you don't like to talk about mom, so we don't have to, but you know that she would have wanted you to be a person, live your life. Okay, do you remember when I was little and you would give me Charles challenges? Like, find 10 out-of-state license plates or read 20 books before Christmas? I'm giving you a Charles challenge.
What is the premise of A Man on the Inside?
Find a project or a hobby, just something that excites you. Okay.
Okay. It's a good challenge. I accept. To widen his horizons, Charles answers a classified ad in the newspaper, which had been placed by a private investigator named Julie, played by Lila Rich Creek Estrada. It listed a job offer for a male between 75 and 85. Because he could use a cell phone, Charles is hired by Julie to infiltrate the nursing home for a month or so. A mission Charles feels more optimistic about than his employer.
Okay, we are meeting with Deborah Santos Cordero. She goes by Dee Dee. She's the executive director. The whole staff reports to her. I am your loving daughter, Emily.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Michael Schur and what shows has he created?
0:03–4:11
2
What is the premise of A Man on the Inside?
4:11–8:03
3
What themes does A Man on the Inside explore?
8:03–10:49
4
How did Michael Schur get inspired by the Chilean documentary?
10:49–16:52
5
What ethical questions does A Man on the Inside raise?
16:52–22:31
6
How does Ted Danson contribute to the show?
22:31–27:00
7
What is the significance of comedy in serious topics?
27:00–31:35
8
What were Michael Schur's influences growing up?
31:35–49:01
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from Fresh Air
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