Netflix Decides the Fate of Television's Most Captivating Crime Comedy

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Gary Cole in A Man on the Inside Season 2

Published Feb 3, 2026, 3:02 PM EST

A cinematic obsessive with the filmic palate of a starving raccoon, Rob London will watch pretty much anything once. With a mind like a steel trap, he's an endless fount of movie and TV trivia, borne from a misspent youth of watching monster movies on TV, perusing the sun-faded goods at the local video rental shop, and staining his fingers with ink from the Video Movie Guide. Areas of interest include science fiction, film noir, horror flicks, '70s disaster pictures, Bond movies, '90s action, giant robots, dinosaurs, super heroes, and the exuberantly schlocky output of Cannon Films. He also enjoys both Star Trek and Star Wars when they're good, and maybe even more when they're bad. As a Canadian, he also has a vested interest in Canadian movies and TV shows, especially the cheesier ones dubbed "Canuxploitation."

An expert on Marvel Comics, he has also written for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and is a member of the Marvel Research Team. He can frequently be found pontificating on comic-book continuity or bemoaning the misfortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his Twitter account.

A Man on the Inside, Netflix's low-key spy comedy, premiered its second season late last year. Unlike the first season, however, the second did not end with a tease for a hypothetical third season. Thus, fans were left wondering: would Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson) return for a third undercover mission, or has he been disavowed by the occasionally cancel-happy streamer?

We now know that A Man on the Inside will return for a third season on Netflix, at a date yet to be determined. To accompany the renewal announcement, Netflix also released an image of a trenchcoat-wearing Danson rifling through a newspaper. In a statement, series creator Michael Schur said, "We are absolutely thrilled to partner with Netflix on another season of A Man on the Inside. It's a true joy to work with this entire team, most especially the handsome, erudite, and monstrously talented Ted Danson, a true American treasure whose contract stipulates exactly what adjectives I am allowed to use while describing him in press releases." No plot details, casting, or release dates have yet been announced for the new season.

What Is 'A Man on the Inside' About?

A trenchcoat-wearing Ted Danson leans on a streetlight and reads a newspaper, announcing a third season of A Man on the Inside.

Danson stars as Nieuwendyk, a retired widower who's bored with his solitary life, which is beginning to worry his daughter (Mary Elizabeth Ellis). On a whim, he takes a job with private detective Julie Kovalenko (Lilah Richcreek Estrada), who needs a senior citizen to infiltrate a retirement home to investigate a series of thefts. Once there, he bonds with the community's eccentric residents (including Sally Struthers, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and John Getz) while avoiding the community's increasingly suspicious director, Didi Santos (Stephanie Beatriz). The second season sees him join the faculty of Wheeler College, where a secret saboteur intends to scuttle the school's sale to eccentric billionaire Brad Vinick (Gary Cole). While ingratiating himself with the staff (including David Strathairn, Jill Talley, and Linda Park), Charles finds the spark of romance with Bohemian music professor Mona Margadoff (Danson's real-life wife Mary Steenburgen).

A Man on the Inside is very loosely based on the 2020 Chilean documentary The Mole Agent, which centered around an older man sent to a retirement community to investigate alleged mistreatment of residents by the staff. It was created by Schur after a proposed series adaptation of Field of Dreams for Netflix fell apart.

A Man on the Inside has been renewed for a third season on Netflix; no release date has yet been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.