TV Talk: CMU grad Ted Danson talks ‘Man on the Inside’

From CBS’s “Becker” and “CSI” to NBC’s “The Good Place” to “A Man on the Inside,” which is now streaming its eight-episode second season on Netflix, 1972 Carnegie Mellon grad Ted Danson continues to be a reliable presence on American TV screens 32 years after his first hit, NBC’s “Cheers,” ended its run.

“Carnegie was the first time I experienced acting — a little at Stanford — but really, I just devoured [it] at Carnegie Mellon. I loved it,” Danson said in a Netflix virtual press conference last week. “Life made sense for the first time in my life. I had found my passion. So, thank you, Carnegie Mellon.”

Danson said his CMU training was for theater work, which is most similar to multi-cam sitcom performance, like on “Cheers.”

“You do work with an audience and play off it, and when it works, it’s really thrilling,” Danson said. “At this particular time in my life, I’m grateful for one-camera [work]. I also think that it’s kind of where the technology has taken us. As soon as you had HBO and things like that, it changed and people started to expect their comedy to be like a film as well. So, I now love doing one-camera comedy. It is different and it also suits my adrenals, you know?”

“A Man on the Inside,” a single-camera comedy, stars Danson as Charles Nieuwendyk, a widower who’s found a new calling working as a private investigator.

For the second season, Charles goes undercover as a professor at Wheeler College to try to figure out who is blackmailing the school’s leader. While there, Charles gets distracted by music teacher Mona, played by Danson’s real-life wife, actress Mary Steenburgen.

Even though the story has moved on from season one’s case at Pacific View Retirement Home, “A Man on the Inside” revisits its season one setting and some of the Pacific View residents in season two.

“You can’t tell the same story twice for a number of reasons: Practical reasons like when a person is undercover and then is revealed to have been undercover, [you] can’t go back undercover at the same place,” explained series creator/executive producer Mike Schur (“The Good Place”). “But also, season one was about processing loss and grief, and it was about a guy whose life was getting a little smaller, who took a risk and pushed outward and made his life a little bigger. Once he’s on the other side of that, the question from a writing standpoint becomes, what’s the next step for him?

“Does he have it in him to try [to fall in love] again?” Schur continued. “Is there a second chance at love? Which is where Mary’s character comes in. And we needed a new setting, and [Charles] was a professor in his life [before becoming a PI], and so it made sense.”

Danson said he especially enjoys when Charles is bad.

“He’s getting better as an investigator, but the dude cannot keep a secret,” Danson said. “He falls in love with one of his suspects, which is a real no-no. … And that’s fun because it was nice to take Charles in his late 70s, who had shut down almost in the beginning of last year, to all of a sudden behave like an 18-year-old around this woman.”

Danson said he doesn’t usually break character when acting in a comedy series, but keeping a straight face is more difficult for Steenburgen.

“I’m legendarily horrible,” Steenburgen said. “There’s so many takes in [the 2008 comedic movie] ‘Step Brothers’ where you can full-on see me laughing. I’ve heard there’s drinking games about it. And when I asked [director] Adam McKay, ‘Why did you leave that take in, in the sleepwalking scene where you can see [me laughing]?’ He goes, ‘Mary, we don’t have any takes that you’re not laughing.’ But I tried to be good on this cause I knew I would look bad ‘cause [Danson] doesn’t break up.”

“Comedy’s a very serious business,” Danson teased.

‘Watson’ vs. ‘Minds’

The Monday night 10 p.m. head-to-head match-up between medical mystery dramas “Watson,” set in Pittsburgh, and “Brilliant Minds,” starring Pittsburgh native Zachary Quinto, has played out for a month now and there is a clear linear winner, at least in total viewers, but neither show is performing particularly well.

CBS’s “Watson” is ahead, averaging 2.4 million linear viewers and a .14 rating in the key demo of adults 18-29 through Nov. 10’s telecast. NBC’s “Brilliant Minds” is averaging 2 million linear viewers and a .15 rating in the key demo.

But neither show is a lock to land a third season: “Watson” is down 52% in total viewers and 62% in the key demo compared to its first season (which got a boost from its premiere after the NFL’s AFC Championship Game in January). “Brilliant Minds” is down 29% in total viewers and 35% in the demo compared to its first-season averages.

“Watson” will air its fall finale at 10 p.m. Dec. 15. The show shifts to 10 p.m. Sunday when it returns on March 1.

FRP Emmy noms

Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers’ Productions received nine nominations in the Fourth Annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, which will be presented March 1 and 2 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.

FRP’s “Odd Squad” was nominated for best preschool/children’s/family series and for best writing for a preschool/children’s series.

“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” received nominations for best preschool animated series and best writing for a preschool animated series.

“Donkey Hodie” earned nominations for outstanding puppetry performer (for Frankie Cordero and Peters Township High School grad Stephanie D’Abruzzo) and best voice performer in a preschool program (Jay Thomas Manuel).

“Alma’s Way” was nominated for best younger voice performer in a preschool/children’s series (Summer Rose Castillo as Alma).

And PBS Kids’ “My Way” was recognized as one of the best short-form live-action programs.

Kept/canceled

Peacock renewed “Twisted Metal” for a third season.

Bravo will bring back Jeff Lewis (“Flipping Out”) in a sequel series, “Still Flipping Out.”

FX canceled “English Teacher” after two seasons.

Peacock canceled “Poker Face” after two seasons. Creator Rian Johnson is shopping the series to other outlets with Peter Dinklage replacing Natasha Lyonne as the show’s star.

Channel surfing

HBO will debut a 40-minute documentary, “The Shuffle” (9 p.m. Nov. 25), about the making of the 1985 Chicago Bears’ iconic rap music video that became a cultural phenomenon en route to the team’s Super Bowl XX championship. … AMC’s “Mad Men” will be licensed to stream on HBO Max beginning Dec. 1. … Starting in 2026, “The SAG Awards” will be renamed “The Actor Awards” (March 1, Netflix). … This week, AMC launched All Reality, a reality TV streaming service (“Bridezillas,” “The Braxtons”) initially available as a $5 per month add-on via Amazon Prime Video.