Remember when Cheers was a staple in living rooms across the nation throughout the 1980s? We were all enthralled with the humour, the setting, the handsome main actor. My sister, who was already living away by the time the series began in 1982, came over to the house to have Dad sit down to watch it. He was enthralled from the very start – I mean, literally from the opening song.
He was a man in a job he didn’t particularly like, where he had already spent 30 years of his life. He was happy and good natured, but he was weighed down by a lot. Not the least of which was paying down a big mortgage and raising us four kids. It’s not an unusual story, of course, but imagine the feeling of being seen he must have felt right from that opening phrase: “Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Getting away from all your worries sure would help a lot…”
He and mom actually did have a place where everybody knew their name! They met friends nearly every Friday at the Legion and enjoyed great camaraderie there. They had fun together and shared good lives, but every once in a while his tenacity would faulter a bit and we could see the burden that big responsibility brings.
But every Thursday night after that he sat down to watch his friends on Cheers. They were dealing with soapy romances, but they were memorable characters who also faced some pretty serious topics along the way, too. Always handled with calm humour. People of all ages liked that show and tuned in. It is said that Cheers set a new standard for deep character development and emotional storytelling.
Here we are four decades later, and lead actor Ted Danson is marking new territory again. His new short series, A Man on the Inside, sort of blew me away. He still delivers amazing acting and subtle humour with his entire being, from his impeccable timing and facial emotions to his obvious warmth. The 76 year-old plays a mole who ‘infiltrates’ a seniors residence and stumbles across the challenges of aging. The show tackles aging by touching on caregiving, loss, prejudice, disappointment (yes, it’s actually funny, all that said!) with a lot of grace and insight. If Cheers opened the door to the importance of community, A Man on the Inside shines a light on the gift of finding a gentle person.
Danson himself was determined to give it his all, saying in an interview that he wanted people to see the series because it’s an important conversation. The global population hit a significant milestone a few years ago, when the percentage of the population over 60 outnumbered the percentage under 5 for the first time – and it’s not expected to change back. I would say the conversation is important! As the actor reminds us, “If we’re lucky we get old.”