Ted Danson and Mike Schur agree 'we're really bad about talking about aging.' With 'A Man on the Inside,' they hope to change that.

Ted Danson wants people to know that life doesn't stop when you're 76. It's also why he was excited about teaming back up with showrunner Mike Schur (A Good Place) for their new Netflix series A Man on the Inside.

"Sometimes people my age are tending to start to play it carefully," the Cheers alum tells Yahoo Entertainment. "You tell your children you can be anything you want, you encourage them ... 'Go for it, you beautiful young children.' And when we get to a certain age, we stop telling ourselves that. And it's not true."

The series is about a retired professor Charles (Danson) who, one year after his wife's death, feels stuck with where he is in life. After answering a classified ad from a private investigator, Charles goes undercover in a retirement home to figure out who stole a resident's family heirloom. It's a comedy that doesn't shy away from tackling misconceptions about aging.

"There's no limit to your ability to make a difference in the world and to inspire people," Danson says. "And the fact that you keep moving forward is what will keep you alive and happy about being alive. So it's up to us, too, at our age, to set a good example for everyone else."

A Man on the Inside is based on the Oscar-nominated documentary The Mole Agent. Schur tells Yahoo that it was important to highlight the film's underlying theme that life doesn't stop just because you get older.

"When I was thinking about how to adapt it, I had this thought I've had a lot, which is, we're really bad about talking about aging in this country. We're youth obsessed," the producer says. "Every product on TV that's being advertised is like, 'Look younger, pretend you're not getting older!' I think that's very silly, mostly because aging is the good outcome, right? That's the best-case scenario for all of us is that we age. The alternative is not great. And yet, we still think of aging as something that's kind of embarrassing or shameful, or we need to pretend isn't happening. I think that's ridiculous."

For people who loved the magic Danson and Schur created with A Good Place, their new series still has those elements of a feel-good show. However, Schur wanted to make sure A Man on the Inside also depicted the reality of getting older.

"It's not perfect. There are aches and pains and problems and memory loss and death and injury and everything else, but again, this is the good-case scenario. This is what we want," he says.

The series also hits on the theme of how important friendship is as you get older.

"Dear Lord, friendship is everything," Danson says. "Even in your marriage, friendship needs to be the most important thing. I am best friends with my [wife]."

Danson has been married to actress Mary Steenburgen since 1995.

"Friendship is kind of eternal, you know? And romance is ... oh, I'm in trouble here," he jokes. "Because I have romantic feelings for my wife, but also she's my best friend."

While creating the series, some of the themes hit close to home for Schur, 49, who says we can all take some lessons from Charles.

"When I first moved to Los Angeles and moved in with my now wife, then girlfriend, we went out all the time. We saw our friends all the time. We had dinners constantly. We went to parties, we went to plays, and we had adventures. And then, you know, life happens," the producer explains. "We got married, we have kids, we both have careers. And now the extracurricular stuff that we do is very curtailed."

Schur concludes, "My Charles challenge to myself, and it's part of why I wanted to write this show, is to remind myself you can't live that way. You have to go out into the world and try things and see people and have adventures and travel to the best of your ability when you can, because those are the things that keep you sharp and also remind you that human beings are meant to be together ... to not be content with sitting on my couch and watching TV every night, but to go do things."

A Man on the Inside starts streaming Nov. 21 on Netflix.