One Day at a Time is an American sitcom based on the 1975 series of the same title. Executive producer Norman Lear's company, Act III Productions, approached Sony Pictures Television with the idea of reimagining the original series with a Latino family. Lear had previously executive produced the original series. The series was developed by Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce, with Lear and his producing partner Brent Miller as executive producers.
The series features an ensemble cast starring Justina Machado, Todd Grinnell, Isabella Gomez, Marcel Ruiz, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Rita Moreno. The show revolves around a Cuban-American family living in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park, focusing on a single mother who is an Army veteran dealing with PTSD, her kids and her Cuban mother. The re-imagination of the original CBS sitcom tackles issues like mental illness, immigration, sexism, homophobia, gender identity, and racism that Hispanic people living in the United States face.
The series premiered on Netflix on January 6, 2017; with subsequent seasons premiering on January 26, 2018, and February 8, 2019. Netflix canceled the series on March 14, 2019, but on June 27, 2019, Pop announced that it would revive the series in 2020, making One Day at a Time the first original program canceled by Netflix to be revived on a traditional linear network. The fourth season premiered on March 24, 2020, on Pop, with a simulcast on TV Land and Logo TV; the simulcast with TV Land was made permanent shortly thereafter as TV Land's ratings for the premiere were nearly five times that of the episode's premiere on Pop. In March 2020, production on season 4 came to an end due to the COVID-19 pandemic. First-run episodes continued to broadcast through April 28, 2020, with further production and/or broadcast not expected to resume until 2021. Plans were announced the next day to make an animated special, further reported in May 2020 as "The Politics Episode". The episode, co-produced with the Canadian animator Smiley Guy Studios, premiered on June 16, 2020. CBS began airing the season four episodes on October 12, 2020. In November 2020, the series was canceled after the fourth season by Pop, but Sony Pictures TV indicated that it would be shopping the series to other outlets. On December 8, 2020, it was announced that there would be no new episodes, ending the series' run for good.
Upon its release, the show received critical acclaim, with critics and journalists praising the writing and the performances of Machado and Moreno. One Day at a Time was listed as one of the best television shows of 2017, with numerous critics ranking it as one of the top ten shows of the year. The series received multiple awards and nominations, including four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series and won two in 2019 and 2020. At the 2017 Imagen Foundation Awards, the series won Best Primetime Television Program – Comedy, Best Actress – Television (Machado), Best Supporting Actress – Television (Gomez) and Best Young Actor – Television (Ruiz). Moreno was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. The series has also been nominated three times for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Premise The series depicts the everyday life of a Cuban-American family with each character finding their own journey. Following the story of Penelope Alvarez, a United States Army Nurse Corps veteran, facing her return to civilian life with a lot of unresolved issues from her time in the Army. She works as a nurse in the office of Dr. Leslie Berkowitz. After her husband's alcoholism due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time in the Army made it, in Penelope's words, 'unsafe to be in the house', she separates from Victor, taking the children with her. They go to live in a building owned by Pat Schneider. With the help of her Cuban mother, Lydia Riera, she raises two children: Elena and Alex. Apart from planning her daughter's quinceañera, Penelope starts dating and finds a love interest. Elena, resistant to have a quinces, starts dating a teenager from her class, to later realize that she is a lesbian. After struggling in ways to tell her family about her sexuality she finally comes out.
In the second season, Penelope continues to deal with her PTSD, while getting back into the dating scene. Elena finds a love interest in Syd, who is non-binary. Lydia and Schneider both reveal they are not U.S. citizens and, therefore, both take their citizenship tests. Towards the end of the season, Lydia suffers a stroke and begins to hover between life and death, though she ultimately survives.
In the third season, Schneider's father comes to visit the building and almost causes the Alvarezes to lose their home. Schneider, a recovering alcoholic, revolts and goes against his father saving the building from turning into a condo, but by doing this, he relapses. Alex is grounded for most of the season for going to Bud-E Fest but gets un-grounded when Penelope finds out how he handled Schneider's relapse. Elena loses her virginity to Syd, and Penelope obtains an MSN degree and becomes a nurse practitioner.
Episodes
Cast and characters Main
Justina Machado as Penélope Francisca del Carmen Riera Inclán Ruiz Maribona de Alvarez, a United States Army Nurse Corps veteran and mother of Alex and Elena. Often called "Lupe", she works as a nurse for Dr. Leslie Berkowitz. After coming back from army service, she joins a therapy group to help her with her depression and anxiety. In the first season, she separates from her husband Victor and starts dating Ben. Later she breaks up with Ben after Victor's visit for Elena's quinceañera. In season two Penelope decides to go back to school to become a nurse practitioner. She begins dating an Army Veteran, now EMT Max Ferraro, but breaks up with him after finding out he wants children of his own and decides to let him find that chance with someone else, as she believes that she is too old for another child, and has two children of her own. She previously dated Mateo, but they both broke up in season 3 because they did not have a spark, and Mateo was getting back with his ex-wife. She and Max reunite and get back together in season 4. Todd Grinnell as Pat Schneider, the rich landlord of the building. He is a close friend of the family and Penelope's best friend. Schneider frequently has one-night stands with different women. He often talks about having multiple stepmothers and how dysfunctional his family was. He also openly discusses his history of addictions, achieving eight years of sobriety in season 3, before experiencing a short relapse. He is Canadian and, after years of having a green card, decides to become a U.S. citizen. He begins dating Avery, whom he meets in season 3. The character's name combines the surname of the character Dwayne Schneider from the original series and the first name of actor Pat Harrington Jr., who played him. Isabella Gomez as Elena Maria Alvarez Riera Calderón Leyte-Vidal Inclán, the activist and feminist teenage daughter of Penelope. After dating her classmate, Josh, and watching porn, she discovers that she is lesbian and comes out to her family. The news does not sit well with her father, which upsets Elena. In the second season, she finds a love interest, Syd, and founds a Gay-Straight Alliance club at her Catholic School. Marcel Ruiz as Alejandro "Alex" Alberto Alvarez Riera Calderon Leyte-Vidal Inclán, the son of Penelope. He wants to gain popularity at school and is part of the baseball team. He starts a school project about Cuba. In season two he begins working during the summer at Dr. Berkowitz's office. Stephen Tobolowsky as Dr. Leslie Berkowitz, Penelope's lonely boss and Lydia's possible love interest who is extorted financially by his ex-wife and daughters Rita Moreno as Lydia Margarita del Carmen Inclán Maribona Leyte-Vidal de Riera, a faithful Cuban, Penelope's mother and grandmother of Elena and Alex. She fled Cuba after Castro seized power. She was a dancer and a performer back in the day. Over the course of the show, she develops a relationship with Dr. Berkowitz.
Recurring Fiona Gubelmann as Lori (season 1), Penelope's co-worker Ariela Barer as Carmen (season 1), Elena's best friend. She spent nights with Elena in her bedroom after her parents were deported back to Mexico, but Penelope finds out. She later moves to Austin, Texas to live with her brothers. Froy Gutierrez as Josh Flores (season 1), Elena's friend and escort to her quinceañera Eric Nenninger as Scott (seasons 1–3), Penelope's co-worker Haneefah Wood as Jill Riley, Penelope's friend Mackenzie Phillips as Pam Valentine, the leader of Penelope's female veteran therapy group. Phillips portrayed Julie Cooper in the original 70s sitcom One Day at a Time. Judy Reyes as Ramona, Penelope's friend from the veteran therapy group. She is a lesbian. Tony Plana as Berto Riera (seasons 1–3), Lydia's late husband Jolie Jenkins as Nikki (seasons 1–3), Schneider's former love interest and one of the mothers at St. Bibiana Academy James Martínez as Victor Alvarez (seasons 1–3), Penelope's ex-husband who for a time had a strained relationship with his daughter Elena Ed Quinn as Max Ferraro (seasons 2–4), a military veteran, EMT, and Penelope's boyfriend Sheridan Pierce as Syd (seasons 2–4), Elena's 'syd'nificant other who is non-binary Santina Muha as Beth (seasons 2–4), a member of Penelope's therapy group who uses a wheelchair Nicky Endres as Cynthia (season 3–4), a member of Penelope's therapy group Alex Quijano as Mateo (season 3), Penelope's friend from St. Bibiana Academy, who is also a parent India de Beaufort as Avery (season 3–4), a kindergarten teacher and Schneider's girlfriend Raquel Justice as Nora (season 4), Alex's Afro-Latina girlfriend
Guest Cedric Yarbrough as Jerry, Penelope's Uber driver Polina Frantsena as Abby Jay Hayden as Ben, Penelope's love interest that she meets in a gay bar Gabrielle Elyse as Dani, Elena's crush that does not match her feelings Ivonne Coll as Esme; Dr. Berkowitz's love interest and Lydia's rival Emiliano Díez as Padre Jose, the priest of Lydia's church Georgia Engel as Sister Barbara, the mother superior at St. Bibiana Academy Tim Bagley as Henry, an employee at the USCIS who applies a citizenship test to Lydia Mindy Sterling as Delia, an employee at the USCIS who applies a citizenship test to Schneider Timm Sharp as Wally, the nurse of Lydia who takes care of her in the hospital Gloria Estefan as Mirtha, Lydia's estranged sister, and Penelope's aunt Melissa Fumero as Estrellita, Mirtha's daughter, and Penelope's cousin, and childhood best friend Stephanie Beatriz as Pilar, Penelope's cousin who Elena suspects is also a lesbian Liz Torres as Tia Monica, Penelope's aunt who loves to criticize her family Danny Pino as Tito, Penelope's brother, Lydia's son, and Elena and Alex's uncle Glenn Scarpelli as Chad, the receptionist at the hotel where Elena and Syd stay for their first time. Scarpelli played Alex Handris in the original 70s sitcom. Alan Ruck as Lawrence Schneider, Pat's arrogant father Gloria Calderón Kellett as Nicole, Victor's new wife Joe Manganiello as Nick, Schneider's sponsor at AA Merrick McCartha as Dean Ray Romano as Brian, the census taker David Clayton Rogers as Sebastian, Penelope's date Sally Pressman as Nurse Sasha, the nurse who makes Max of the month calendar Andrew Leeds as Byrce, the restaurant "manager" Eugene Byrd as Shawn, Sofa, So Good salesman Adam Rodriguez as Danny, one of Lydia's contenders to date Penelope Reggie Watts as Mr. Mann, one of the tenants in Schneider's building Marla Gibbs as Mrs. Jones, one of the tenants in Schneider's building who lives in apartment 227, a tribute to the 1985–1990 sitcom Gibbs starred in