Why One Day at a Time is the most important show on TV
I want to start this article with a small disclaimer. I’m not writing this because One Day at a Time is a show about Latinos, or because it stars one of the greatest performers of the last 100 years in Rita Moreno. I’m writing this because One Day at a Time is incredibly well done, funny, and is one of the most important shows on television.
One Day at a Time on Netflix is a reboot of the original Norman Lear 1975 hit of the same name, but this time, the show is centered on a Cuban family living in Los Angeles. Penelope (Justina Machado) is a veteran and single mom raising two teenage children, Elena and Alex (Isabella Gomez and Marcel Ruiz) with the help of her mother Lydia (Rita Moreno). There is also the lovable but, not always helpful building superintendent (who O.G. ODAAT fans will remember) Schneider (Todd Grinnell). And while the show is a multi-cam, which in recent years has become associated with being outdated and safe, ODAAT touches on subjects that even some cable shows don’t . PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), immigration, and the Cuban Revolution are all discussed and debated. But despite dealing with some heavy themes, the show is still a delight to watch; it’s full of jokes and the loud laughter breaks, characteristic of a TV show taped in front of a live audience. Which brings me to why I think this show is one of the most important shows on television, or in this case the internet.
I was lucky enough to attend one of the live tapings of ODAAT. When I found my seat in the audience I looked around me and the first thing I noticed was that this group wasn’t just a group of Latinos. It was a very diverse group in terms of age, race, and gender. At first I have to admit, I was a little worried for the show. Being Puerto Rican I knew I could find my way easily into the world but most people in this audience don’t know what arroz con pollo is, or speak Spanish, or that butter containers always double as Tupperware. I began to feel the same worry that almost any Hollywood executive would have when they are pitched something that isn’t about a white American family: Will people get this? But as soon as the show started any worry immediately washed away. I found the whole crowd cracking up wildly at jokes that seemed so specific to Latinos. You could feel the quiet sadness the audience felt for a Cuban mother trying to plan her daughter’s Quinceñera when she didn’t even want one. And in those moments you realize, we’re all people, we share common experiences and when we see stories that perfectly capture something human, it doesn’t matter what culture you are from, you feel it.
Still, there’s something special here for Latinos. It is amazing that Latinos are finally going to get to see themselves as heroes. As the ones making the jokes, being the focus and not just some auxiliary piece. ODAAT is putting Latino characters on the forefront in a way that very few shows on television have done.
ODAAT is living proof that diversity is an absolute necessity, and more importantly it works. And not just in front of the camera. The creator and co-showrunner of the ODAAT reboot is a Cuban-American woman, Gloria Calderon-Kellett. And at that taping I saw her, her writing staff which is staffed with a majority of Latino writers (something that happens 0.001% of the time in Hollywood), I saw an assistant director who was Latino, a director who was black, and it goes on and on and on. It was a true sight of what the future can be once we start to embrace diversity for what it truly is. Not just some requirement so that you look good but instead something that is essential to bringing us together. And One Day at A Time is doing everything it can to bring us together. And let’s hope it does so for many years to come.
One Day at A Time premieres today on Netflix.
Photos: Netflix
