Netflix: One Day at a Time

[Soapsuds]

I dropped the show too. It wasn't that funny and found the original 100% better.

[Roman]

Looks alot like the original set. kitchen is in the same spot, and they got the back living room just with the curtain. It's decent right now. but many are probably comparing it to the original, which is to be expected. glad they kept the theme, and Rita looks like she's having a wonderful time. 

[DRW50]

My Netflix goes out for long periods of time and I don't care enough to have to unplug things and all that, so I've only managed to watch the first two and a half episodes, but so far I've enjoyed the show. I appreciate that they did capture a lot of the tone of ODAAT, especially early ODAAT - it's funny, but also impossibly earnest. I guess you could say that about all Norman Lear shows, but I think the character makeup and format of ODAAT suits modern times more than AITF or Maude. It hasn't changed as much as it might seem if you just read an article about the show. The biggest change isn't Schneider as much as it's Rita Moreno as "Ann's" mother, but it works. She's a caricature, but then surprises you with moments of intelligence and kindness. She also means that the entire parenting role isn't put on Penelope, which helps stave off some of the smugness and fatigued nature that made Ann a bit more difficult to relate to. I liked the scene where her guilt over unintentionally insulting her granddaughter for not liking makeup led her to go makeup-free for Elena - it was a touching scene, yet also funny, as Elena quickly sussed that she was wearing mascara and she just as quickly fled the room.

 

I like Elena. She's very similar to Julie, but less stilted and less pointlessly combative to suit the plot. The girl who plays her doesn't have the edge Mackenzie Philips did, but then it wouldn't really suit this version of the show anyway.

 

The son gets on my nerves, and he's also the most generic "sitcom" of anything on the show (beyond Schneider), but I can tolerate him.

 

Justina Machado is the one who holds it all together. "Ann" is such an impossible role to play, because to suit the plot, she has to always be right yet always be wrong. She underplays it with just some moments of the old Ann mania, which is probably the best way to go, because it helps make the show more of a drama that is sometimes a comedy, which I think is how the original ODAAT worked when at its best. She's very relateable, and very human. Stuff like the "sexism" episode, which was as creaky and dated as any of Lear's '70s stuff, was pretty much salvaged by how she played it, especially the big confrontation scene. And I enjoyed the little moments like the annoying bimbo at work trying to bond with her over being a mother and she shouted, "Like I've told you before...DOGS ARE NOT CHILDREN!" only to, when she was storming out, come back and say, "I'm so sorry - your dogs are lovely." It's a good way to avoid too much self-satisfied sitcom nastiness. And it was funny.

 

I find Schneider pointless (and I tend to assume he was mostly just kept so they would have at least one white cast member), but he's harmless enough. 

Edited February 24, 2017 by DRW50

[All My Shadows]

Nice assessment, Carl! The show gets better with each episode, and each of the things you say you like about it become even more pronounced. Alex is indeed very generic in the beginning, but give it a few episodes, and you'll see that even he has a place beyond just being kid filler.

Rita Moreno's gonna make a run for your heart in several episodes.

[KMan101]

RENEWED FOR SEASON 2!!

 

http://deadline.com/2017/03/one-day-at-a-time-renewed-season-2-netflix-1202036664/

[All My Shadows]

Yaaaaaaasssssssss!!!!!!!!!! This show is just classic sitcom, and I love it. This is something that could (and should) easily be played to death in reruns on some cable network or syndication, and I mean that in a good way.

[DramatistDreamer]

[Soapsuds]

I guess I'll have to give this reboot another look.

[KMan101]

FINALLY finished Episodes 10-13. It was nice to see Eden Riegel again! I had no idea she guested in the finale. Made me miss AMC.

[dragonflies]

OMG they recreated the original series opening, complete with original theme

 

 

Edited December 7, 2017 by dragonflies

[Soapsuds]

Talk about cheesy bad. Thank gawd I have the original. I don't think I'll be seeing season 2. I never finished season 1.

Please register in order to view this content

[dragonflies]

Nah it was cheesy cute

[Faulkner]

I thought it was adorable.

[Vee]

That's cute.

[DramatistDreamer]

I thought it was cute too.