# One Day at a Time (2017)

> A newly single Latina mother and veteran raises her teen daughter and tween son with the meddling help of her old-school mother in a warm, socially aware sitcom.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/60520

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 46
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Mike Royce, Gloria Calderón Kellett
- Network: Netflix, Pop
- Cast: Justina Machado, Rita Moreno, Isabella Gómez, Marcel Ruiz, Todd Grinnell, Stephen Tobolowsky, Froy Gutierrez, Jason Michael Snow
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5339440/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: feel good, cheerful, socially conscious, warm, heartfelt, comforting

## What critics say

Audiences widely praise the warm, funny and emotionally honest take on a Cuban-American family, with the cast, especially Rita Moreno and Justina Machado, carrying the show, though the first season is seen as uneven.

## Synopsis

One Day at a Time (2017-2020) is a US multi-camera family sitcom created by Mike Royce and Gloria Calderón Kellett for Netflix, with a later run on Pop. Justina Machado plays Penelope Alvarez, a newly single Latina mother and Army veteran raising her teenage daughter Elena (Isabella Gómez) and tween son Alex (Marcel Ruiz) in a Los Angeles apartment. Her sharp, meddling mother Lydia Riera is played by Rita Moreno, and Todd Grinnell plays Schneider, a lonely neighbor who drifts into the household's orbit. Each episode is built from everyday frictions over parenting, money, romance, and identity, with the family's daily clashes giving way to warm, funny confrontations. The engine of the series is Penelope's effort to rebuild her life while keeping her children and mother afloat. Across four seasons and forty-six episodes, the show balances broad laughter with candid conversations about depression, sexuality, alcohol dependency and PTSD. Its tone is cheerful and hopeful, with a catchy theme song and a comforting, feel good register. Fans of the original One Day at a Time, The Middle and Fresh Off the Boat will find resonance here.

## Shows like One Day at a Time

- [This Fool (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/125381)
- [Up All Night (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/36161)
- [American Housewife (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59081)
- [Fuller House (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/56452)
- [The Upshaws (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/100891)
- [Trophy Wife (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/52647)
- [George Lopez (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/3148)
- [Papá Soltero (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/198982)
- [Better Things (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/58877)
- [#blackAF (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/84939)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt