Movies

'One Day At A Time' Cancelled By Netflix, But Is Searching For Another Home [Updated]

One Day at a Time cancelled
By Ben Pearson

Update: Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who loudly voiced his support for Brooklyn Nine-Nine when that show was cancelled (and then appeared on it when it was picked up by a different network), is now putting that same fervor into saving One Day at a Time.

We'll have to see if his passionate pleas can move the needle, or if they fall on deaf ears. Our original article follows.

After three seasons, the Netflix series One Day at a Time has officially been cancelled by the streaming service. But this may not be the end of the road just yet: Sony Pictures Television, which produced the show, is planning to try to find a new home for it.

One Day at a Time, a modern revamp of producer Normal Lear's show from the 1970s, has a passionate fanbase, and for good reason: it was one of the few shows that finished 2018 with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But it seems as if that base just wasn't quite big enough, because despite the valiant efforts of celebrities like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Busy Phillips to get the word out, Netflix announced that they've cancelled the show due to small viewership:

With so much to watch in the Peak TV era, I admittedly never made time to check out this show. It's tough out there for series that are on the bubble when there's more competition for our eyeballs than ever, but from everything I've heard, One Day at a Time connected with its audience in a big way by tackling touchy topics like racism, PTSD, immigration, and mental illness in a thoughtful and intelligent manner. Here's a description from Variety:

The series followed three generations of a Cuban-American family. A newly-single mom and military veteran (Justina Machado) journeys through the triumphs and tribulations that come with raising two strong-willed, mega-millennial children (Isabella Gomez, Marcel Ruiz), all the while enlisting the "help" of her old-school mother (Rita Moreno) and her building manager-turned-invaluable confidante (Todd Grinnell). The series also starred Stephen Tobolowsky.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, released a statement about the cancellation:

"It's been a great honor to work with the legendary Norman Lear on One Day at a Time. I've personally spoken with Norman, and co-creators Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce, to express my gratitude to them, all the writers, the dedicated crew and the cast including the brilliant Justina Machado and dazzling Rita Moreno for creating a series with such humor, heart and humanity. This was a very difficult decision and we're thankful to all the fans who've supported the series, our partners at Sony, and all the critics who embraced it. While it's disappointing that more viewers didn't discover One Day at a Time, I believe the series will stand the test of time."

I'm guessing a lot of fans will be wondering if Sarandos is disappointed that more viewers didn't find the show, why didn't he help it along by bolstering its advertising campaign? Netflix is notoriously tight-lipped about its  internal machinations, but the fact that this show was produced by Sony Pictures Television and not in house by Netflix themselves may have something to do with it.

But the fact that Sony isn't willing to let this die yet is a good sign. Could another company pick it up? It would be the first time that happened to a Netflix show – American Vandal was cancelled last year and was searching for a new home, but as far as we know, it never ended up finding one.

Here are some tweets from the showrunners reacting to the news:

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