One Day at a Time (1975 TV series)

One Day at a Time is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from December 16, 1975, to May 28, 1984. It starred Bonnie Franklin as a divorced mother raising two teenage daughters. The series was created by Whitney Blake and Allan Manings, a husband-and-wife writing duo.

About One Day at a Time (1975 TV series) in brief

One Day at a Time is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from December 16, 1975, to May 28, 1984. It starred Bonnie Franklin as a divorced mother raising two teenage daughters, played by Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli in Indianapolis. The series was created by Whitney Blake and Allan Manings, a husband-and-wife writing duo who had both been actors in the 1950s and 1960s. Like many sitcoms developed by Norman Lear, it often tackled serious issues in life and relationships, particularly those related to second-wave feminism. It can be considered an example of the \”dramedy\” genre. For its entire run, the series was taped in Hollywood before a studio audience. Actors Bonnie Franklin, Pat Harrington, Jr., andValerie Bertinelli were the only cast members to remain with the series throughout its run. Lead actress Mackenzie Philips was fired after the fifth season due to growing problems with substance abuse. Original cast member Richard Masur was written out early in the second season, but returned as a guest-star in the sixth-season finale. Mary Louise Wilson, who had just completed a successful run on Broadway as Tessie Tura in a revival of Gypsy starring Angela Lansbury, was signed to play Ginny Wroblicki, a cocktail waitress who becomes Ann’s best friend and confidante. According to her memoir, My First Hundred Years in Business, prior to being cast as Ginny, Wilson had never seen One Day at A Time and watched an episode one night in her apartment.

She did not find the sitcom funny at all until the first read-through of her first episode. She also did not get along with Franklin, who took her role as arbiter over moral issues very seriously and considered herself to be the first and foremost authority on all matters of morality. The shows ratings began to decline soon after Wilson’s arrival, as the ratings for the shows proved to be unpopular with viewers. In the penultimate episode, Ann decides to take a job in London, leaving her daughters in Indianapolis raising their own families. The opening credits were originally seen over a filmed sequence showing Ann, Julie, and Barbara excitedly moving into their new home. Later, the opening credits sequence mostly consisted of clips of each cast member taken from previous episodes. In the series finale, Schneider also leaves town, moving to Florida to take care of his niece and nephew. Julie eventually marries flight-attendant Max Horvath. Alex, the orphaned son of Ann’s deceased boyfriend, moves in, changing the dynamics in the female-dominated apartment. Later in the series’ run, Julie gives birth to daughter \”Little Annie\” Horvaths.

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