They were hoping for the third time being the charm but it simply wasn't meant to be. Coming almost two years after its first cancellation, series producer Sony Pictures TV could not find a new home for fan-favorite comedy series One Day At a Time after its most recent abrupt end on Pop. The effort was considered a long shot and the cast and crew were notified yesterday that the show would be officially coming to an end.
One Day At a Time co-creators/executive producers/showrunners Gloria Calderon Kellet and Mike Royce took to Twitter to share the sad news with fans:
Season 4 of One Day at a Time, which was cut short by the pandemic, was simulcast on Pop and sibling TV Land. The series, a reimagining of Norman Lear's series with a Latino family, did significantly better on classic sitcoms-focused TV Land, raising speculation that, if One Day at a Time was renewed, it would move to TV Land. The bigger test, as it turns out, was its recent run on CBS, 45 years after Lear’s original premiered on the network. The numbers weren't as strong on CBS and it appears other avenues to find the show a new home have all been exhausted. Options on the cast were to run out at the end of the month and since it was clear the show would not find a new home, the cast was released from their options and given the go-ahead to pursue other projects. The cast of the series includes Justina Machado, Todd Grinnell, Izabella Gomez, Marcel Ruiz, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Rita Moreno.
The unfortunate thing for fans of One Day At a Time is that it didn't get a proper ending on Pop due to its fourth season being cut short by the pandemic. The show aired six episodes shot on stage and an animated seventh episode was produced during quarantine that tackled the election, although CBS did not air that particular episode.
Do YOU wish One Day At a Time would've found a new home?