#SaveOneDayAtATime worked!
Pop TV has announced that it has picked up One Day at a Time, the popular series canceled by Netflix earlier this year, for a 13-episode fourth season to premiere in 2020.
“Three months ago, I was heartbroken with the news of our beloved One Day At A Time’s cancellation. Today, I’m overwhelmed with joy to know the Alvarez family will live on,” Normal Lear, executive producer and creator of the original 1975 series, said in a statement. “Thank you to my producing partner, Brent Miller, our incredibly talented co-showrunners, Mike Royce and Gloria Calderón Kellett, and of course, Sony, for never once giving up on the show, our actors or the possibility that a cable network could finally save a cancelled series that originated on a streaming service. And one last thank you to, Pop, for having the guts to be that first cable network. Even this I get to experience – at 96.”
“How amazing it is to be involved with this brilliant and culturally significant series that deals with important themes one minute while making you laugh the next,” Brad Schwartz, Pop TV President, added. “If Schitt’s Creek has taught us anything, it’s that love and kindness always wins. Pop is now the home to two of the most critically praised and fan-adored comedies in all of television, bringing even more premium content to basic cable. We couldn’t be more proud to continue telling heartwarming stories of love, inclusion, acceptance and diversity that pull on your emotions while putting a smile on your face.”
The series centers on a Cuban-American family in Los Angeles: single mother Penelope (Justina Machado), her mother Lydia (EGOT winner Rita Moreno), and Penelope’s two children, Elena (Isabella Gomez) and Alex (Marcel Ruiz). Through the series, audiences saw military veteran Penelope deal with PTSD, anxiety, and depression, all while deftly tending to the lives of her teenage kids, who had their own issues (a gay daughter; a son bullied for being Hispanic; their relationship with their estranged father), and going to school to advance her career as a medical professional.
Netflix’s decision in March, shortly after the season 3 premiere, to cancel the critically-lauded series was immediately met with fan backlash (including some celebrity fans like Lin-Manuel Miranda), sparking #SaveOneDayAtATime, which was trending worldwide.
Showrunner and executive producer Gloria Calderón Kellett shared the good news on Twitter Thursday. Along with a photo of the cast — also including Todd Grinnell as the Alvarez family’s apartment building owner and friend Schneider, and Stephen Tobolowsky as Penelope’s boss (and one-time Lydia love interest) — Kellett wrote, “We couldn’t be more excited! We have many more stories to tell about & we can’t wait to share them with you!”
In a tweet of her own, Gomez said “I can’t believe I’m typing this, but… we did it. YOU did it. The Alvarez family is coming back for a 4th season on Pop TV. what tHE F—!!!!!!!!!!”
Tobolowsky also expressed his excitement and gratitude to those who helped make the pick-up reality. “And they say miracles don’t happen,” he wrote on Twitter. “From what I know … it took a village. A lot of us who work on this show and love it. And all of you who have loved this show and MADE IT HAPPEN.”
The first three seasons of One Day at a Time are all available to stream on Netflix.
Related content:
One Day at a Time cast, producers, and fans express heartbreak over cancellation
Netflix cancels One Day at a Time after 3 seasons
EW’s Best of Shows podcast: One Day at a Time and more TV cancellations that hurt