The Alvarez family is back in action in season four of One Day at a Time.
The new season premiered on Pop TV earlier this week and fans of the show are more than excited about its return to the small screen, but the series had to make it through a few bumps in the road to get here.
The New Season Almost Didn’t Happen
Before I explain how the sitcom was close to its end, let me give you a bit of background information.
One Day at a Time originally premiered on Netflix in 2017, and two additional seasons followed in 2018 and 2019. If the name of the show sounds familiar, then you may have heard about the original series of the same name.
The original One Day at a Time premiered in the 1970s and came from the mind of producer Norman Lear. While this show focused on a divorced mother raising her two daughters in Indianapolis, its successor was reimagined with a Cuban-American family—The Alvarezes—living in Los Angeles.
The show earned positive reviews from critics and fans alike, but unfortunately, their time at Netflix was short-lived.
The streaming service cancelled the show after three seasons, and many were not happy. The cast was also caught off guard by the sudden announcement; Justina Machado, who plays the mother, Penelope Alvarez, said they were “so mad” and “emotional.”
The Fans React
One Day at a Time provides the laughs and comfort that many seek in a sitcom, but it also touches on heavy subject matter that relates to what is going on in world as we see it; these topics include racism, immigration, sexism, homophobia, and mental illness. Seeing a show that focuses on real-life issues get the boot is never an easy thing to witness, and people were not happy with Netflix.
Fans and supporters of the show took to social media to voice their opinions on its cancellation.
The Comeback
Fans created petitions to get Netflix to keep the show going and #SaveODAAT became a worldwide trend on Twitter. But three months later, word came out that the show would, in fact, return for a fourth season thanks to Pop TV, and the cast and crew thanked every fan for their dedication in keeping the show alive.
Being a fan of the show myself, I had no idea what Pop TV was at the time, but just reading that the show would be returning was enough (fun fact: Pop TV used to be the TV Guide Network and was rebranded to air pop culture based programming).
And even though we had to wait nine months for season four to premiere, it was worth it.
What’s Better: Binging at One Time or One Episode at a Time?
After ODAAT premiered this week, I started thinking about when the new seasons would start on Netflix.
Whenever season premiere day came around, I would start watching immediately without breaks and eventually, I would finish the season in a day or two. However, now that the show is on Pop TV, we do not have that luxury of being able to binge watch the show; episodes now come once a week for the remainder of the season.
So that got me wondering: is it better to binge watch a show at once or go week by week?
Honestly, it depends. While binge watching a show’s entire season means you finish faster, it also means that you know have to wait longer for the next one to come. And watching a show week by week does take longer, but it leaves you with more anticipation for upcoming episodes.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Gloria Calderon Kellett, executive producer of OODAT, said their fans will benefit more from the new, weekly format. In comparison to Netflix, it allows viewers to digest each episode and also gives their team a chance to talk with them about the episodes over social media.
“…We really interact with our fans. We love our fans, on Twitter, on Instagram, so to be able to talk to them about each episode individually, it’s more what Norman [Lear] did. And it’s really more how you sort of break into culture a little bit more.”
Either way, whether you binge watch a show or follow it week by week is up to you. In the end, our favorite shows will continue to leave us wanting more no matter how we choose to watch it.
Catch season four of One Day at a Time Tuesdays at 9:30 pm on Pop TV and if you haven’t yet, check out the first three seasons on Netflix!
