When the reboot of Norman Lear’s iconic 1975 TV series “One Day at a Time” aired in 2017, audiences across the country fell in love with the premise and its cast, which left us laughing and crying. with their candid (but comedic) portrayal of a Cuban-American family navigating life in Los Angeles. The show stars Justina Machado as Penelope Alvarez, a single mother and military veteran who juggles raising her two children with the stresses of everyday life. Aided by her mother Lydia — embodied by the fabulous Rita Moreno – Penelope grapples with the responsibility of keeping a three-generation family on two shoulders, even though with her charisma and wit the job would almost seem easy.
But this is not the case and “One Day at a Time” never protects against this fact. The sincerity with which the series presented the struggles of the Alvarez family has earned the sitcom an online cult following. Thanks to Penelope, audiences saw an honest depiction of the challenges of single parenthood, depression, sexism, and more. More broadly, the show aptly tackled the topics of immigration, mental health, drug addiction, homophobia, racism, and more. Not all Latinx communities are the same, and we don’t all share the same experiences, but these are all familiar issues. “One Day at a Time” gave Latinx communities good representation by shining a light on this reality through Penelope and her family, without ever losing its signature comedic, good-natured tone.
Despite all it has done in terms of screen representation, the show has faced multiple battles to keep it going. It was eventually canceled by Netflix in 2019, then canceled again by Pop TV in 2020, after being picked up for a fourth and final season. Fans were understandably upset, taking to social media to express their disbelief and disapproval. The show officially ended after no new network revived it. While we miss Penelope’s wit, Lydia’s melodic laughter, Elena’s impassioned rants and Alex’s schoolboy charm, we can’t help but wonder where the cast of “Someday at once” now? If you couldn’t get enough of this cast when the show aired, here’s what our beloved Alvarez are up to now.