On Thursday night in Los Angeles, the cast and creators of Netflix’s One Day at a Time celebrated the show’s Season 3 release with a screening of the season’s first two episodes, as well as a gala after party.
One Day at a Time is based on the ground-breaking 1970s sitcom from legendary producer Norman Lear. This iteration’s co-creators Gloria Calderon Kellett and Mike Royce took the stage at the Regal Cinemas in downtown L.A. to thank Lear.
Calderon Kellett said it was Lear who “invented television,” before thanking the show’s cast, headed by Justina Machado as well as Emmy- Grammy- Oscar- and Tony-winner Rita Moreno, Isabella Gomez, Marcel Ruiz, Todd Grinnell
A 96-year-old dynamo still looking to create new shows care of his Act III productions, Lear also took the stage, declaring that working on the new, Latinx-flavored One Day at a Time has been the highlight of his career.
That is really saying something, when you realize that Lear’s other shows have included All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, and many other classics.
After the screening, the cast, as well as some of the show’s past and current guest stars such as Tony Plana, Danny Pino and India de Beaufort gathered a block away at the Caña Rum Bar for Cuban sandwiches and “Havana Daiquiris.”
Gloria Estefan, the singer of the show’s famous and here reorchestrated and Cuban rhythm-infused theme song, “This Is It,” was unable to attend the premiere, but did send a video message of congratulations that aired right before the screening.
After looking for just the right role on the series, Estefan additionally appears in Season 3’s premiere episode as Mirta, the baby sister
The premiere also features fun guest star performances from two members of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast, Melissa Fumero and Stephanie Beatriz, as well as the hilarious appearance by former John Larroquette Show regular Liz Torres, playing a character appropriately nicknamed “Tia Bitchy.”
The season’s second episode sports a cameo by Glenn Scarpelli, who played Alex in the original One Day at a Time’s later years.
“This season was a dream come true,” said Calderon Kellett, who mined her own Cuban-American upbringing in Los Angeles in creating the show.
“To get to continue telling the stories of the Alvarez family and those they have adopted as family is a pleasure. To show positive portrayals of the Latinx, LGBTQIA+ and Veteran communities with respect and love. To be able to tell the story of an American family is the joy of my life. “