‘One Day at a Time’ Showrunner Reveals ‘Very Sweet’ Phone Call Announcing Netflix Cancellation

One Day At A Time co-showrunner Gloria Calderon Kellett said she received a “very sweet” phone call from Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos about the show’s disappointing cancellation earlier this month.

“Ted called me, it was very sweet, it was a really beautiful conversation,” Calderon Kellett told Variety at the GLAAD Media Awards Thursday night. “He said how much he loved the show and how proud they were but just not enough eyeballs, so hopefully we’ll find another home.”

Calderon Kellett said she thinks many people might have ignored the critically acclaimed series because they thought “oh, that’s not for me” after hearing it is about a Latinx family or were turned off by the multi-camera format. “And then it took people time to find us, and now that they found us they seem to love us,” she added.

As for the show’s possible future at another outlet, Calderon Kellett is trying to remain optimistic.

“Nobody has said no, which is what’s interesting,” she explained Thursday. “Everyone’s like, ‘Ooh let us see what’s happening,’ because pilots are shiny and new, so everyone’s sort of waiting to see how the pilots are turning out.”

Calderon Kellett said it was important for the show to come back because it brought positive LGBTQ representation to television.

“For years they’ve been saying they want something like this on network [TV] and it’s so needed now more than ever,” Calderon Kellett said. “Positive LGBTQ representation on mainstream that’s not just Will & Grace — so we want to do it, so we’re very excited.”

The series ran three seasons and was inspired by the original classic series created by Whitney Blake and Allan Manings and produced by Norman Lear. One Day At A Time was critically praised for highlighting a variety of issues usually ignored in mainstream sitcoms, including PTSD, sexism, homophobia, mental illness, immigration and racism against Latinos.

Justina Machado starred as Penelope, the matriarch of a Cuban-American family and an Amy Nurse Corps veteran. Rita Moreno played her mother, while Isabella Gomez and Marcel Ruiz played her two children.

On Thursday, Gomez said she heard about the show’s cancellation from Calderon Kellett and co-showrunner Mike Royce, who called her while she was on her way to a movie set.

“It was just water works, immediately,” Gomez told Variety. “It was honestly so heartbreaking and I don’t think any of us have really let ourselves process because there’s still hope and we can’t process that twice. It was hard and I was away from everybody and this is my family, truly. I know a lot of shows say that, but I call Gloria my tía and Justina my mom.”

Gomez called the show’s cancellation “heartbreaking” because it meant so much to so many.

“I think the show speaks for itself,” she said. “Watch any of the episodes and then tell me you don’t want the show.”

One Day At A Time was produced by Sony Pictures Television, which signed a deal with Netflix to give the platform exclusivity of episodes that debuted there for between two and three years. Since the first three seasons will not be available to any other platform like Hulu or Amazon, its chances of being revived on another streaming platform are slim.

Photo credit: Netflix