One Day at a Time (Sitcom Review by Bob Racine)

13 episodes, 30 minutes each (give or take), 2017

Ethnic-based humor scores again, quite high in fact, as we are taken into thelives of three generations of Cuban Americans in one very active and adorable family.  Heading the fatherless household is a lively thirty-eight-year-old mother, Penelope Alvarez (Justine Machado), a plump, feisty, but tenderhearted woman who provides most of the energy and spark.  The continuing tale, spread out over thirteen episodes, embraces roughly the length of a school semester and revolves around the preparations for a supreme event in the life of Penelope’s fifteen-year-old daughter Elena (Isabelle Gomez).  More about that coming up!  A twelve-year-old son Alex (Marcel Ruiz), not in the least defiant, proves himself smart and rather resourceful when trouble is on the scene.  And there is Lydia Rivera (Rita Moreno), Penelope’s mother, the kids’ grandmother, who is something very special.  More about her coming up!

One word of clarification: These thirteen episodes have never been shown on network, cable or PBS television.  They are the property of Netflix itself, released only for streaming.  But they are based upon an earlier series of the same name, which I have never seen, that ran on one of the networks from 1975 to 1984.  That one, created by wife/husband team Whitney Blake and Allan Manings, was about a single mother and two teenage daughters, but did not involve Latinos.  Norman Lear, chief producer on that series, by now a ninety-four-year-old TV icon with an excellent track record in situation comedy, calls the 2017 version, which he is also involved in producing, a “reboot” and claims that the idea for it came from Brent Miller, a partner of his in the business.  Aside from Lear, the production heads on this current one are Mike Royce and Gloria Calderon Kellett. 

Penelope, with a record of army service in Afghanistan, is the one shouldering the big burden – as mother, breadwinner and caretaker and all without the assistance of her husband Victor (James Martinez), whom she met many years ago. Victor, never seen until the last two episodes, is presumed to be still under treatment for PTSD and alcoholism after all the intervening time since domestic tension and violence precipitated the marital separation.  Machado in this fiery role is tremendous, especially in the occasional scenes when she talks tearfully about the trials of being a single parent and the emotional burden of sleeping by herself without anyone to look her “in the eye and say ‘I got you.’ ” She genuinely loves her children and her sometimes burdensome, irritating mother, but she can stand her ground quite forcefully when she feels put upon and deprived of her womanly or motherly dignity. Ten firecrackers exploding simultaneously could not create more excitement than she does. 
Though she is somewhat hyperactive and at times overwrought, she is nevertheless a prime mover in all situations. A great piece of casting that makes me hope that we have not seen the last of this series!

A high point for her is a dispute with her doctor employer over wage discrimination between her and a male fellow worker.  She walks off her job in protest and has her employer chasing after her to beg her back and willing to make adjustments.  We should all glory in the victory she wins and even the way in which she wins it. 

Giving lively support is Todd Grimmell as a single unsure-of-himself neighbor named Schneider who is almost like a member of the family.  He does his best at learning the mores and the language (Spanish) of the Cubans and serves their needs in various respects while angling for some of the love he never got being an orphan.  Also adding contrast to the antics of the primary players is Stephen Toblowsky as the aforementioned aging primary care doctor by whom Penelope is employed, with personal family troubles of his own that the tightknit Cuban family helps him forget – a quite funny/sad man-child.

The kids Elena and Alex face typical but crucial factors in the business of growing up – drug temptation, sex instruction, sexual identity, a taste of romance, developing talents, taste in clothes, the limits and boundaries of freedom.  One very special issue is Elena deciding whether or not she is gay, a matter that eventually becomes a hot potato that sends the adults into a whirl of confusion, consternation and ultimately division, but one that allows the grownups to do some soul searching of their own before the struggle is completed.  Elena is quite the earnest feminist for her age; she recoils against anything that seems to put the woman in the position of being controlled or consigned to a demeaning role or image.   She is also a vegetarian, which compels her to revolt against the idea of the Catholic Mass in which she must feast on the body of Christ; her strict Catholic grandmother especially has trouble with this.        

Let me make it clear that in this series we do not have one of those domestic oddities in which supercool kids, mature before their time, exert control over uptight and unsuspecting parents.  The kids remain kids, vulnerable as well as questioning, but kids just the same.  And Penelope remains the mother in all the tight straits.  She takes discipline seriously but without demeaning the dignity or the intelligence of her children.

But the queen of the show is the incomparable Rita Moreno as the multi-faceted, devout, conservative-minded Grandmother Lydia Rivera, who is at times slithery, at others wise, at yet others a clever spinner of backhanded influence, and at almost every turn quite droll and funny.  The series would have been like a jewel with a missing diamond without her on the scene.  Somehow she knows just what inflection of speech is called for and just the right expression of facial and body language to keep her character on the right comic track.  She can say and do the most outrageous things and make them seem clever if not completely funny and make herself endearing to us the audience.  When the subject of Penelope’s impending divorce comes up she invokes the strict Catholic position on putting an end to a marriage.  “We Cubans don’t get divorced.  We die!” 

Lydia is not averse to causing a bit of worry.  When Penelope herself tries to put together an outing for Sunday morning, her only day off, and doing the unthinkable of not attending church, Lydia considers it an outrage.  In the debate that ensues when Penelope further admits that she has some doubt about the existence of God, Lydia disappears, sulking, but proves amenable to repair work when Penelope finds her.  As far as further involvement with a man is concerned, she declares “My body belongs [strictly] to God and my husband’s ghost”.  But she does not mind being escorted around by Penelope’s doctor boss.  We are persuaded to care about this rigid Grandmother and her feelings, as long as her behavior stays within loving bounds.  I love the way she yields so easily to an embrace; she is not a cold fish; she is touchy/feely on all the right occasions.   

And Lydia can work on our sympathies most ingeniously in her moments of sad reflection about all she and her family had to go through escaping from Cuba upon the insurgence of the Castro regime.  Her monologue describing her painful separation from her older sister is quite moving and a bit heartbreaking (they never saw each other again), as is her recall of the emotional stress she went through over her daughter at risk during the Afghanistan deployment. 

Another touch of real drama comes in the form of a girlfriend of Elena’s named Carmen (Ariela Barer), who is faced with the sudden deportation of her parents.  I do hope we will be seeing more of her as well in future episodes, if or when there are any.  

Of course, husband Victor pays a visit to observe his daughter Elena’s quinces,
(pronounced something like keen-sis).  That is a Spanish word that some are probably unfamiliar with, but what it amounts to is a sizeable party celebration of Elena’s becoming a young woman, a Cuban tradition.  Actually Victor is interested in more than his daughter’s big night.  He claims that he has overcome his mental lapses and his enslavement to alcohol and is ready to pursue the renewal of affection with Penelope.  That is a story within itself that occupies the last two episodes.  I will leave that for all who view the series to find out about.  No spoilers from me!

“One Day at a Time” is domestic entertainment of the highest order.  The music, the editing and the photography are a blast, and the scripts are consistently sharp-witted, thematically fine pointed, transparent at every turn and mature – and at least for me educational!  All who treasure family love and solidarity will find inspiration and plentiful food for thought.  A prize package to be sure!  Give yourself a treat and set six and a half hours aside to enjoy it.

To read other entries in my blog, please consult its website:  enspiritus.blogspot.com.  To know about me, consult the autobiographical entry on the website for Dec. 5, 2016.