One Day at a Time 

The misadventures of a divorced mother, her family, and their building superintendent in Indianapolis.

Creators:

Whitney Blake, Norman Lear, Allan Manings

Stars:

Bonnie Franklin, Valerie Bertinelli, Pat Harrington Jr.

Won 3 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Bonnie Franklin	...	Ann Romano / ... (208 episodes, 1975-1984)
Valerie Bertinelli	...	Barbara Cooper / ... (208 episodes, 1975-1984)
Pat Harrington Jr.	...	Dwayne F. Schneider / ... (204 episodes, 1975-1984)
Mackenzie Phillips	...	Julie Cooper / ... (123 episodes, 1975-1983)

Storyline

This sitcom follows recently divorced mother (Ann Romano) and her two teenage daughters (Barbara and Julie) as they start a new life together in Indianapolis, They are befriended by the building superintendent (Dwayne Schneider), who treats them like family. Together, these four main characters face life's challenges together.

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Plot Keywords:

sitcom | mother daughter relationship | female protagonist | 1970s | handyman | 

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Taglines:

A mother who's trying to double as father. Two headstrong daughters. A series of the world's least likely (and most amorous) men. The result is a bubbling mixture of small chuckles and big laughs that just won't quit. (season 1)

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 December 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Au fil des jours

Filming Locations:

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allwhit Inc., Embassy Television, TAT Communications Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (209 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Mackenzie Phillips' autobiography " High on Arrival" one of the directors asked Valerie to "raise her hand when she's acting. She took a lot of crap", Mackenzie said.

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Goofs

The family supposedly moves from Logansport,Indiana to Indianapolis at the beginning of the series. However, the area where they are shown departing is clearly not "Logansport" which is a small city of roughly 20k located in the north-central portion of the state. No major interstates run in or near Logansport and the city is surround by farmland and some low rolling hills.

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Quotes

Julie Cooper Horvath: I feel like a woman, I've never felt more like a woman.
David Kane: [uncomfortable] I'm gonna go home now.

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Connections

Referenced in Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Diff'rent Strokes' (2006)

User Reviews

should have been called the Pat Harrington show

There are TV shows that are timeless, and there are TV shows that are very much of their time. This show unfortunately falls in the latter category. Come with me, brave traveller, to the TV sitcom era defined by fixed indoor sets and laugh tracks, where a lull in the pace can be quickly remedied by a knock on the door and the injection of an oddball character only distantly related to the actual story. Looking back this "hit" show over the span of decades, the flaws become more obvious. Bonnie Franklin was the tofu of situation comedy -- the picked up the flavor of whatever was happening around her. Valerie Bertinelli was simply precious, and a perfect smile that was often more interesting than the dialogue. MacKenzie Phillips did a great job as the difficult and sulky child because, apparently, that's who she was in real life. (The daughter of the lead in the Mommas and Poppas, this "wild child" was tabloid fodder for decades.) Richard Masur's career seemed to both begin and end in this series, and he went on to take a senior position, I recall, with the Actors Union. As the series progressed, the producers were stymied by the fact that Harrington, cast into a secondary role, was stealing every scene he was on, AND, at the same time, scoring big with viewers. They wrote him bigger and bigger parts. Anyone watching this series today however might question why the "super" was spending so much time in the apartment of 3 women ..? Some individual episodes even tried to hint and romance between Franklin and Harrington, but the audiences were not very happy with that theme, and it died quickly.