'One Day At A Time' Canceled By Netflix

A little over a month after its third season began streaming, One Day at a Time has been canceled by Netflix.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the company’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, commented on the cancellation in a rare statement. “It’s been a great honor to work with the legendary Norman Lear,” he said. “I’ve personally spoken with Norman and co-creators Gloria Calderon Kellett and Mike Royce to express my gratitude to them, all the writers, the dedicated crew and the cast, including the brilliant Justina Machado and dazzling Rita Moreno, for creating a series with such humor, heart and humanity.”

Adapted by Kellett and Royce from Lear’s original series of the same name, One Day at a Time was a critical darling with a social media following. Despite this, the show repeatedly struggled to earn season renewals from Netflix. (Busy Philipps’s E! program Busy Tonight even launched a campaign to save the show.) This is probably why Sarandos himself got involved in the cancellation announcement. It also explains Netflix’s decision to provide additional commentary on social media.

In a series of tweets, the official Netflix Twitter account repurposed portions of Sarandos’s official statement. The account also praised One Day at a Time for its efforts regarding representation in media. “And to anyone who felt seen or represented — possibly for the first time — by ODAAT, please don’t take this as an indication your story is not important,” read the tweet. “The outpouring of love for this show is a firm reminder to us that we must continue finding ways to tell these stories.”

Thank you Norman Lear for bringing this series back to television. Thank you Gloria Calderon Kellett & Mike Royce for always making us laugh and never shying away from bravely and beautifully tackling tough subject matter in a meaningful way

— Netflix (@netflix) March 14, 2019

And to anyone who felt seen or represented — possibly for the first time — by ODAAT, please don’t take this as an indication your story is not important. The outpouring of love for this show is a firm reminder to us that we must continue finding ways to tell these stories.

— Netflix (@netflix) March 14, 2019

Needless to say, many have either been confused or justifiably irritated by Netflix’s tweets regarding One Day at a Time‘s cancellation.

https://twitter.com/pilotviruet/status/1106249266257899524

netflix paid $100 million to stream Friends for one year. https://t.co/KFoO8CnKET

— Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (@Hello_Tailor) March 14, 2019

https://twitter.com/sepinwall/status/1106248942654767104

https://twitter.com/kvanaren/status/1106251185378508801

This is transparently absurd. They have a perfectly good way to "tell this story": renew the show. The entire story of Netflix right now is that they throw around money like Scrooge McDuck. https://t.co/Bmpxlrxw7i

— Linda Holmes thisislindaholmes.com (@lindaholmes) March 14, 2019