Throughout television history, theme songs have become as important to our favorite series as the characters that star in them. From Gary Portnoy’s beloved Cheers theme song, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” to German composer Ramin Djawadi’s instrumental title sequence for the fantasy series Game of Thrones, fans’ ears will perk up when they hear their favorite show’s opening melody. So it can be jarring when a show stops using that tune they can’t stop themselves from singing. This is the case with One Day at a Time.
The series, a remake of the 1975 show, was given a new life in 2017. It premiered on Netflix, which was its home for three years. With the new version of the show came a new version of the original theme song, with Gloria Estefan inserting a more Buena Vista Social Club-esque twist to better suit the Cuban-American family at the center of the show.
Netflix canceled the show after the third season and after a passionate campaign from fans, Pop TV picked it up for a fourth season. Unfortunately, with the move, some collateral damage has occurred. When it premieres on March 24, we won’t hear Estefan’s song.
Since Pop TV, unlike Netflix, airs on a cable channel, episodes have to be 21-minutes long to fit the time frame. That means the 50-second theme song will be dropped, and the extra seconds will be redistributed to the show itself.
“We don’t have that 50 seconds,” executive producer Gloria Calderón Kellett said at the Television Critics Association press tour in early January. “We need it for the show.”
However, don’t fret, Kellett said. “Gloria Estefan’s going to be OK,” and you can still find the track on YouTube in case you want to, as the theme song says, get “up on your feet” and feel the rhythm. Remember, “somewhere there’s music playing,” so Estefan’s song is only a click away.
Plus, you never know if Estefan still might be part of the series. Last season, she guest-starred on one episode as Mirtha, the younger sister of Rita Moreno’s character, Lydia, and even got to show off her voice by singing “Ava Maria.”
Here’s hoping Estefan stays part of the One Day at a Time family for years to come.