Netflix has become a champion of original and groundbreaking television; where else can you watch a show about a female prison alongside a modern comedy about the immigrant experience? But as it continues to expand its original programming, the streaming service has begun tinkering with a rather old formula: the sitcom. While Grace & Frankie did away with canned laughter while keeping the format near-intact, more recent outings like Fuller House and The Ranch have made some Netflix shows look positively network-ey. Are we really losing Netflix to the ghost of Must See TV’s past?
Enter: One Day at a Time. The show, a reboot of the 1970s sitcom of the same name, will try to infuse some new blood into an old, tried-and-true formula. Focusing yet again on a recently separated mom who’s now raising her kids with the help of her own mother, the Norman Lear-created show is getting reworked as the story of a Cuban-American family. More importantly, it will be led by none other than living legend Rita Moreno.
For those wanting a taste of what show creator-writer Gloria Calderón Kellett has in mind for this reimagined feminist Latina sitcom, you’ll want to keep your eyes on this year’s NALIP Media Summit. During the country’s largest annual gathering of Latinos in media, which takes place June 23-26 in Los Angeles, Moreno and fellow cast member Justina Machado (Six Feet Under) will host a live table read of a scene from the show and follow it up with a Twitter-curated Q&A. Moreno holding court in front of an effusive audience interested in moving the conversation about Latinx representation forward? Yes, dreams do come true. Now if we could only get her to freestyle her answers we’d be set.
Enter here for chance to win a pair of tickets to NALIP’s opening night screenings and after-party and enter here to win tickets to the closing night, celeb-studded Latino Media Awards gala.