One Day at a Time is an American situation comedy that aired on the CBS network from December 16, 1975, until May 28, 1984. It starred Bonnie Franklin as Ann Romano, a divorced mother who moves to Indianapolis with her two teenage daughters Julie and Barbara Cooper with Dwayne Schneider as their building superintendent.

The show was created by Whitney Blake and Allan Manings, a husband-and-wife writing duo who were both actors in the 1950s and 1960s. The show was based on Whitney Blake’s own life as a single mother, raising her child, future actress Meredith Baxter. The show was developed by Norman Lear and was produced by T.A.T. Communications Company, Allwhit, Inc., and later Embassy Television.

Like many shows developed by Lear, One Day at a Time was more of a comedy-drama, using its half-hour to tackle serious issues in life and relationships, particularly those related to second wave feminism. The earlier seasons in particular featured several multi-part episodes, serious topics, and dramatic moments. As in other Lear shows of the era, the show was shot on videotape in front of a live audience, giving it a sense of immediacy, and close-ups were often employed during dramatic scenes. As the social climate changed in the 1980s, the show’s writing became less edgy, and as the girls became adults, the innovation of the original premise — a divorced mother raising teenage children — was lost. The show’s nine years give it the second-longest tenure of any Lear-developed sitcom under its original name, after The Jeffersons.

Following a breakdown and suicide attempt, an aging actor becomes involved with a much younger woman but soon finds that it’s difficult to keep pace with her.

An aging, booze-addled father takes a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim what he believes to be a million-dollar sweepstakes prize.

Jackie is a divorced mother of two. Isabel is the career minded girlfriend of Jackie’s ex-husband Luke, forced into the role of unwelcome stepmother to their children. But when Jackie discovers she is ill, both women realise they must put aside their differences to find a common ground and celebrate life to the fullest, while they have the chance.

A miracle occurs for a homeless family consisting of two wayward children and their protective aunt with the help of an angel. When a young woman’s niece and nephew are threatened with foster care after her sister is hospitalized following yet another overdose, she flees with them until they land in the sleepy town of Bethlehem just before Christmas and a series of kindnesses and coincidences gives the trio a chance at happiness.

A cunning and resourceful housewife vows revenge on her husband when he begins an affair with a wealthy romance novelist.

Urban horticulturalist Brontë Mitchell has her eye on a gorgeous apartment, but the building’s board will rent it only to a married couple. Georges Fauré, a waiter from France whose visa is expiring, needs to marry an American woman to stay in the country. Their marriage of convenience turns into a burden when they must live together to allay the suspicions of the immigration service, as the polar opposites grate on each other’s nerves.

Dr. Louis Creed’s family moves into the country house of their dreams and discover a pet cemetery at the back of their property. The cursed burial ground deep in the woods brings the dead back to life — with “minor” problems. At first, only the family’s cat makes the return trip, but an accident forces a heartbroken father to contemplate the unthinkable.