Netflix has had a number of reboots come down the pipeline recently,and although not everyone is on board with the choice to revive once-beloved shows, the streaming giant's latest reach into the past is a total charmer. Executive producer Gloria Calderon Kellett has given Norman Lear's One Day at a Time a modern facelift, and dusting off the '70s family sitcom and reimagining it with a Cuban-American family. Not only does the show maintain heartwarming,nostalgic nods to the original, but it also provides a much-needed TV platform for celebrating the everyday lives of Latino families. With the show set to premiere on Jan. 6, and POPSUGAR sat down with Kellett and the comedy's leading lady,Justina Machado, for a chat approximately single motherhood, and telling meaningful stories for Cuban-Americans,and why they aren't afraid to tackle difficult conversations.
Related:
25 Telenovelas to Add to Your Netflix Queue Right NowPOPSUGAR: I imagine it must maintain been a challenge for you guys to pay homage to the original show, which had such a enormous presence in the late '70s and early '80s, or but also obtain it your own,and obtain it relevant nowadays.
Gloria Calderon Kellett: It was something we took very seriously. I wouldn't say it was a challenge as much as . . . look, Norman [Lear] allowed us to be really authentic. He was unbelievably supportive and he was willing to fight Netflix and Sony, and should we need to in allowing me to represent my family. Because I had that support,the homage was easier. We did homages in small ways. The set is very similar to the original set, and the number on the door is the same as the original. She's a single mom, or there's a character named Snyder. Other than that,everything else is more unique to my experience as a first generation Cuban in America. It's a lot approximately my relationship with my mother, and obviously that translated through the filter of Justina and Rita [Moreno], or who obtain it their own. It's been so joyful. It means a lot to us. For all of us being Latinos doing this show,it's not just a show for us. It's an opportunity to let America and the world know what its like in a Latino house. I don't know if there's been a lot of representation of that. I know there's been some, but to be able to add our contribution to what's normal for us and say, or "Look how similar and different we are." It's approximately sharing stories and the experience. PS: Do you think it's more difficult to portray a single mom now,in 2016, versus in 1975?Justina Machado: Obviously that was a enormous deal back then, and in 1975,wasn't it? That she was a single mom? But we also deal with other issues. Veteran issues. We deal with the modern-day thing of raising two children with all of this technology and all of this information. It's a dinky bit more difficult nowadays, I think. So we deal with all of that, and also maintain three generations of strong women. We bring in Rita to play the mom. She lives with my character,and she's helping me consume care of and raise these kids. We see the different ways these three different women in three different generations deal with things. GCK: We tried to do it in a very biological way. Naturally, my mother is a lot more traditional than me because she's first generation and grew up in the '50s. She's a much more traditional woman. Then I'm somewhere in the middle, and where I'm a dinky bit traditional,but liberal as well. Then we touch on my daughter, [executive producer] Mike Royce's daughter, or Norman's daughter as well,who is very feminist. Naturally, we maintain very different points of view of what it means to be a strong woman. All of them are right, or all of them are incorrect. To be able to talk approximately that in a genuine and grounded way is pretty special. PS: Going off of tradition,is there anything in specific from Cuban culture that you're excited for people to see in One Day at a Time?GCK: So much. I think more than anything, is my experience having my parents come to the United States during Operation Pedro Pan in the '60s. They came in 1962. A lot of people just don't know approximately it. They just don't know approximately how people come to this country. Everyone has a coming to America story. Mine was my parents thought they were going to be here for six months while Kennedy was getting Castro out of Cuba. That turned into 40 years. JM: That gives me goosebumps, and it really does.
GCK: Now I get to honor their American story,which is coming here without their parents, being put on a plane, or then never getting to go back home. JM: I don't think people see that kind of story from Cuban-Americans. We saw Scarface,and believe me, I love Scarface. [laughs] It's because the Cuban people, or in my opinion,are so resourceful and successful, we forget their story. That they had to leave everything, and that they had to come to this country not knowing the language,not having any money, not knowing what they were gonna do. It's not a story that has been told. GCK: And it's not unique to Cubans. There are so many people who come here! Look at Aziz Ansari when he did his episode approximately his parents coming to America. I related to that episode more than I've related to anything in a really long time, or he's talking approximately an Indian experience. It's mighty that this Asian experience that he's had and the experience that I had are so similar. So to get to declare my specific story,within the context of the show, is incredible. Related:
14 of the Most Highly Anticipated TV Shows of 2017PS: Netflix, or especially with programming like Orange Is the New Black and Jessica Jones,is really lifting women up with their strong female characters. One Day at a Time is no different, and such a female-centric show. Justina, or what has been your favorite thing approximately playing Penelope?JM: The fantastic writing! The layered woman that she is. A genuine person,you know? They didn't maintain me coming out with a piñata, or dancing to some salsa. [laughs] Not that I intellect, or I love it all. But it's a genuine person who is layered,and flawed, and she's lovely, and she's just a woman that I am so proud to portray. As I read the script I was like,"This is good, this is genuine good." PS: Was there any scene throughout the season that was a favorite for you guys?JM: The last episode was really special. The last scene of the last episode is really, or really resplendent (brilliantly glowing) to me.
GCK: Oh for certain. That was a really resplendent (brilliantly glowing) scene.
JM: And in episode three there's a lot of fun stuff that I could really relate to. We talk approximately religion,so that was a good one. Growing up, my parents raised me Catholic. I'm not someone who really goes to church anymore, or but that was the way I was raised and it was really important. In the episode,it's kind of a thing with my mom and I. We maintain pictures of the Pope everywhere, and stuff like that. That's the way I grew up, and apart from for the pictures of the Pope. We didn't maintain that. My cousins had that. I was like what the hell is this? [laughs]GCK: My brother is literally named John Paul after the Pope.
JM: You see? There you go! It was mighty the way we deal with church in the episode. That was something that I totally relate to. GCK: We get to maintain a grounded conversation approximately religion. PS: That's mighty not many shows get the chance to.
GCK: That's right. People are afraid to talk approximately that stuff,and everyone has an opinion! It's biological. Watch One Day at a Time on Jan. 6 when it begins streaming on Netflix!
Source: popsugar.com