Way Back Wednesday - One Day At A Time

One Day at a Time was a long-running television sitcom on the CBS network that aired from December 16, 1975 to May 28, 1984. It portrayed Ann Romano, a divorced mother, played by Bonnie Franklin, her two teenage daughters Julie and Barbara Cooper (Mackenzie Phillips, Valerie Bertinelli) and Schneider, their building superintendent (Pat Harrington). The show ran for 9 seasons and a total of 209 episodes.

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.

One Day At A Time tackled some really tough - and controversal - subjects for the late 1970s and early 80s: suicide, birth control, pre-martial sex, infidelity and sexual harassment. The show also had some real life drama when Mackenzie Phillips became addicted to cocaine, and was fired in 1980 after many highly publicized absences from the set. She returned in 1981, but she had continued health problems and left the show a second time early in its final (1983-84) season.

I loved this show, and I identified with Valerie Bertinelli's character, I think because we were both the same age. I've recently started watching episodes on Hulu after watching Bertinelli's very public battle with weight loss.