Watch One Day at a Time Online - Full Episodes

"One Day at a Time" is a long running situational comedy which was written in the generally more serious style of a comedy-drama. The plot primarily revolves around divorcée Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin) and her two daughters, Julie Cooper (Mackenzie Phillips) and Barbara Cooper (Valerie Bertinelli). In the first season, Ann is newly divorced and her daughters are both teenagers in high school. They have just moved from Logansport to Indianapolis to start life over on their own.

The series ran for nine years, thus organically outgrowing the initial plot device as the girls grew up, graduated high school, moved out and got married. This was the first TV show centered around a divorced woman. The core characters are mostly female. There was also a building superintendent, Dwayne Schneider (Pat Harrington Jr.) who became an unofficial part of the family and there were plenty of secondary characters who came and went like boyfriends, classmates and co-workers. However, it is predominantly a tale of three women trying to find their own way in life.

At the start of the series, Ann Romano is your stereotypical divorced mom with a generic job and tight budget. Over the course of the series, she becomes more successful, at one point choosing her independence over remarriage. She ultimately becomes more financially secure and starts her own business. Her older daughter, Julie, is rebellious and constantly in and out of trouble, at one point running away from home. Her younger daughter, Barbara, is generally easier going and more sensible.

The show tackles many serious questions, like attempted suicide, friction between teens and their parents, and financial problems. But, like any sitcom, it also has ridiculous situations of the sort which are funny on TV but would not be so funny in real life. For example, in one episode Ann writes two letters, one to the president of the telephone company and the other to the President of the United States. She gets them mixed up when she mails them, thereby accidentally sending an ugly, threatening letter to the President of the country. The result is a federal investigation of her as a spy and potential assassin.