One Day at a Time (2017)

The series proves itself to have a sophistication of storytelling on a level that many traditional sitcoms can only aspire to.

ODAAT has long since perfected its mix of in-the-moment humor and issues-based storytelling, so we get great visual gags (think Dr. B posing as a matador for Lydia) and gentle teasing about baby queer Elena’s boundless enthusiasm--which culminates in the wearing of a “heart-butt” hat--along with heartfelt moments of discovery and vulnerability.

Even though the season clocks in at around six hours in total, it feels more momentous than that, and in a good way. By grounding its laughs, its tears, and its storytelling in the ups and downs of a family, One Day at a Time avoids feeling gimmicky. ... The episodes themselves are beautifully constructed, too, with some of the best third acts in television today.

Granted, sometimes those resolutions are a little pat (even if they’re rarely as neat as they were on the genre’s forebears). Sometimes they’re slightly saccharine. But sometimes they’re moving and immense and earned. What they register--unflaggingly, and with a ton of humor--is a faith in redemption.

One Day at a Time manages to keep the audience invested and genuinely laughing at the same time. Not many comedies can balance the opposing forces of comedy and drama with such ease; but then, most other comedies simply aren’t as successful, let alone as grounded.

Funny, touching and comforting in its relevance for these fractious times. [4-17 Feb 2019, p.13]

As overseen by showrunners Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce, it is still a good, refreshingly openhearted show. But in season three, its sitcommy-ness also shows a bit more obviously than it did in the first two.