The Good

An interesting show about a single mother trying to raise her daughters the best she can.

The Bad

No extra features and sadly only 15 episodes in this set.

Once again, we get a very strong effort from Producer Norman Lear with One Day at a Time: The Complete First Season. This show follows Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin) as a happily divorced woman who is doing her best to raise her daughters Julie (Mackenzie Phillips) and Barbara (Valerie Bertinelli). Moving to Indianapolis they soon become acquainted with the building Superintendent (and wannabe stud) Dwayne Schneider (Pat Harrington, Jr.), and Ann already has a suitor (Richard Masur) who wishes to marry her. Norman Lear was always great at exploring issues that were prevalent but not widely seen on the television airwaves. One Day at a Time is yet another example of this master’s prowess.

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Dealing with such themes as teen sexuality (“Ann’s Decision,” “All the Way”), adult sexuality (“Chicago Rendezvous,”), relationships (“David Plus Two”) and divorce, One Day at a Time is yet another example of Norman Lear’s finger on the pulse prowess. It isn’t surprising that this show would have so many fans and that it would be widely anticipated for this DVD release.

Features

No Extras came with this two disc DVD set.

Video

Full Screen - 1.33:1. These shows looked terrific. At first I was a little nervous because the opening theme song segment seemed like it had been shot with the wrong filter. It was dark and almost hard to tell who the characters were. Once the shows themselves started playing everything looked great. The compression seems like it has sharpened all the images in the way that makes them not look overcooked. Sony seems to have gotten back on track from other TV on DVD releases I have screened.

Audio

Dolby Digital. Language: English. Close Captioned. The audio on this show was good. I love sitcoms because when they are at their best, when the characters are fully realized by good actors, they present themselves like tiny plays. I find that Norman Lear was always good at creating the material that gave actors the chance to shine, but he also found actors that were able to embody their roles correctly.

Package

The front cover of Sony’s slipcase DVD features Franklin, Phillips, Bertinelli and Harrington in what looks like the Romano home. They seem to have glossed up this image a little bit as everything has a new and fresh feel. The back portion of this DVD features a mix of actual stills from the show, as well as promotional shots of the main characters. There is a well written description of what One Day at a Time is about and a system specs listing. Both DVDs that make up this set are stored in two slim cases which contain pictures of the cast on each one, as well as episode listings, descriptions and cast lists. This packaging is fairly simple but Sony has done a fine job keeping it economical considering the amount of episodes in this First Season.

Final Word

While I can’t say for sure, something tells me that during One Day at a Time’s 9 year run, this show wasn’t able to always be on the political cutting edge. I say this because when I think about this show, having only seen it a few times when I was younger, my biggest recollection is of Schneider. Like Good Times before it, I tend to think that the most flamboyant (and funny) character ended up taking over the show. For One Day at a Time that would be Schneider and for Good Times it would be J.J. (Jimmy Walker). Sadly, it seems that the cutting edge almost always gets dull and when that happens the reality of having to pull in ratings kicks in.

I really enjoyed One Day at a Time: The Complete First Season. People talk about Norman Lear’s ability to address hot button issues, but I think his genius goes deeper than that. After all these years, the issues the people in this show are dealing with are just as prominent as they ever were.

One Day at a Time was released .