Can Lin-Manuel Miranda Save ‘One Day At A Time’?

“The internet was devastated when Netflix announced that they were canceling “One Day at a Time” after three seasons. The show meant so much to so many people who saw their families reflected on screen for the first time in their lives. The anger from fans was exacerbated because the cancellation announcement came just months after it was reported that Netflix dropped $80 million to stream “Friends,” which nobody asked for. Lin-Manuel Miranda did not take the news lightly and things are hopefully changing with his charge to save the show.

Netflix recently announced that they were canceling “One Day at a Time” and fans reacted with justifiable rage.

Who here has heard of “The Ranch”? Has anyone watched any of the shows? Is “The Ranch” better known than “One Day at a Time”? Who knows. However, it is clear that Netflix will continue to give paying subscribers content that many people seem so confused about.

Enter Lin-Manuel Miranda with a ray of hope for all ODAAT fans.

Ummm…que?! Is Lin-Manuel Miranda taking his name and fame to bring ODAAT back from an eventual death at the hands of Netflix? Miranda has been a driving force in Hollywood to uplift and celebrate Latino talent and Latino projects through his music and his acting. He gave people of color a chance to tell the story of one of America’s founding fathers with “Hamilton” and it changed the way people look at musicals forever.

His announcement immediately made fans scream with excitement about the work he does.

Who remembers the day the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” got canceled by Fox? It was a devastating time for fans of a show that was a relative hit. Well, Miranda was the champion of saving that show and people are truly leaning on him to save ODAAT. It’s almost as if he understands that diverse shows, as studies have shown, perform as well as or better than majority white cast shows. People want to see themselves represented.

Even the cast members of ODAAT are giving us hope that we can still #SaveODAAT.

Rotten Tomatoes gave the show glowing reviews and even gave the second and third seasons highly-coveted 100 percent scores. That is not something to take lightly. The show was more than a sitcom; it was a window into the American family we rarely see on television.

The topics they covered are real. Whether it is coming out as LGBTQ+ in an immigrant family or dealing with colorism within the Latino community or figuring out how to best handle your mental health issues, this show was real. Losing this kind of representation touches on several communities who are being told their stories just don’t matter as much as reruns of 90s sitcoms.

Celebrities are pushing for other networks and studios to consider giving ODAAT a new home.

Yes to all of this. We can only hope someone at Amazon, Hulu, NBC, ABC, the CW, or any network wakes up to the possibility of saving the show. There is a built-in fanbase that will follow the show wherever it goes. Not only will people watch it, a different company might do a better job of promoting the show to give it even more eyeballs.

Then we saw Miranda interacting with the creator of ODAAT Norman Lear.

Talk about a mic drop. Everyone on Twitter is getting behind the #SaveODAAT campaign and it is so beautiful to watch. Netflix clearly underestimated the reaction they would get from the show, or they knew what they were doing. Why else would they try to tell the underrepresented community the show served that their stories matter?

Actions say a lot more than words. Netflix’s action to cancel a show with wide appeal and an activated fanbase is disheartening. However, seeing Miranda and a worldwide activation on Twitter to save the show proves that we need more representation like this.

Not to mention, legend Rita Moreno is not someone you can simply cancel.

Moreno is America’s abuelita. She has given us representation for decades and her role as Lydia was so incredible and nostalgic for anyone who was raised with their abuelita in the house. She showered the Alvarez children with the same kind of unfiltered and unimpeded love we experienced from our own abuelitas. How dare you try to push her out?

She’s ready to play ball and with Miranda joining the fight it is only a matter of time till ODAAT prevails.

We’re all counting on you, Miranda. You can do this. You can save this show. This show it important and necessary for million right now. Thank you for taking up the fight.”