DVD Release Date: April 24, 2007 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Color/1975-76
MSRP: $29.95
Number of Discs: 2
Number of Episodes: 15
Running Time: 380 minutes
Running Time of Special Features: approx. 39 minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English;
Closed Captioned
Special Features: “The One Day at a Time Reunion”
(CBS, 2005)
Introduction:
This is it! One Day at a Time is FINALLY on DVD with
the Complete First Season in a 2-disc box set from
Sony. All 15 episodes from the Emmy Award Winning
series that starred Bonnie Franklin, Mackenzie
Phillips, Valerie Bertinelli, Richard Masur and Pat
Harrington, Jr. are on DVD! Also included is the 2005
reunion that aired on CBS. It brought back Franklin,
Bertinelli, Phillips and Harrington one more time.
The show debuted on CBS in December 1975 and ran until
1984, with 209 episodes. The show was about a
divorced mother raising two teenage daughters while
trying to maintain a career. The series was produced
by the legendary Norman Lear, and like his other
sitcoms, it was occasionally controversial, tackling
topical family issues such as teen sexuality and money
problems in a candid, straightforward manner. The
first season has episodes where Julie (Phillips)
debates going “all the way,” Barbara tries to get
her parents back together, David (Masur) proposes to
Ann (Franklin), Julie’s date develops a crush on Ann
and Ann’s ex-husband (Joseph Campanella) decides to
remarry.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
The first season only had 15 episodes. I liked them
all, but I think the show really takes off after this
season. “Ann’s Decision” is the episode that
starts it all. This is the first time where Ann has to
make a big decision on her own. Julie wants to go
camping with her friends, which include boys and she
doesn’t want her going. This time her husband or
father are not around, so Ann has to make a decision.
“Chicago Rendezvous” is the second episode and it
is about Ann being picked up by a man in a restaurant,
much to the dismay of her daughters. “How to
Succeed Without Trying” has guest star Robert Mandan
(Soap, Three’s a Crowd) as an executive who
interviews Ann and wants to continue the interview at
her place at night. Mandan is great playing a letch,
as we saw a few years later on Soap. “All the
Way” is probably the most memorable episode of this
season. It is about Julie contemplating on having sex
with her boyfriend Chuck for the first time. “David
Plus Two” has David caught in a lie as Ann catches
him with a sexy neighbor. “Julie’s Job” has
Julie getting a job at truck stop diner, so she can
buy a car. Suzanne Somers (Three’s Company, Step by
Step) has a minor role in the episode playing a young
woman at the diner. Veteran Charles Lane also guest
stars. The two-part season finale is “Dad Comes
Back.” It is a mix bag…is Ed (guest star Joseph
Campanella) getting re-married or is trying to get
back together with Ann?
Other guest stars include Fritzi Burr (Miss Collins
from What’s Happening!!) and Robby Benson (American
Dreams).
Packaging:
The packaging is a typical Sony design--an outer box
with slim cases inside. The outer box has the show
logo on top in a shade of green and white. Then we
have Schneider on the left and the girls (Ann, Julie,
and Barbara) on the right. The complete first season
wording is below them. The back of the box has a quote
from the theme, a nice synopsis of the show & set,
lots of cool images, and more basic info.
Inside the box, we have two slim cases and the generic
Sony booklet. Like usual, the generic Sony booklet is
out of date, as it says season six of The Jeffersons
is coming soon, but that has been out already.
Anyway, we have slim cases, each holding a disc. Slim
case one is green and has a nice color photo of the
girls in front. The second slim case is blue in color
and has a nice color photo of the girls, Schneider and
David. The back of each slim case has episode info
(episode number, title, synopsis, and cast). Inside
the slim cases, on the left side the episode info
continues. On the right side are the discs. When we
take the discs out you will see a photo on the case
(slim case one has a full cast photo and slim case two
has a full shot of Schneider). The discs are the same
style as the slim case style. Disc one is green and
disc two is blue. Disc one holds episodes 1-7 and disc
two holds episodes 8-15 and also the reunion.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu screens match the color style of each disc.
Disc one’s menu is green and disc two is blue. There
is no theme playing the background, like most Sony
sets. Options are Play All Episodes, Episode
Selection, Previews (Disc one only) and The One Day at
a Time Reunion (disc two only). Previews option has
Great TV Families, ‘80s Hits, Classic Comedy and
Ladies’ Night...typical Sony previews and all old of
course. When we select Episode Selection, we get the
typical Sony episode menu--a square screenshot from
the episode with the title. Each episode has four
chapter stops, which include the opening and closing
credit chapters. The One Day at a Time Reunion has six
chapter stops, but more on that in the special
features section.
Video and Audio Quality:
The back of the box says the show is digitally
remastered. It certainly looks good. A few episodes
seem a bit light in color early on but then it gets
much better. The audio is fine, a nice Dolby digital
sound. The episodes for the most part are around
25:30, so it looks unedited, unless there is something
very minor cut.
The runtimes are as follows:
Disc 1:
1. Ann’s Decision (25:33)
2. Chicago Rendezvous (25:35)
3. Jealousy (25:35)
4. How to Succeed Without Trying (25:35)
5. David Loves Ann (25:06)
6. Julie’s Best Friend (25:00)
7. Super Blues (25:35)
Disc 2:
8. All the Way (25:33)
9. Fighting City Hall (25:34)
10. David Plus Two (25:33)
11. Julie’s Job (25:30)
12. The College Man (25:25)
13. Father David (25:32)
14. Dad Comes Back, Part 1 (25:34)
15. Dad Comes Back, Part 2 (25:29)
Special Features:
Usually, Sony sets are bare with just Sony previews.
This set has something of value…nothing new, but
still good. The 2005 One Day at a Time Reunion that
aired on CBS is on this set. It runs 38:43, my how
network hour shows are so short now. In 1975, it
would have been 48 minutes. Anyway, the reunion has
reunited the four main cast members and has interviews
with other recurring stars such as Richard Masur,
Shelley Fabares, Nanette Fabray, Michael Lembeck, and
Glenn Scarpelli.
Final Comments:
This WAS it! I loved the set and had fun watching the
episodes once again after many years of not seeing
this show. Let’s hope Sony will continue to release
this series. The series had nine seasons, so we have
along way to go and Sony goes so slow on their sets,
we might not be done with this series on DVD for
another nine years or so. I hope we get some
bloopers, interviews, or audio commentaries on future
sets. Valerie Bertinelli is still doing stuff, just
today she was on The View, so I’m sure she’d
contribute. So, this is it! So, go and have a ball
and buy this set even if you’ve never seen the show.
I’ll keep on doing what I do, as the theme song
says, and will watch the show. So, up on your feet and
buy this set, or better yet, don’t get on your feet
and click away below to buy the set! One Day at a
Time, One Day at a Time!
