document_title: One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)

question_text: who plays max on one day at a time

question_tokens: who plays max on one day at a time

text: One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)

text: Premise[edit]

text: The show depicts the everyday life of a Cuban-American family with each character finding their own journey. Following the story of Penelope Alvarez (Justina Machado) a United States Army Nurse Corps[2] veteran, facing her return to civilian life with a lot of unresolved issues from her time in the Army. She works as a nurse in the office of Dr. Leslie Berkowitz (Stephen Tobolowsky). After her husband's alcoholism due to post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the Army make it, in Penelope's words, 'unsafe to be in the house', she separates from Victor (James Martínez), taking the children with her. With the help of her Mother, Lydia (Rita Moreno), a refugee who left Cuba as a teen following Fidel Castro's rise to power, she is raising her two children: Elena (Isabella Gómez) and Alex (Marcel Ruiz). Apart from planning her daughter's quinceañera, Penelope starts dating and finds a love interest. Elena, resistant to have a quinces, starts dating a teenager from her class; to later realize that she is a lesbian. After struggling in ways to tell her family about her sexuality she finds the right time to come out. Alex starts working in a school project about Cuba with the help of Schneider (Todd Grinnell) and Lydia. Lydia talks about leaving Cuba escaping from Castro's dictatorship and how she fell in love with her late husband Berto (Tony Plana).

text: Each episode of the series focuses on important issues that face the Hispanic community and families in general. It has dealt with topics such as veterans' struggles with PTSD, depression, and anxiety, as well as sexuality, gender identity, sexism, and religion, amongst others.

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Justina Machado as Penelope Riera Alvarez, a United States Army Nurse Corps and mother of Alex and Elena. She works as a nurse for Dr. Leslie Berkowitz. After coming back from army service, she joins a therapy group to help her with her depression and anxiety. In the first season she separates from her husband Victor and starts dating Ben. Later she breaks up with Ben after Victor's visit for Elena's quinceañera. In season two Penelope decides to go back to school to become a nurse practitioner. She begins dating an Army Veteran, now EMT Max Ferraro, but breaks up with him after finding out he wanted children of his own, and decides to let him find that chance with someone else, as she believes that she is too old for another child, and has two children of her own.
Todd Grinnell as Dwayne Schneider, the rich landlord of the building. He is a close friend of the family and Penelope's best friend. Schneider is frequently having one-night stands with different women. Often in the series he talks about having multiple stepmothers and how dysfunctional his family was, while also occasionally discussing his history of addictions. He is Canadian and after years of having a green card decides to become a US citizen.
Isabella Gomez as Elena Maria Alvarez Riera Calderón Leytevidal Inclán, the activist and feminist teenage daughter of Penelope. After dating Josh, a classmate, and watching gay porn, she discovers that she is a lesbian and comes out to her family. The news doesn't sit well with her father, which upsets Elena. In season two she finds a love interest and founds a Gay-Straight Alliance club at her Catholic School.
Marcel Ruiz as Alejandro "Alex" Alberto Alvarez Riera Calderon Leytevidal Inclan, the son of Penelope. He wants to gain popularity at school and is part of the baseball team. He starts a school project about Cuba. In season two he begins working during the summer at Dr. Berkowitz's office.
Rita Moreno as Lydia Riera, a faithful Cuban, Penelope's mother and grandmother of Elena and Alex. She fled Cuba after Castro seized power. She was a dancer and a performer back in the day. Over the course of the season, she develops a relationship with Dr. Berkowitz.
Stephen Tobolowsky as Dr. Leslie Berkowitz, Penelope's boss and Lydia's love interest.

text: Recurring[edit]

text:
Fiona Gubelmann as Lori (season 1): Penelope's co-worker.
Ariela Barer as Carmen (season 1): Elena's best friend. She spent nights with Elena in her bedroom after her parents were deported back to Mexico, but Penelope finds out. She later moves to Austin, Texas to live with her brothers.
Froy Gutierrez as Josh Flores (season 1)
Eric Nenninger as Scott (season 1–present): Penelope's co-worker.
Haneefah Wood as Jill Riley (season 1–present): Penelope's friend.
Mackenzie Phillips as Pam Valentine (season 1–present): the leader of Penelope's female veteran therapy group.
Judy Reyes as Ramona (season 1–present): Penelope's friend from the therapy group.
Tony Plana as Berto Riera (season 1–present): Lydia's late husband.
James Martínez as Victor Alvarez (season 1–present): Penelope's ex-husband.
Ed Quinn as Max Ferraro (season 2): a military veteran, EMT, and Penelope's boyfriend[14]
Sheridan Pierce as Syd (season 2): Elena's girlfriend who identifies as non-binary.[15][16]

text: Guest[edit]

text:
Cedric Yarbrough as Jerry
Jay Hayden as Ben
Gabrielle Elyse as Dani
Jolie Jenkins as Nikki
Ivonne Coll as Esme
Emiliano Díez as Padre Jose
Georgia Engel as Sister Barbara
Tim Bagley as Henry
Mindy Sterling as Delia
Timm Sharp as Nurse Wally

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally released

1
13
January 6, 2017 (2017-01-06)

2
13
January 26, 2018 (2018-01-26)

text: Production[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2018)

text: Music[edit]

text: The theme song for the original One Day at a Time series, “This is It", was re-recorded for the newer version of the series, with a new arrangement by Emilio Estefan featuring Cuban instrumentation and lead vocals by Gloria Estefan. The song was composed by husband-and-wife songwriters Jeff Barry and Nancy Barry. Recording artist Polly Cutter sang the original version of the theme song.[17]

text: Reception[edit]

text:
Season
Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes
Metacritic

1
97% (29 reviews)
79 (23 reviews)

2
100% (14 reviews)
88 (6 reviews)

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 97% based on 30 reviews with an average rating of 7.62/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "One Day at a Time breathes fresh life into the classic Norman Lear original with a lively, sharp, and proudly old-school sitcom bolstered by a surfeit of heart and terrific performances from Rita Moreno and Justina Machado."[18]

text: Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times found the first season to be "lively without being rushed" thanks to the full 30 minute run time.[19] "The show is nicely written ... and the performances [especially Moreno's] are almost universally engaging," according to David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle.[20] The Newsday review by Verne Gay particularly praises Machado as "flat-out terrific" and calls the first season "congenial, good-hearted, easy going, sentimental, old-fashioned and surprisingly new-fashioned. There’s also a deep emotional core here which refuses to be devalued by the typical (or tired) beat of a multicamera sitcom."[21]

text: A USA Today review by Kelly Lawler noted that Elena's coming-out arc in the first season has drawn special praise from LGBT critics for its "unique, realistic and refreshing take on the subject... the depiction of a young, happy Latinx lesbian comes as a hopeful sign for many."[22] Autostraddle senior editor Yvonne Marquez called the arc "mind-blowing" [22] and the show revolutionary because "it centers the family’s brownness and provides ample social commentary to deliver a fantastic modern-day sitcom."[23]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year
Award
Category
Nominee(s)
Result
Ref.

2017

Teen Choice Awards
Choice TV Show: Comedy
One Day at a Time
Nominated
[24]

Imagen Foundation Awards
Best Primetime Television Program – Comedy
One Day at a Time
Won
[25][26]

Best Actress – Television
Justina Machado
Won

Best Supporting Actress – Television
Rita Moreno
Nominated

Isabella Gomez
Won

Best Young Actor – Television
Marcel Ruiz
Won

Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
Pat Barnett
Nominated
[27]

Gold Derby Awards
Best Comedy Supporting Actress
Rita Moreno
Nominated
[28]

2018

Critics' Choice Television Awards
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Rita Moreno
Nominated

GLAAD Media Awards
Outstanding Comedy Series
One Day at a Time
Pending
[29]