Gloria Calderon Kellett and Mike Royce say goodbye to the Latinx comedy after final cancellation.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you doing after the cancellation ofOne Day at a Time?
GLORIA CALDERON KELLETT:We’re doing ok. Mike and I talk almost every day.
Credit: Robby Klein/Getty Images
We’ve been processing this for a long time.
Every year we wouldn’t know our fate.
Just know that not one moment on this show was taken for granted.
Nicole Wilder/POP TV
MIKE ROYCE:Our whole experience working on the show always felt like we were waiting for something.
We’ve never been safe.
Is it true that your original contract with Netflix is what prevented the show from moving ahead elsewhere?
Ali Goldstein/Netflix
GCC:Netflix has actually been incredibly generous by allowing us to shop it and go elsewhere.
That’s not accurate.
That may have been the case a year ago but things have changed since then.
Blair Raughley/Invision for Netflix/AP Images
Sony has done an incredible job in continuing to fight for us and leaving no stone unturned.
For whatever reason, it started to feel like there was baggage.
What did you have planned for the characters if the show had continued?
Wilson Cruz was going to play a hot priest in that one.
We had some really great stuff around that but I can confirm they do stay together!
Elena ends up getting into Yale but decides not to go.
So she ends up going to UCLA instead.
Schneider (Todd Grinnell) has an RV that’s decorated inside just like the Alvarez house.
What was going to happen between Penelope (Justina Machado) and Max (Ed Quinn)?
GCC:That was somewhat resolved.
They were going to have a modern relationship where he goes and they stay together.
She has this partner who is not always there but they’re committed and not in an open relationship.
Work keeps him really busy and Penelope has her family and her new job.
Penelope has a lot going on, too.
She was coming to terms with the fact that her daughter is leaving.
So we wanted to explore what Penelope was feeling, all those big maternal issues.
Her and Schneider really bond at this point because he’s just starting his journey as a parent.
Tell us about the Schneider baby!
GCC:The baby is born!
Penelope delivers Schneider and Avery’s (India de Beaufort) daughter who they named Penelope.
This baby becomes everybody’s baby.
They don’t get married, at least not as far as what we had planned for this season.
So he’s focused on being a good father and the challenges he faces.
Where are they now?
What’s going on with Papito?
You guys teased Lydia’s death before, were there ever plans to kill her off?
GCC:NO!!
Why would we kill her?
She and Penelope live a long life together in that apartment.
MR:Rita would kill us before that would ever happen.
She was going to kiss Berkowitz!
She also kisses Snyder but still.
She kisses everybody but it was still a win for Berkowitz.
We never got theValerie Bertinelliepisode.
What did you have planned?
They were so gracious, too.
Then we were hoping to have her be one of the Yale alumni, as well.
Would either of you be interested in revisiting with the Alvarez family in the future?
GCC:I think it’s too soon to ask that.
I would say never say never but it’s not on my mind right now.
MR:Wait a minute, are you pitchingPapito’s Place?
In theNorman Leartradition, that’s what comes next.
This interview was edited and condensed for length and clarity.
