AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Fans of the sitcom "One Day At A Time" are campaigning on social media, hoping to save the show. Netflix has canceled the Latino-themed version of Norman Lear's 1970s hit TV show. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: "One Day At A Time" on Netflix centered on a Cuban-American family in LA.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG "THIS IS IT")
GLORIA ESTEFAN: (Singing) This is it. This is life, the one you get, so go and have a ball.
DEL BARCO: The show stars Justina Machado as Penelope Alvarez, a nurse practitioner and former army staff sergeant. She's a single mother to a son and a daughter, who is a social justice warrior who came out to her family. The legendary Rita Moreno plays the larger-than-life salsa-dancing grandmother.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ONE DAY AT A TIME")
RITA MORENO: (As Lydia Riera) We have a problem.
DEL BARCO: The problem for fans is Netflix's decision to cancel the show after three seasons. In a series of tweets, the network lamented its, quote, "very difficult decision." In the end, said one tweet, simply not enough people watched to justify another season. Netflix collects a lot of data but keeps its audience numbers to itself. Gloria Calderon Kellett is the show's co-creator, co-showrunner and executive producer.
GLORIA CALDERON KELLETT: I'm left stumped and heartbroken that whatever algorithm or whatever they use - I don't know what to make of it because this is a whole new world.
DEL BARCO: Kellett says the series got limited marketing but found passionate fans among critics and members of the communities it portrayed - Latinx, LGBTQ, veterans and multigenerational families. Netflix also acknowledged the outpouring of love for the show. One tweet pleaded, to anyone who felt seen or represented by the show, possibly for the first time, quote, "please don't take this as an indication your story is not important." Online fans are rallying around the hashtag #SaveODAT, the show's initials. Kellett says Sony, which produced the show, is now shopping it around to other networks.
CALDERON KELLETT: We love that three seasons of it live on Netflix. We're so proud of the work that we did there and that we were allowed to do there, but it does feel like we could easily do a reset and continue the Alvarez family stories on another platform. So we will see if there is a network that is going to give us a home.
DEL BARCO: And many are hoping for a hero. Lin-Manuel Miranda supported the successful move of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" from Fox to NBC. Now, he's leading an effort to keep "One Day At A Time" alive. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
