‘One Day at a Time’ to use animation for episode after putting show on hold for coronavirus

Hollywood continues to try to navigate the new normal and to that end Pop TV has announced a first-of-its kind “One Day at a Time” animated special.

In response to Covid-19, production was put on hold, so executive producer and co-showrunner Gloria Calderón Kellett came up with the idea for an animated special.

“As we all know, it’s hard to keep ‘One Day at a Time’ off the air. During this unprecedented time, we wanted to find a way to keep our family — on camera and behind the scenes — together and create more entertaining content for our fans who are self-distancing at home,” Kellett said in a statement. “This animated special gives us an exciting opportunity to imagine the Alvarez family in a colorful new way while continuing to tell important and relevant stories.”

The series is a reboot of the Norman Lear original sitcom that ran from 1975 to 1984.

Netflix began streaming the reboot in 2017 but canceled it in 2019. Pop TV revived it last month.

According to Pop TV, the special will center around the character Penelope’s (played by actress Justina Machado) conservative family visiting and her dreading that they won’t be able to avoid fighting over politics with the election coming up.

The Alvarez family spends the episode discussing strategies for how to get through it, illustrated by fantasy sequences.

The current cast, which includes Machado and famed actress Rita Moreno, will voice their own characters and will be joined by celebrity guests to be announced later.

Production will be completed remotely and will premiere later this spring.

The mid-season finale for the series aired Tuesday night.

“In my 97 years, I’ve never known of a multicam comedy to animate a single episode as a special,” Lear said in a statement. “Even this I get to experience.”