Today we say goodbye to Bonnie Franklin, the Tony-nominated star of Applause who went on to thrill us for nine years as divorced mother Ann Romano on the kickass series One Day at a Time. Franklin died at 69 of pancreatic cancer.
To this day, the Romanos must be the most gorgeous family ever to live in Indianapolis, but they wouldn't know it because they were too busy suffering at the hands of Schneider and his innuendos about Ms. Romano's radiator. You know a show is great when you can't decide whether its greatest featured actor is Shelley Fabares or Nanette Fabray.
In honor of Ms. Franklin's amazing sitcom (produced by Norman Lear), I ask you: What's Franklin's greatest One Day at a Time episode?
I actually LOVE Bonnie's last episode on the series, but I'm taking us back to her most quintessential type of moment: telling Julie (Mackenzie Phillips) and Barbara (Valerie Bertinelli) to assert themselves, usually with a "Dammit, Julie!" or "Dammit, Barbara!" In the episode "Pressure," she helps out Barbara when she's pressured into having sex. This show really was a new vista in sitcom subject matters. Without One Day at a Time, we wouldn't have topical family sitcoms like Gilmore Girls or even Modern Family.
R.I.P. Bonnie Franklin! What's your favorite ODAAT moment? Feel free to post hundreds of Glenn Scarpelli pictures.
