One Day With Norman Lear: ‘One Day At A Time’ EPs Gloria Calderón Kellett & Mike Royce Remember “Remarkably Devoid Of Ego” Legend Who “Never Stopped Learning”

TV icon Norman Lear had not had a TV series on the air for two decades until a reimagening of his beloved One Day At a Time premiered on Netflix in January 2017. It was developed by Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce who served as showrunners and executive produced it with Lear. The new One Day At a Time earned critical acclaim and launched a prolific final act in Lear’s career, which has included the Emmy-winning Live In Front of a Studio Audience, the upcoming series Good Times and The Corps on Netflix, Clean Slate at Amazon Freevee as well as a slew of other projects in development.

Following Lear’s death Tuesday at the age of 101, Kellett and Royce wrote a moving tribute, reminiscing of the time they worked with the TV legend by focusing on one fateful run-through during Season 1 of One Day at a Time. It illustrates Lear‘s “unwavering openness” and “you live and you learn” mentality which helped him maintain a level of greatness that may never be matched.

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It was run-thru day on One Day at a Time, and one thought was on our minds: would Norman like it?

To step back for a moment, we were in an enviable position: working with the biggest legend in TV comedy on a reimagining (not a reboot, thank you) of one of his iconic shows from the 70s. But the opportunity also carried a lot of weight. Who wanted to be the writers that ruined Norman Lear’s legacy? We certainly didn’t!

Our working relationship had been mostly fantastic up until this point. Norman was 95 years old at the time, and while he wasn’t in the writers’ room on a daily basis, he was at every table read, run-thru, notes session and taping. And at the very start, Norman took us aside and insisted “This is your show. I’m just here to help.”

But as you might imagine, the guy who changed TV as we know it wasn’t shy about sharing his opinion. So while Norman was our biggest supporter, it became apparent that he was having a little difficulty transitioning from “guy in charge” to “supervising legend.”

Which was understandable! Not only was he used to being the creator and showrunner, but in this case he was trusting us to recreate one of his own creations. Not to mention that we were in our 40s and 50s – mere children.

Which brings us to this particular run-thru day.

We were in production on our fourth episode and the whole thing was giving him fits. The first three shows had adhered religiously to the Norman Lear playbook of long scenes, living room arguments, big emotional reveals, but this one was a bit of a stylistic departure. Entitled “A Snowman’s Tale,” it told the story of our lead character Penelope’s first date since her separation. To illustrate the emotions and changes of mind swirling inside her, the episode frequently jumped back and forth in time. In terms of structure, it was a little more How I Met Your Mother than All in the Family.

Norman wasn’t having it. After the table read, he straight up told us “I don’t think this one works.” What can you say to these words coming out of the mouth of the guy who invented comedy? “Uh, I think we know what we’re doing.” And he doesn’t?? Yeah, no.

But he never insisted we change anything, leaving us to simply have a couple of sleepless nights wondering if we should get out of the business.

Then came our first run-thru. This would severely test the theory of the show, because all those time-jumps would be extra confusing without any of the scenes having been pre-taped yet. But thank goodness, it all went quite well.

At least it seemed that way to us. But after it was over, Norman walked over and his expression seemed to indicate that we should indeed get out of the business. “I want to talk to you two. Come over here.” he said, leading us away from the crew to speak in private. We looked at each other like, is this it? Are we about to be fired? What is happening??

Once out of earshot, Norman turned to us, frowning. “You know, from the beginning, I said this show wasn’t going to work.” Oh boy.

Then he broke into a gigantic smile, “But you live and you learn.”

Neither of us can remember exactly what happened after that: we may have blacked out from the emotional rollercoaster. But Norman did go on and on about how well the episode had come together, and how we were right to have stuck with it, despite his misgivings.

That turned out to be a turning point for all of us. From then on, Norman seemed truly comfortable entrusting the show to us. Of course he continued to be at every table read, run-thru, and taping, and he was still never shy about sharing his opinion, but the question of “can these two do my kind of show” disappeared.

And if a phrase was a person, “you live and you learn” would be Norman Lear. He had a lifelong commitment to learning. Remarkably devoid of ego, a trait one might expect from someone of his stature, he maintained an unwavering openness that undoubtedly contributed to his continuous relevance in this ever-evolving world. Which is evident in the last two shows he was producing: The Corps, about a gay, bullied teenager who joins the Marines and Clean Slate, about a trans woman navigating a fraught relationship with her father. Norman was pushing societal boundaries and carving out space to humanize and build bridges until the very end.

So he never stopped learning, and for a time it also seemed like he would never stop living. But all good things must come to an end. We’re just lucky that Norman shared his long life with us. His mantra, “Even this I get to experience,” not only adorned the cover of his fantastic book (a must-read, and even better, a must-listen as an audiobook with his wonderful narration) but also echoed through the lens of his documentary chronicling a life well-lived. How lucky we all were to get to experience Norman. We are all the better for it.

RELATED: Norman Lear’s Career In Pictures, Including Some Of TV’s Most Iconic Shows Like ‘All In The Family,’ ‘Sanford And Son’ And ‘The Jeffersons’

RELATED: Norman Lear Remembered: Jennifer Aniston, Fran Drescher & Barbra Streisand Join In Praise Of An Icon Who Inspired

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