Dale, Pop TV, dale! Four months after Netflix canceled One Day at a Time, Vulture has learned the sitcom is getting a new life on the CBS Corporation–owned cable network best known as the American home of Schitt’s Creek. Pop has green-lit season four of the Sony Pictures TV–produced comedy, ordering 13 episodes for a 2020 premiere in what appears to be the first-ever example of a streaming series shifting to cable. Vulture broke the news of Pop’s pursuit of ODAATin April.
While the first three seasons of ODAATwill stay on Netflix, going forward the series will be branded as a Pop original. What’s more, in an innovative twist designed to make the finances work for all parties involved, the deal includes a provision that will allow Pop’s corporate cousin, CBS, to air an encore run of ODAAT season four later in 2020, once that season ends on Pop. Pop is also getting linear rights to the show’s first three seasons, giving it the chance to use those earlier seasons as a promotional tool to market season four.
The agreement is a victory for the show’s vocal and social media-savvy fan base, as well as for executive producers Norman Lear, Gloria Calderón Kellett, and Mike Royce, who have been fighting to keep ODAAT alive even before Netflix officially walked away from the show in March. It also represents a big win for the scrappy Pop and its president, Brad Schwartz, along with CBS Corporation chief creative officer David Nevins, who became an early champion of finding a place for ODAAT under the Eye umbrella once Netflix abandoned it. And for Sony, the independent studio that in past years managed to “save” canceled projects such as Communityand Timeless, the deal once again underscores to potential producers its willingness to fight to keep underdog shows alive. “[Sony] was relentless, and we’re so grateful,” Kellett told Vulture Thursday morning.
Initially, industry speculation centered around the possibility of ODAATmoving to the CBS Corporation’s streaming platform, CBS All Access. But at the same time that some were touting All-Access as a home for ODAAT, Pop execs were making a strong push to land the show. It soon became clear that All-Access was out of the running, since Netflix had no intention of letting Sony out of a contractual clause that blocked the studio from selling ODAATto another streaming service for several years. No such language prevented the show from moving to a traditional linear network such as Pop, however. “As soon as we heard the show was canceled we all looked at each other said, ‘Oh my God, this show has so much life left in it. Is this something we could go after?’” Shwartz told Vulture.
The timing proved fortuitous for this deal on at least two fronts. First, the same week Netflix canceled ODAAT, CBS Corporation announced it was taking full control of Pop, buying out former partner Lionsgate TV. With CBS Corporation now the sole owner of the channel, Nevins suddenly had much more incentive to give Pop extra money to spend on a series as relatively expensive as ODAAT. Secondly, Schwartz was already trying to figure out Pop’s post-Schitt’s Creek future following the March announcement by the show’s producers that the sixth season would be their last. While Schitt’s and ODAAT are very different shows in some respects, both feature diverse casts and optimistic storylines, along with a fiercely devoted audience base.
“When we looked at the success we’ve had with Schitt’s Creek, we felt that was because of how it championed love and kindness, and how it has a lot of emotion mixed with a lot of heart and comedy,” Schwartz said. “And when you look at One Day at a Time, you see it does the same [thing]. They deal with inclusion and love and acceptance and family. They pull on your emotions and they make you laugh. There are such parallels to what helped Schitt’s Creek break through on Pop.” Bottom line: Even if their respective audience bases don’t overlap 100 percent, having ODAAT on the roster means Pop won’t be up a creek once Schitt’s signs off. “Pop is now the home to two of the most critically praised and fan-adored comedies in all of television, bringing even more premium content to basic cable,” Schwartz said in a statement officially confirming the deal.
For their part, Kellett and Royce said they believe Pop will prove to be a perfect fit for their series. “We’re both Schitt’s Creek fans, so when we heard Pop [was pursuing the show], we said, ‘If that’s the type of content they’re doing — strong stories of love and acceptance — then yeah, great, we’re thrilled,’” Kellett said. Added Royce, “We really seem to fit in with their brand, with their philosophy of the network.”
Based on early discussions with Pop, the producers also seem confident they won’t need to change much about the show to fit into the linear landscape of Pop, save for writing stories toward act breaks in order to make room for commercials. “They have assured us we can make the show we want to make,” Kellett said. “And writing toward act breaks is actually an exciting challenge we’re sort of looking forward to.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: Vulture
