Todd Grinnell on the Return of ‘One Day at a Time’ and Why Schneider Becoming a Father is a ‘Great Evolution’ for the Character [Exclusive Interview]

Todd Grinnell couldn’t be happier to be returning to his role as Schneider on One Day at a Time. The series was originally canceled by Netflix after three seasons, but now, it’s back for a fourth season on its new network, Pop TV. 

The show’s fourth season sees Schneider in a good place, now in a solid relationship with his girlfriend Avery (India de Beaufort) and with a baby on the way, and still so close with the Alvarezes that he’s become a part of their family.  

I recently spoke with Grinnell about returning to the series after the initial cancellation, Schneider and Avery’s big news, and sharing some pretty special scenes with his real-life spouse.

Grinnell said after being off work for fourteen months and feeling like they’d never see the stages again, returning to set felt “surreal.”

“It was like we’d been underwater and came up for a huge breath of fresh air when we walked onto the stage. It was just so cool. We all just jumped right back into it and it was a dream.”

It was big news when One Day at a Time was saved by Pop TV, many months after being canceled by Netflix. Critics and fans alike were devastated by the cancellation of the beloved series, which is not only funny and entertaining but also offers important representation for the Latinx community and the LGBTQ+ community. The show also doesn’t shy away from serious issues, addressing such topics as racism, mental health, and substance abuse, among others. 

It was the outcry of the fans over the heartbreaking cancellation that Grinnell said helped to save the show. 

“That is truly why we’re still on the air. So thank you to everybody out there for rallying together. It really, really did save the show and we’re just eternally grateful. And that’s why we feel like we have been bestowed with this responsibility to keep making this show for everybody who helped get it put back on the air.”

Now that One Day at a Time is on its new network, the viewing experience is a bit different. It’s no longer the case that a season is available all at once, as it was on Netflix. Now, it airs once a week. 

“I think it’s really the way that these kinds of shows should be seen,” Grinnell stated. “I actually like the act break commercial moments. It just makes it feel like a real Norman Lear sitcom that I grew up watching because it’s in that format.”

“And I like that we get to have an event every week. When it was streaming, it was great. People got to watch all 13 episodes in a weekend if they wanted to. But with this, we get to stretch it out over some time and enjoy it — and have a week to talk about it and process everything and kind of laugh about our favorite parts. And then we’ve got another week where it’s back. When it was on Netflix, people would watch it in a weekend and then they were like, ‘When’s the next season coming out?’ It’s like, oh my gosh. It took us a year to make that! Savor it. Spread it out a little bit, enjoy it. So this is forcing people to do that and it’s fun.”

One Day at a Time’s return feels like it’s had perfect timing, providing a bit of a reprieve in a world that’s looking a little different right now. 

“That’s really the best thing about what we get to do — is to provide an escape for people and a way for people to relate and feel better — or feel anything positive for a little while each week. So I’m so honored that we get to be that for people during this time. It’s a little bit of a break, and we can laugh, and check in with each other, and be a community for a minute,” he said. “It’s a huge honor for us.”

Unfortunately, One Day at a Time is one of many series that was forced to stop production because of the current pandemic.

“We shot six episodes out of the thirteen that we’re supposed to shoot. So we still have seven more to shoot. Obviously, we’re going to finish those up when it’s safe to go back to work, but I’m bummed for the fans that we don’t get to keep doing it or keep giving them a new episode every week. But we’ll get back to it. It’s something to look forward to when this thing ends.”

The series had also started filming without a live audience just before production was halted altogether. 

“It works totally fine, but it’s always just infinitely more fun for us with an audience. So, I’m hoping someday we can go back to live audiences. I don’t think it’s going to be for a while, but we can still make the show without an audience. But it’s just — we feed off the audience, and we really love seeing everybody, and it’s just such a joy. So for us, it’s really helpful.”

One Day at a Time Season 4 has given Schneider a really special arc. Grinnell spoke a bit about his reaction to the fact that Schneider and Avery are having a baby.

“I love it. I think it’s so cool. It’s such a great evolution for him, because he’s always been such a lonely guy. And so to now, I mean, last season find real love, obviously outside of the Alvarez family who he loves, but start to create his own little family in last season meeting Avery, and then potentially screwing that up by falling off the wagon and starting to drink again and driving Avery away… to see him come back now in Season 4 and have Avery be in his life, and then have this new development when you’re pregnant. He’s really putting down roots and creating a family that he’s always dreamed of.”

“Then to have it sort of all be mingled with the Alvarez family, it’s just an extension of the Alvarez family in Schneider’s eyes and in my eyes, and I think that’s really cool,” Grinnell added.

It really does feel like it’s all one big family, and even the news that Avery was pregnant was announced with the Alvarez family gathered around, in what Grinnell said was one of his favorite scenes of the season so far.

“That was the most touching part of the whole episode for me, was just finding out that we were having a baby and having that moment with Avery, and then immediately feeling all the support of the Alvarez family around us was just breathtaking,” he said. “That was really special to me.”

What makes the love story between Schneider and Avery even more special, of course, is the fact that the two actors are married in real life.

“Being in the show with my wife is such a cool gift,” Grinnell said. “It’s been super fun. I mean, we love acting together whenever we get a chance, which is not always that often. So it really just feels like a once in a lifetime dream to be able to do it on One Day at a Time, and we have so much fun. And it makes life easier, like the kissing and the being cute with each other — you don’t have to think about any of that stuff. It just comes naturally.”

Schneider and Avery’s joy of having a baby also mirrors real life a bit for the couple.

“It is real and surreal at the same time because we have a two-year-old and so as Avery and Schneider, we’re going back and revisiting all the stuff that we just lived through for the past two years,” Grinnell shared.

“It’s very easy to pull out those emotions and those reactions [and] live through those moments in a very real way, because we’ve just experienced it,” he continued. “It just feels like two years ago that we were in this room with the doctor and talking about the sex of the baby and all these things. And so it’s really fun. It’s easy to access, that’s for sure.”

Another important relationship Schneider has on the show is his friendship with Penelope (Justina Machado). The two characters have become very much like family.

“I always love just doing any scene with Justina and I. She’s just such a wonderful actor and we have such great chemistry,” he said. “The friendship between them I think is so important. It’s something that’s not around on TV as much. Usually shows will kind of veer into some sort of romantic storyline, and the fact that we’ve stayed away from that and just dug deeper into them being confidants and supports for each other is rare.”

In fact, Grinnell attributes their closeness to the fact that there hasn’t been any suggestion of something romantic. “I think because it’s so familial to them, it feels like a family member. So the thought of it just never even enters their minds. Then that allows them to be completely 100% open and vulnerable with each other. And that’s when you have the deepest relationships when you can have complete honesty and vulnerability and communication with another person. I think that’s what makes them so close.”

That’s not to say some fans haven’t wanted to see them together romantically at some point. “It’s funny, people have been quote ‘shipping them’ since Season 1 and I like that. I mean, I like entertaining the idea and sort of having people root for them in that way, because I think it says a lot about the two of them together. But then I love — there are just as many people on the other side of it going, ‘No, their friendship is amazing. Don’t ruin it. Keep it the way it is. It’s so nice to see.’ And so I love the debate about it.”

“And listen, I don’t know what’s going to happen in Season 9. You never know!” he added. “I don’t want to totally trounce on all the shipping, but it definitely looks like Schneider and Avery are the real deal for the long term. But we’ll see. Who knows?”

Grinnell also confirmed he’ll be directing another episode this season. He directed One Day at a Time Season 3 Episode 8, “She Drives Me Crazy,” and this year, he’ll be directing the eighth episode of the season once again.

“I can’t wait. I love it. It’s so fun. It really is the best and I have so much fun,” he said. “With directing, it’s like I get to get my hands in there and go, okay, oh, here’s an opportunity that the writers may not have seen because they’re not on set right now. And in the moment we find something funny and it’s like, well, let’s show that to the writers and see if they like it. And then the next thing you know, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s great, let’s keep it.’ So you get to kind of be an additive to whatever’s happening in the collaboration. That, to me, is just so fun and it’s a big responsibility, but it’s really rewarding at the end of the day.”

The collaboration is something Grinnell said he really enjoys as well. “As a director, you’re interacting with everybody and everybody’s coming to you. I love that because it’s one huge collaboration on a sitcom set. I mean, we’ve got 200 people on set. Everybody’s doing an amazing job and you get to be in the center of all that for an episode. It’s the best.”

Grinnell isn’t the only cast member set to direct later this season. He also noted that Justina Machado will be directing One Day at a Time Season 4 Episode 7, which will be her first time directing an episode.

“We were all so excited. It’s like one week Justina and the next week me,” he said. “Before we went on this extended hiatus for the quarantine situation, we were both getting so excited about it. So it’ll be fun to go back at some point soon.”

Grinnell also gave a few hints as to what viewers can expect from the mid-season finale, which airs tonight.

“This is a really cool episode. It’s, man, we’re going to see a lot of romance and a lot of surprises and we’re going to address some stuff about Cuba from last season,” Grinnell said. “It’s one of those unique episodes, just based on the setting and the way that it’s laid out, that I think people will remember for a long time. But there might be some tears. There’ll definitely be some laughs.”

“I think it’s actually a perfect mid-season finale,” he added. “It’s really just a perfect little culmination of the first half of the season and a great way to just say, we’ll leave it at that for a minute and then we’re going to pick this up in a few months. It’s going to be great. I think people are going to love it.”

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One Day at a Time airs Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30c on Pop TV.

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