Norman Lear's One Day at a Time (1975-1984) explored the life of a liberated divorcée who took back her maiden name and found success without a husband. Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin) married too young, divorced her husband, and took her two teenage daughters, who kept their father's name, from suburban Logansport to a tiny apartment in the big city of Indianapolis. The older daughter, 17-year-old Julie (Mackenzie Phillips), was stubborn, headstrong, and impetuous. Her sister, 15-year-old Barbara (Valerie Bertinelli) cracked wise, but was basically a good girl. The girls had all of the dating and school problems of most teenagers, but lived with only one parent, the feisty Ann, who had gone from her parents house to her husband's, and was now finally on her own.

Though developed by Lear, One Day at a Time was created by Allan...