One Day at a Time
Perils of Plastic
TV Flash files “Perils of Plastic” as hour 110 of 209 in the TV Flash guide — One Day at a Time (1975–1984) on CBS, season 5, episode 21, aired 1980-03-09, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E21: listed hour 110 of 209 in the One Day at a Time guide, hour 21 of 26 in season 5. It aired 1980-03-09 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Girl with a Past” (S05E20). Next is “No Laughing Matter” (S05E22).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Perils of Plastic sit in the One Day at a Time guide?
S05E21 is listed hour 110 of 209 — hour 21 of 26 in season 5, season 5 episode 21.
When did One Day at a Time S05E21 air?
Perils of Plastic aired 1980-03-09 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Original series or the later reboot first?
This catalog hour is the 1975–1984 CBS original with Bonnie Franklin. The later reimagining is a cousin, not a replacement.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Bonnie Franklin's newly divorced Ann Romano raises two daughters in an Indianapolis apartment while Pat Harrington Jr.'s Schneider supplies the tool-belt Greek chorus. Lear-adjacent single-mom sitcom with real stakes under the jokes. Women's lib as weekly multi-cam, not a one-episode pamphlet.
The first image is an Indianapolis apartment that has to look like independence: Bonnie Franklin's newly divorced Ann Romano raising two daughters, a tool-belt superintendent in the doorway, and women's lib as weekly multi-cam rather than a pamphlet. CBS's One Day at a Time (1975–1984) ran nine seasons, 209 episodes, a Whitney Blake / Allan Manings / Norman Lear relevant sitcom about single motherhood, teen trouble, and a laugh track that does not apologize. Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips grew up on…
Filed against
- Bonnie Franklin as Ann Romano
Bonnie Franklin’s Ann Romano raised two daughters in an Indianapolis apartment on One Day at a Time — newly divorced, Pat Harrington Jr.’s Schneider as tool-belt Greek chorus, Lear-adjacent single-mom sitcom with real stakes under the…
- Mackenzie Phillips as Julie Cooper
Mackenzie Phillips grew up in public as Julie Cooper on One Day at a Time — Bonnie Franklin’s newly divorced Ann Romano, two daughters in an Indianapolis apartment, Pat Harrington Jr.’s Schneider as tool-belt chorus. Lear-adjacent…
- Valerie Bertinelli as Barbara Cooper
Valerie Bertinelli’s Barbara Cooper grew up in One Day at a Time’s Indianapolis apartment — Bonnie Franklin’s newly divorced Ann, Schneider’s tool-belt chorus, women’s lib as weekly multi-cam — then walked Touched by an Angel’s…
- Pat Harrington Jr. as Dwayne Schneider
Pat Harrington Jr. made Dwayne Schneider the tool-belt Greek chorus on One Day at a Time — Bonnie Franklin’s newly divorced Ann Romano raising two daughters in a 1970s Indianapolis apartment. Lear-adjacent single-mom sitcom with real…