Valerie Bertinelli Reflects on One Day at a Time Debut, 50 Years Later

More than 18,000 days after One Day at a Time first aired, Valerie Bertinelli says the memories from her very first day on set are still vivid — and one longtime wish remains unfulfilled.

Bertinelli, who played Barbara Cooper Royer on the hit CBS sitcom for nine seasons, recently looked back on the show’s 1975 debut during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show.

“Whenever I think of One Day at a Time, I can smell it,” Bertinelli said, recalling her first professional acting job. “I can smell the stage because it was my first big job.”

She clearly remembers the nervous excitement she felt just before stepping onto the set in front of a live studio audience. At just 15 years old, Bertinelli stood behind the door, basketball in hand, quietly repeating her first line to herself: “Mom, Mom, I made the team! I made the team!”

Even at that young age, she sensed the show would have lasting meaning in her life. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to be able to show this to my children one day,’” she said.

So far, that dream hasn’t fully come true. Bertinelli joked that her son, Wolfgang Van Halen, whom she shares with her late ex-husband Eddie Van Halen, still hasn’t watched the series. “I don’t think Wolfie’s ever seen the show,” she said. “Now he can!”

The actress also reflected on the sitcom’s impact in a 2025 interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying she knew from the start that the show was special. “I don’t know how I knew that then, but I could feel it,” she said.

Bertinelli added that she feels a similar sense of excitement today while appearing regularly on Drew Barrymore’s daytime talk show. She praised the growing audience and the time it takes for a talk show to truly connect with viewers.

“It takes a long time for a talk show to find its legs,” Bertinelli said, noting how meaningful it is when audiences welcome a host into their homes each afternoon.

Half a century later, One Day at a Time continues to hold a special place in Bertinelli’s heart — even as she waits for her son to finally watch the show that started it all.