“Always remember, and please never forget…” With those words, Duane Schneider on the sitcom One Day at a Time would leave the room with some parting wisdom.
“Always remember, and please never forget, a man is like a bow-and-arrow, and a woman is like a target. Bow-and-arrow needs practice. Target doesn’t.”
One Day at a Time was must-see TV from the mid-70s to the mid-80s. It launched the careers of Valerie Bertinelli and MacKenzie Phillips. It brought the taboo topic of divorce into American livingrooms. And it gave us a strong female figure in Ann Romano played by Bonnie Franklin.
There was a time when former sitcom stars came to Mississauga to perform at a venue called Stage West. Stars of MASH, Happy Days and other shows gone by would find a second life performing in regional theatre productions that would land at Stage West. Sometimes the shows were great. Sometimes they were terrible. But the buffet dinner was always first rate. Stage West closed a couple of years ago, although there’s still a version in Calgary.
I met Pat Harrington, aka Duane Schneider the handyman, when he was on the circuit. He’s 86 now, so he was in his 60s then, and still as charming and easy-going as you might expect from watching the show. And he wasn’t ashamed of being a TV star who found himself typecast after becoming so well known for playing Schneider. Unlike, say, Anson Williams who refused to discuss Happy Days at all, despite the fact Potsie was, until then, all he was known for. The photo brings back a fond memory. My hair? Not so much.