Gloria Calderon Kellett knows the importance of combining heart and humor. And with writing credits on Quintuplets, How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Devious Maids, Mixology, and iZombie, she’s an expert in her field.

Now, Kellet has partnered with legendary writer and creator Norman Lear to reimagine the series One Day at a Time for Netflix. And as with Lear in his work on All In The Family and The Jeffersons, Kellet is the voice of a new generation, one of the pioneers for Latino-based comedy on television.

Creative Screenwriting spoke with Gloria about how a show is developed, writing for television, and how exactly a writers’ room works.

How did you get into the business?

I started out as an actor, but found it difficult to find roles that were right for me. At that time, Latina roles were somewhat limited. I thought that there should be roles as a lawyer or a teacher, or something where I didn’t need to put on an accent. It seemed like there was a very limited amount of jobs because of the way Hollywood perceived the Latino community at that time.

So I started writing material for myself, and as I put it out on stage, people started to approach me because the work really resonated with them. They asked, “Do you have more?” I was also able to cast women of different shapes and sizes and colors. This really made people come to me.

I was then fortunate enough to become Cameron Crowe’s second assistant. I friend of mine from college was working for Cruise Wagner, and they were making Vanilla Sky and he needed a little extra help.

And it was really working with Cameron that got me interested in television. He said, “You know, plays are a lot like television. Those old sitcoms are really just plays.”

So I went to The Paley Center For Media, which is basically an archive and library of every television show ever, and I just studied TV and taught myself television writing.

Then I wrote a spec, and this led to me finding representation, and starting my journey as a television writer.

Most of your credentials seem to be comedic in nature. Where your plays meant to be comedies as well?

Yes, they were comedic as well. That was something else thought I would find. I’m funny, [laughs], and people would tell me I was funny, but the Latino representation on television was always very serious.

I was like “Really?” because everyone I knew was so funny. That was just natural to me.

I’ve tried writing drama, but it’s not as natural to me.

Tell us about how you came to work with Norman Lear on One Day at a Time.

It really started with Brent Miller, who is Norman’s producing partner. He was the one who saw One Day at a Time as a possibility for a reboot with a Latino family.

They had already been talking to Netflix, who they seemed really interested. Then, Mike Royce (Everybody Loves Raymond, Men Of A Certain Age) came on board, and once they all got in a room, they determined that they actually needed someone Hispanic with them, so they met with me. I think they met with all of the Latina writers, of which there are not enough, but I was fortunate enough to get Norman’s approval.

So when Mike and I sat down to talk about the show, it was just flowing out of us. It’s more a homage than a remake, because we’re not using characters from the original show. We’re taking the single mother and making her modern. What is today’s single mother going through?

Norman is a veteran who flew over fifty combat missions in World War II, so Veteran issues are very important to him. That’s why we made her a veteran too, so we can talk about some of those things.

Then we made it a son and a daughter because after we added the Rita character, we felt like we had a lot of women, and we wanted to include a male point-of-view. I have a daughter and a son. Mike has a daughter and a son, so it felt really ripe with story from our own homes.

How do you balance the seriousness of the veteran issues with the comedy? Is there a ratio that you keep in mind?

We don’t really think about it in that way. We talk about these issues, and in talking about it, comedy arises naturally.

You can look at anything and make it funny, even really dark stuff. But I don’t think we’re writing jokes as much as we’re writing really strong characters. That way, once something has filtered through their point-of-view, it has a comedic sensibility.

For our readers who are unfamiliar with the logistics of the writers’ room, can you break down how it all works? For example, is there still a moment when individuals break away from the team to write their own episodes?

Every writers’ room is a little bit different in television. With our room, Mike and I have a pretty clear sense of the direction that we want to go in, so we will walk in the room and maybe decide we want to talk about modern sexism.

We’ll have some ideas of what we want to say, but we also want to hear from the room. What types of sexism have the women experienced? What do the guys feel comfortable with and uncomfortable with?

We have writers in the room from 22 to 94, and they’re just really incredible people. Among these, half are Latino, which is exciting because they’re made up of Mexican, El Salvadorian, Cuban and Puerto Rican. So the conversation is organic, with a diverse group of people.

Then once the conversation makes it way to a point where we’ve dug up some interesting nuggets, we then try to find the backbone of a story. What is the story we’re telling?  Certainly the topic is interesting, but what is the story, and what journey is our main character Penelope about to go through?

We still follow the inciting incident – progressive complication – climax – resolution format, but it happens quickly within half an hour. So we put her on that journey and try to make it seem organic for her character. What does she learn or how does she grow? Or, does she learn and grow at all? Is it actually someone else’s journey, and it’s that character’s turn to make a change of conscience?

With network television the act breaks build to commercial breaks. We don’t have those, so we can breath a little bit more. And what we do with the Netflix model is make sure that we end the episode with something to lead you into the next episode. We try to serialize it somewhat, so that you want to continue to watch.

Once the story is broken like a beat-sheet, within the shooting locations, we can then write scenes and begin to whittle away at a subject matter. Then once that’s written out, we’ll have one person — or a writing team — go away and write a sample outline with sample dialogue or jokes.

So they’ll send us the outline. We’ll read it, give notes, and then they’ll do a second pass. Then it goes to Sony, then it goes to Netflix – where they give us their thoughts – and we make adjustments accordingly, or have a conversation if there are any disagreements.

Then one writer or a team will go away and write a draft of it. That draft comes to Mike and I, where we can either work on a rewrite or punch up in the room. Then we have a table read and then production begins.

With multi-cam, we have a table read on a Wednesday, make changes, then the actors get a new script on Thursday morning. That afternoon, we watch a very informal run-through, do the same note process again, then on Friday, network and studio come to see all the revisions from the actors like a play, where they are holding their scripts.

Then, we do the same thing on Monday as rehearsal, before filming in front of a live audience on Tuesday.

What changes might occur with a live audience?

You’re really just looking for jokes. The storyline won’t change, but a live audience can tell you what lands and what doesn’t. If we really want the audience to laugh in that moment, then we’ll try to write a funnier joke on the fly.

We also allow the writers to write alts during the week. That way, we have a book of alternative jokes ready for us, so there’s something pre-written to work from. Some shows do complete overhauls on the floor, but we don’t do that. We’re mainly just making a line funnier.

Does any improv that makes it way to the set?

We allow some improve during the week for the producer’s run-through. And Phil Lewis (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Scrubs) might try something on the run-through that happens on Thursday. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. If it works, we would keep it, but other than that, we really do stick to the script, especially for the live shows.

Is there anything that you used to believe about writing that has changed as you’ve become more experienced?

Yes. When I first started writing for television, I thought my job was to bring my unique voice to the show. And sure, you are getting hired for your specific point-of-view. But once you’re on a writing staff, your job is actually to emulate the voice of the showrunner.

When you’re in the room, you need to bring your own voice, but when you’re writing, you’re trying to get into the mindset of the show. You’re supposed to write the show, not your show.

Early in my career, I would go off and write my version of the show, or what I would do if I were the boss. But I should have been writing how Tom Hertz would write Rules of Engagement, not how Gloria would write Rules of Engagement. Showrunners can’t write all of the episodes because there is so much to do, so your job is to write their show as best you can.

What do you find to be the most difficult step in the writing process?

I think it’s the beginning, where there is no story on the board. We use dry erase boards, and when it’s blank, it’s a little daunting.

Once we start putting words up there and it forms a story, then I’m much more at ease. So the story-breaking is difficult.

Then, with so much content out there, we really want to tell something in a new way or with a different point-of-view. That’s something we strive for, and something that is very challenging.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to write for television?

We’re blessed to live in a country that has libraries. There is so much out there that people have access to, like Creative Screenwriting. People can find this information without even taking a class. The fact that that’s out there and available and that people can self-teach is remarkable.

People get daunted because they think that they live in Ohio so they may not have access to a set. But nearly any bit of information, or script, can be found online.

There are tons of books on screenwriting and television writing now. If there is a true interest, people can start to teach themselves. There there’s also Netflix, Hulu, and all of these wonderful streaming platforms that provide an opportunity for people to watch those shows and study them the way that I did.

Like anything, you have to learn how to do it and put in the time. That time may be reading a bunch of books and writing some terrible scripts, before you latch on to something that you feel is your gift more than anyone else’s. Once you latch onto that, then you can create more and more.

I also know a lot of writers who don’t write a lot. They have one script. One script does not make you a writer. I must have 100 scripts on my computer. They’re not all finished and most of them are probably terrible, but I write and write and write.

That process makes you a better writer, and it makes you refine what you specifically have to say in a way that no one else is saying it. So hone your craft, then create. Once you feel like, “This is it,” that’s when it’s time to try and find representation to get you to the next stage of your journey.

One Day at a Time is available now on Netflix.

Featured image Photo Credit: Michael Yarish/Netflix

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