Following multiple appearances by original One Day at a Time star Mackenzie Phillips, another actor from the original series will be making their way to the Netflix update.
Glenn Scarpelli, who played “Alex Handris” in three seasons of the original show, is swinging over to the new show for a cameo role named “Chad.” That’s all we can tell you — though we know Scarpelli has posted great thanks online to the producers and Norman Lear for making it happen.
On the original series, Alex was the son of a man that Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin) who had been dating; the actor playing his father was Ron Rifkin of Alias fame. When his father died, Alex came to live with the Romano family for a while, and formed a nice bond with Schneider (Pat Harrington Jr.).
Following his run on One Day at a Time, Scarpelli went on to star in other TV series such as Jennifer Slept Here, made some music, and settled in Sedona, Arizona where he established the Sedona NOW television station. Scarpelli also reunited with co-star Mackenzie Phillips for a recent film called Sacred Journeys, and in 2012, Glenn was present with other One Day cast members including the late Bonnie Franklin and Pat Harrington Jr. as the series was honored at the TV Land Awards.
The first two seasons of the One Day at a Time revival are now on Netflix; a premiere date for Season 3 has yet to be announced.
