How a ‘Sanford and Son’ Reboot Pitch to Norman Lear Led to George Wallace and Laverne Cox’s ‘Clean Slate’ – Hollywood Reporter
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterCox and Wallace discuss their Prime Video comedy about a father who reunites with his trans daughter after being estranged for two decades: “You get to learn as you go along.”
By
Brande Victorian
Seven years ago, as Hollywood was diving headfirst into its TV reboot era, comedian George Wallace wanted to add one more nostalgic series to the docket: a reimagined version of Sanford and Son.
“Sanford and Son makes everybody feel good,” Wallace tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Just hearing the music, already that smile comes on your face. So I said, ‘Let me go to Norman Lear.’ I had known him for 30 years and I said, ‘I want to reboot Sanford and Son.’ He says, ‘Are you kidding? You can’t do that show. Get a twist and come back.’ ”
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Wallace didn’t immediately know what his fresh take on the ‘70s Redd Foxx sitcom developed and executive produced by Lear and Bud Yorkin would be, but he did recall an actress’ name he couldn’t escape.
“At that time, Orange is the New Black was very popular. I never watched the show, but I kept hearing about this Laverne Cox. Who the hell is Laverne Cox? But thinking about her show, I wondered, what if I had a son that left home and came back and it was 23 years later and my child says, ‘Dad, I’m coming home tomorrow.’”
“And that child says,” Cox interjects, “‘I was never your son, I was always your daughter.’”
Therein lies the plot twist at the center of Clean Slate, the Prime Video series co-created, co-executive produced and co-starring Wallace and Cox as father and daughter Harry and Desiree Slate. One of Lear’s his final projects (the TV legend died Dec. 5, 2023, at the age of 101), the comedy begins with Desiree showing up on Harry’s doorstep in Mobile, Alabama, revealing her identity as a proud trans woman to her dad who, although immediately accepting of Desiree, does need some help with minding his pronouns and other aspects of fathering a daughter.
“That’s what’s good about Clean Slate,” says Wallace. “You get to learn as you go along.”
Though not wholly biographical, the show does draw from Cox’s lived experiences growing up in Mobile and being raised in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church where, in the series, Harry worships and Desiree’s closeted best friend Louis (D.K. Uzoukwu) is the choir director.
“It’s different, but it’s very similar to the church I grew up in Bethel AME Church,” says Cox. “The great thing about being an actor is we are responding to external stimuli. Sometimes that’s something an actor may do, sometimes it’s a place, and place was really strong here.
“The church evoked a lot when I walked in,” Cox continues. “That’s a gift, but it’s also triggering and it’s also wonderful, and everything that we did in the church, I love. I knew when we had [the greenlight] to do the show that the church had to feature prominently in it. There’s so much great comedy in the church, first of all, and there’s so much drama in the church.”
Desiree’s drama comes by way of church members, including the pastor, who aren’t fond of her presence in their pews. Save for Louis’ mother Ella (Telma Hopkins) and a small group of older women congregates who make it their business to make Desiree feel welcome.
“There are so many Black Christian women just like her all over the South,” says Cox. “There’s actually an organization of Christian mothers who have LGBTQ kids, and they got started just to give hugs to LGBTQ+ people. This is the thing, there’s so many people who are Christians who are loving. I grew up reading the Bible, summarizing the Sunday school lesson every Sunday, and there’s a lot going on in the Bible, but in the New Testament, God is love, Jesus is love, he forgives, he died for our sins. It is God’s job to judge, and it’s our job to love.”
The feeling of love is what Cox, who describes the show as “a warm hug,” wants viewers to walk away with, particularly as the current presidential administration restricts gender expression to male and female only and prohibits trans individuals from serving in the military and seeking gender-affirming treatment while incarcerated or under the age of 19.
“Nothing the government will do will keep us from our gender-affirming care,” Cox said during this interview, previously published on THR. “That is the truth. Never has, never will. We are resilient people. We are resourceful people.”
Resistance in Clean Slate is much more lighthearted for Desiree who, aside from church bigotry, also struggles with how to let love in when it shows up on her doorstep in a different package than she imagined — that of Mack (Jay Wilkison) a single father to daughter Opal (Norah Murphy) and Harry’s second in command at the car wash he owns. The chemistry between Desiree and Mack is a slow burn that leaves audiences on the edge right into the finale and perhaps future seasons.
“No spoilers, but that’s my favorite scene,” Wallace says of the ending of season one’s eighth episode, “Born Again…Again.” “I’d love to do that over again right now. I love that scene.”
Whether Wallace and Cox will get to do the show all over again remains to be seen. But the series does end on a juicy cliffhanger that will beg answers from the audience.
“We don’t know if we’re getting a season two,” says Cox, “but we’re ready and the story’s plotted.”
All episodes of Clean Slate are currently streaming on Prime Video.Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every dayInside the business of TV with breaking news, expert analysis and showrunner interviewsSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSend us a tip using our anonymous form.
