Laverne Cox and George Wallace are TV’s newest dynamic duo. Cox, the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, and Wallace, a standup comedy legend, have come together to star in Clean Slate on Hulu.
Executive produced by Cox, Wallace, and the late television producer Norman Lear, the hilarious series follows Desiree (Cox), who after 23 years away, is making her return to her small town in Alabama to reunite with her father Harry (Wallace). Following such a long absence, Harry couldn’t be more excited to reunite with his son. But he has no idea that his son, Desiree, is now a proud trans woman. Her homecoming brings together a hilarious cast of friends, coworkers, and love interests, as Desiree and Harry try to get it right the second time around. Rounding out the cast are Jay Wilkison, Norah Murphy, D.K. Uzoukwu, Telma Hopkins, and Phillip Garcia.
Created by Cox and Wallace along with Dan Ewen, “the series explores universal themes of everyday life, all through Norman Lear’s signature boundary-pushing brand of comedy.”
Speaking with WBLS, Cox shared how it was to develop a series based on some of her life experiences.
“It was so much fun developing the stories with Dan and George and pulling from my life. I would tell Dan, “Oh, this happened and we need to make this an episode.”So using my backstory to make whole episodes out of was amazing to do,” Cox said. I’m a therapy girl, I’m a self-help, personal improvement girl, so incorporating all that stuff, role breathing, and just all those things we tried to make them funny for the show.
Wallace talked about making the transition from the stand-up stage to a multi-camera sitcom and how the series was inspired by the classic show Sanford and Son.
“Well, this is different. I’ve been in the business for 48 years, and this was the first TV show presented to me that’s like a real part of my life now. Being who I am now with Laverne and extending love and finding love. When I thought about it, we all grew up with Redd Foxx and Sanford and Son,” Wallace said. “That’s one of the people that I grew up listening to and just the sounds of the theme song would make you happy right off the bat. I always wanted to be a comedian, and now I got to do this TV show at the right time with the great Norman Lear, and with Laveren and all of us executive producers making it come to fruition has been a blessing.”
Cox went on to admit that revisiting some of the painful moments in her life was challenging and expressed gratitude for her journey.
“But like, these are real things. The vagus nerve can be reset and this is something we can do. So that was all fun, and when it came time to act it and to live fully in it, I was triggered every day,” Cox recalled. “Then, it was really hard and intimidating working opposite a comedy legend. I think I’m funny sometimes but I’m no George Wallace.”
According to Wallace, Clean Slate is for everybody no matter who you are and the universal appeal of the show is undeniable.
“To be able to extend this love and express it to millions of people around the world, no matter who you are, no matter color, creed, or whatever. That’s who we are. We are everyday people, and we talk to everybody. We love young, old, Black, white, hip-hoppers, and bangers. We’re into it all. And we want y’all to tune into the show.
*Clean Slate is currently streaming on Hulu.*