| Clean Slate | |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
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| Producer | Paul Hilepo |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | February 6, 2025 |
Clean Slate is an American sitcom co-created by and starring Laverne Cox and George Wallace. The show centers on a woman (Cox) reuniting with her father (Wallace), who she has not seen since her gender transition. The series premiered on Prime Video on February 6, 2025 and received positive reception.
"The series follows Desiree (Cox), who’s returning to her small town in Alabama to reunite with her father Harry (Wallace) after 23 years away. Harry is excited to reunite with his son, and he has no idea that son is now Desiree—a proud trans woman." [1]
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Desiree. And Whatnot." | Nisha Ganatra | Teleplay by : Dan Ewen Story by : Laverne Cox & George Wallace & Dan Ewen | February 6, 2025 | |
After 23 years away living as an artist in New York City, Desiree returns home to Alabama to repair her estranged relationship with her old-school father, Harry. Together, they must process their new reality as father and daughter. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Spark Joy" | Matthew A. Cherry | Dan Ewen | February 6, 2025 | |
Desiree throws a yard sale to purge her childhood home of unnecessary clutter, with unintended consequences. Louis keeps Harry busy with a game-day feast. Desiree and Jay begin a friendship. Desiree makes Louis a Grindr account. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Opal's Day Off" | Randall Keenan Winston | Shadi Petosky & Jasmine Pierce | February 6, 2025 | |
| 4 | 4 | "Chrome Jesus" | Keith Powell | Simran Baidwan & Shantira Jackson | February 6, 2025 | |
| 5 | 5 | "Closer Than They Appear" | Jett Garrison | Simran Baidwan & Dan Ewen | February 6, 2025 | |
| 6 | 6 | "Pillars" | Princess Monique Filmz | Brittany Miller & Shomari Kirkwood | February 6, 2025 | |
| 7 | 7 | "Mess and Magic" | Linda Mendoza | Amos Mac & Walter Kelly | February 6, 2025 | |
| 8 | 8 | "Born Again... Again" | Zackary Drucker | Simran Baidwan & Shantira Jackson | February 6, 2025 | |
The series was originally announced by Peacock in January 2020 with Laverne Cox and George Wallace starring in leading roles. [3] Cox and Wallace are the creators and executive producers of the series with Dan Ewen. Ewen serves as a showrunner of the series with executive producer Simran Baidwan. Norman Lear executive produced via his Act III Productions, along with Brent Miller. It was one of the last series produced by Norman Lear prior to his death in 2023. Paul Hilepo is a producer of the series. Nisha Ganatra directed the series pilot. [4] [1]
In February 2021, the series moved to IMDB TV (now known as Amazon Freevee). [5] In September 2022, Amazon Freevee gave the series order. [6] On December 2024, the series was announced to be moving from Amazon Freevee to Amazon Prime Video. [7]
In March 2023, it was announced that D.K. Uzoukwu, Telma Hopkins, Jay Wilkison and Norah Murphy joined the cast as series regulars alongside Cox and Wallace. [8]
The series premiered on February 6, 2025 on Prime Video. [9]
Clean Slate received an 88% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 critic reviews. [10] In a positive review, Barry Levitt wrote in The Daily Beast , "Clean Slate wisely challenges common conceptions of the American South...This Alabama town is filled with people who love Jesus, of course, but they also love family and everything in between. Not everyone in town is eager to embrace Desiree, but the vast majority of locals welcome her like she’s their own daughter." [1] After noting the cultural relevance of a show about trans people "debuting at a moment when the current presidential administration is aggressively stripping trans people of their rights," [9] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone described the show as "content to be a simple, relatively old-fashioned family and friends comedy. But centering a sitcom like that around a trans character feels like an act of bold political protest, even if nobody meant it that way." [9] Michele Theil wrote for PinkNews that Laverne Cox is Clean Slate's "shining star." [11]
In a less positive review, Daniel Feinberg described the series in The Hollywood Reporter as "more of a fantasy of societal understanding than an issue-oriented comedy, very rarely producing laughs but very frequently generating reasonably earned warm-fuzzies." [2]