Comedian George Wallace’s new show, Clean Slate, is a wholesome comedy at its core but the inspiration for the series comes from one of the most edgy Black sitcoms created.
“I wanted to reboot Sanford & Son,” said Wallace, who is a co-creator of the show. “They rebooted everything else — especially the great Norman Lear projects and shows. I knew Norman for years, so I said, I'm going to go back and ask this man [to remake his show].
Wallace had more than a cursory familiarity with the late Norman Lear’s comedy as he served as a writer on one of Sanford & Son’s later seasons. Lear, who also created iconic Black sitcoms The Jeffersons and Good Times, was intrigued about having his junkyard classic reimagined but he challenged Wallace to find a twist.
While Wallace was ideating he came across Laverne Cox, who was having an impact in Hollywood with Netflix’s Orange its the New Black. Along with the show’s other co-creator, Dan Ewen, Wallace found his twist. The three creators imagined a show where a father’s son moves to New York City to pursue his dreams and escape his dad’s toxicity. Gone for 23 years, the dream to do big things in the big city implodes and the character decides to return home.
Wallace, who plays the father, is excited about his son coming home but the person that shows up at his doorstep is Desiree (played by Cox), as his son has transitioned.
The show centers acceptance as Wallace’s character has to adjust to his daughter being in his space. It’s less of a physical hurdle and more of an emotional adjustment. In that sense Wallace’s character, Harry, isn’t a copy of Redd Foxx’s Fred G. Sanford. In fact it’s hard to imagine the Fred Sanford character being open to his son Lamont transitioning. Wallace’s character is more endearing and curious. Still, Wallace points to the similarities that he thinks exist between the two patriarchs.
“You'll notice I got a next door neighbor that's Hispanic,” Wallace points out. “[My character] don't like him either. He's a pain in the ass. So I got my problems too. My next door neighbor down the street is my Aunt Esther. She's on my ass. We can't stand each other, but we can't live without each other either.”
Ultimately the character is more comfy than cranky. He’s an extension of George Wallace, IRL.
“The character is me,” says Wallace. “ It really is me because I'm learning about how [my daughter] lives and she's trying to make me understand where she comes from. I didn't understand it before, a lot of people in America and in the world don't understand it. We're being educated right now at the same time.”
Clean Slate is now streaming on Prime Video.