Clean Slate creators pen funny, honest eulogy to now-canceled Laverne Cox sitcom

"This shit was cheaper than therapy," Cox, George Wallace, and co-creator Dan Ewen wrote while eulogizing the Norman Lear-produced comedy.

By William Hughes  |  April 18, 2025 | 5:41pm
Photo courtesy of Prime
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Clean Slate creators pen funny, honest eulogy to now-canceled Laverne Cox sitcom
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Clean Slate, the final TV production from sitcom legend Norman Lear, has officially been canceled at Prime Video, Deadline reports. The news has been accompanied by a lengthy, and often very funny, post-mortem on the series penned by its creators, including stars Laverne Cox and George Wallace and co-creator Dan Ewen. “This shit was cheaper than therapy,” they note up top, before diving into the work of making a comedy series centered on a Black trans woman living in the American South.

That includes what was apparently a lengthy initial meeting between Cox and Lear, who reportedly ended the conversation by noting “I’m almost a hundred years old. How have I just learned so much about something so important?” (“Some of Lear’s questions were too personal, some overly medical,” the piece continues. “Laverne’s retort, ‘That information is between me and my doctor and my boyfriend,’ would end up in the pilot script. But Norman’s questions were evidence of a mind that had remained open, decades after most people’s have welded shut.”)

The piece goes on to cover the show’s lengthy trip from genesis to actual airing, including landing at Freevee back before Freevee got absorbed into the larger streaming biomass. Ultimately, the show—which we enjoyed, for all that it sometimes felt like it took place in a reality at least modestly divorced from our own—arrived on TV in February 2025, right alongside the initial flurry of anti-trans moves by the just-installed Trump administration. Meanwhile, the writing for the series was already on the wall: “The series was met with much admiration,” Cox, Wallace, and Ewen write. “We went on the shows, bantering with Whoopi, Kelly, Seth, and others. We presented at the Image Awards and were showered with love. We enjoyed promising domestic numbers, especially with the African American audience. Critics called it ‘A tall glass of sweet tea,’ ‘Norman Lear’s parting gift,’ and a ‘show we need now more than ever.’ But by the time audiences saw Laverne’s epic trip down Jennifer Hudson’s dance line, Clean Slate was already toast. What? Guuuuuurl.”
While saying “Of course, we mourn our baby,” the show’s producers also expressed their interest in trying to find ways to continue its story. “We will be conducting a folksy awards campaign, so keep your eyes peeled for our bake sale. “For Yo’ Momma’s Consideration” ads are being prepared. Conversations will continue about where and how Desiree and Harry’s journey might continue. We would love to further the echo of Norman’s voice. We will push to keep the story alive, for the sake of the kind of people portrayed in it, the kind of people being legislated out of existence, or erased from history books. It feels like it’s time to fight like hell for nice things. And whatnot.”

 
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