Family Matters actress Telma Hopkins is joining Laverne Cox and George Wallace in Norman Lear‘s new sitcom Clean Slate.
Yes, that’s right! At the age of 100, the iconic writer and producer has created another show and he has an all-star cast set for it.
Clean Slate, which was written and produced by Cox and Wallace, centers around the life of a transgender person living in the Deep South.
Here’s more from Deadline:
“Clean Slate follows Henry (Wallace), an old-school and outspoken car wash owner, who is thrilled his estranged child is finally returning home to Alabama after 17 years. However, Henry has a lot of soul searching to do when the child he thought was a son returns as the determined, proud, trans woman, Desiree (Cox).”
Other actors joining the cast are writer DK Uzoukwu, Jay Wilkison (Entangled), and Norah Murphy (Kindred).
Uzoukwu play Louis, a closeted gay choir director at the local church who the older female congregants insist on trying to fix up. He is a close childhood friend of Desiree and the only person who gives her a genuinely heartfelt welcome home.”
Hopkins plays Louis’ mother Ella, a no-nonsense jack-of-all-trades who has known Harry for much longer than either of them would like to admit. She lives with Louis and is fully aware her son is gay, but they haven’t talked about it.”
Wilkinson’s character Mack is a ruggedly handsome white man from the wrong side of the tracks who has spent some time in prison. Harry’s confidant at the car wash and the single father of Opal, an 11-year-old that keeps him on his toes.
Opal is played by Murphy. Opal is Mack’s confident and industrious tween daughter who works alongside her father at the carwash when she’s not plotting to become the next billionaire. She bonds with Desiree over her dreams of one day getting out of Mobile.
Wallace, a standup comedian who is popular from his Las Vegas shows, has credits in TV and film that includes Florida Girls, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Bob’s Burgers, Law & Order: SVU, KC Undercover, Detroiters, Horace & Pete, Drunk History, Soul Man, Sullivan and Son and Scrubs.
Besides Cox’s break-out role in Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black, she played many roles in productions like Inventing Anna, Promising Young Woman, and Jolt. The Emmy-nominated entertainer hosted NBC’s If We’re Being Honest With Laverne Cox and is a LGBT advocate.
Lear has been legendary for creating TV shows that tackle heavy issues while also being incredibly funny. Let’s see if he can do the same thing for Clean Slate.
The sitcom is starting production in Savannah, GA; however, the series set is in Mobile, Alabama. It will be aired on Amazon Freevee.
So what do y’all think? Do you think “Clean Slate” has potential?
