Clean Slate

Although Norman Lear passed away at the end of 2023 at the grand old age of 101, before Desiree and Harry’s antics were filmed, watching these eight episodes you can’t help feel that he would be proud of the Slate clan and his continuing legacy.

As Desiree, Cox radiates charisma, a quality that pairs perfectly with her dad Wallace.

Edgy yet wholesome. The warmhearted, consistently funny and thoroughly engaging Prime Video series “Clean Slate” manages to be both of these things.

Clean Slate definitively sets itself up for a second season, ending with a couple of twists and a good old-fashioned cliffhanger that leave us wanting more. While I would like to see the story go further in season 2, I would characterize myself as wanting more and ready to be comforted by the familiarity and warmth of Clean Slate.

While we wish Clean Slate was funnier and took a bit longer to have Harry accept that Desiree is now a woman, it feels like it’s going to be a warm show about rebuilding relationships and Southern small town life. Given the presence of Cox, Wallace and Hopkins, we’re on board for this one.

I can’t make any great claims for the show as anything more than a pretty decent newfangled old-fashioned comedy, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Both Wallace and Cox are imposing people; they match well.

Is it a great show by the end of this first season? No, but it’s pretty charming, has strong hangout comedy vibes, and feels like something I’d be happy to revisit in a second season to see if it can continue to improve.

The series can feel a bit broad, but that doesn’t make it unsuccessful. That said, sometimes it’s too broad. .... But overall, Clean Slate is largely a smooth, delightful ride.

Amazon‘s Clean Slate is more of a fantasy of societal understanding than an issue-oriented comedy, very rarely producing laughs but very frequently generating reasonably earned warm-fuzzies.

The dialogue can feel pretty canned, like we’re waiting a beat for a laugh track, and there’s not much breathing room between zingers. That said, that sitcom feel might hit a nostalgic sweet spot for some viewers, and the actors do a lot with what they’re given, with each character coming off as warm, genuine, and lived-in. What’s more, each one serves a real purpose and has clearly drawn traits.

A show built around a talented Black trans actress whose charisma is reason enough to watch. If only the series had a little more comedic bite. Occasionally a line will land.

Clean Slate, a mixed bag of lovable characters and stale one-liners, captures the appeal of that optimism but suffers from its naïveté in an era very different from the 1970s.

The series is heartfelt, well-acted and has beautiful representations of the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically trans people. However, the comedy overall is rather middling and doesn’t quite jump off the screen.

It’s all perfectly nice, but at times the series veers so far from conflict that its characters feel thin and underdeveloped. Clean Slate has gone all in on feel-good, and the effect on the series as a whole is that it’s both happier and emptier as a result.