Laverne Cox, George Wallace to Star in Norman Lear-Produced Comedy ‘Clean Slate’ for IMDb TV

Norman Lear’s Act III Prods. and Sony Pictures TV have landed a pair of projects in development at Amazon’s IMDb TV, including one starring Laverne Cox and comedian George Wallace.

Lear and his production partner Brent Miller are executive producers on “Clean Slate” and “Lotería,” which are set up at the quickly growing IMDb TV, which is the premium free streaming service complement to Amazon’s subscription Prime Video service.

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Both projects are original ideas about family navigating unique challenges to their relationships: “Clean Slate,” which comes from Cox, Wallace and Dan Ewen, centers on car wash owner Henry (Wallace), whose estranged child comes home to Alabama after 17 years. But he must do some soul searching as he comes to terms with the fact that his adult child is a trans woman, Desiree (Cox).

Ewen is executive producer and showrunner on the half-hour comedy, while Cox also serves as executive producer. Ewen wrote the pilot script and came up with the story along with Cox and Wallace (who is also a producer).

As for the hour-long drama “Lotería,” the project centers on two estranged teen siblings who aim to reunite their family by going on a quest across Mexico to find 16 magical Lotería cards.

Felipe Vargas (“Milk Teeth”) is the pilot script writer and co-executive producer, while Alberto Belli and Juan Pablo Reyes will also serve as co-executive producers.

The projects are the latest to come out of a busy Act III slate for Lear and Miller, who recently announced a reboot of “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” from “Schitt’s Creek” star Emily Hampshire and “Letterkenny” executive producer Jacob Tierney.

Through its first-look overall deal with Sony Pictures TV, Act III is also producing an animated take on “Good Times,” along with Steph Curry’s production company and Seth MacFarlane, for Netflix — which gave the show a 10-episode order.

Lear and Miller won two Primetime Emmys in 2019 and 2020 for “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” their specials with Jimmy Kimmel. They’re also behind the feature documentary “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It,” which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. And they produced Heidi Ewing’s “I Carry You With Me,” which opens May 21 in theaters through Sony Pictures Classics.

Amazon has been busy expanding its original offerings on IMDb TV, including spy thriller “Alex Rider,” Judge Judy Sheindlin’s next project and a reimagining of the crime drama “Leverage.” The streamer is also developing a half-hour coming-of-age series based on “High School,” the memoir by musicians Tegan and Sara, and the family comedy “Dade F*ckin County.”

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