AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Norman Lear, the legendary TV impresario who died at the age of 101 15 months ago, has a brand new project. "Clean Slate" on Prime Video pairs George Wallace and Laverne Cox. He's an Alabama car wash owner. She's a prodigal daughter.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CLEAN SLATE")
LAVERNE COX: (As Desiree) Hello.
GEORGE WALLACE: (As Harry Slate) Hey, Ms. Fancy Lady. I don't know what you're trying to sell me, but you can just go ahead and leave your little Watchtower magazine 'cause just really ain't a good time right now. My son's coming any minute now.
COX: (As Desiree) Dad, I'm your daughter, Desiree.
RASCOE: Wallace, who is also a co-creator of the show, joins us now. Welcome to the program.
WALLACE: Well, thank you so much, Ms. Rascoe.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Thank you.
WALLACE: I feel good already. I feel like I know you just by the name of Rascoe.
RASCOE: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: You know, I'm from the country. So, you know, we just - we have crazy names in the country, so we like to make sure we don't pronounce it wrong.
RASCOE: Oh, I know all about that. Yes. I'm from Durham, North Carolina.
WALLACE: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: Well, George, you have had a very long career in comedy.
WALLACE: You didn't say too long, did you? Let me say this before you go any further.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
WALLACE: You know what, Ayesha? You're talking to the most blessed man in entertainment in the world right now. It's not how much money you make. It's how you enjoy your life while you're living. I have been so blessed. I've been doing comedy for 48 years. I wanted to be a comedian since 6 years old, and sometimes I just choke up and thanking God. I thank God - I'm choking up right now 'cause all I do is lie. I just love to make up stuff. You know what I'm saying?
RASCOE: (Laughter) Yeah.
WALLACE: And, Ayesha, they pay you to do it.
RASCOE: Well, you made it - you helped make up this show, and you were working with Norman Lear. Like, what did he tell you when you approached him to do what turned into this show, "Clean Slate"?
WALLACE: What happened was in the past five, 10 years, you noticed that they have been rebooting all of the old shows, except one, and they didn't do it, and I love this show. I wanted to reboot "Sanford And Son." Well, basically, Ayesha, I just wanted to hear (vocalizing).
RASCOE: Yeah. Yeah.
WALLACE: (Vocalizing) They say just hearing the music makes you feel good already, does it not?
RASCOE: Oh, absolutely.
WALLACE: It does. I went to Norman, and we had been friends for years. He had me on a show back in the '90s called "704 Hauser Street." So I had known him all those years, and we always said we would work again eventually. So I said, now I'm back. Let's reboot "Sanford and Son." He says, that's an iconic show. I haven't done that one because that's the hardest one to do. But you go back, and you think about it. If you come up with a great twist, then maybe we'll consider it.
So I go back. I'm talking to a friend of mine. This was back in the day, maybe seven, eight years ago. "Orange Is The New Black" was a great, hot show everybody was talking about, and everybody was talking about this lady Laverne Cox, Laverne Cox. But I said, I don't know who this lady is, but I think this is a person I need to work with. And so I went back with the idea, OK, what if I had a son that went to New York and 23 years later returns to Alabama and she says, Dad, it's me?
RASCOE: Harry in the show is a Southern older man...
WALLACE: Stuck in his ways.
RASCOE: ...Stuck in his ways. That's exactly what I was going to say. And he has his daughter, Desiree, who's encouraging him to broaden his horizons.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CLEAN SLATE")
COX: (As Desiree) So it's time to declutter. We can start by replacing that eyesore on the wall.
WALLACE: (As Harry) Eyesore - that's a tasteful, enduring masterwork created on the finest velvet and sold to me on one of the finest off-ramps in Birmingham.
COX: (As Desiree) It's hideous. Not to mention you can't have a Last Supper of Soul without Beyonce as Jesus, of course.
WALLACE: (As Harry) Why, hell, Ray Charles is clearly Jesus, and you can't have no alive Jesus. Beyonce is still roaming the earth.
RASCOE: (Laughter) What does Harry learn about himself over the season? I mean, his growth isn't linear, and even though he doesn't completely understand Desiree, he does want to learn about Desiree. He does not turn his back on her.
WALLACE: Ayesha, I hate to say this, but I keep saying, being from the South, you know how we are in these communities.
RASCOE: Yeah.
WALLACE: It's actually part of my life, the community that I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, Lynwood Park. We grew up in a village where everybody takes care of everybody. And so what Harry is learning, and the reason I wanted to do the show, is it's time that we promote love. It's all about love, now, especially with the climate of America today.
I'm old enough to be probably one of the few people that you've talked to that actually rode the back of the bus. Because of what? - segregation. And that's discriminatory practices. I don't like it in any way. And so, after I heard about Laverne and what she's doing and what she's going through, well, here's a chance that I have to be educated 'cause that's what the show is all about - me learning as Harry, me learning also as Wallace.
RASCOE: That's so deep, but oftentimes, especially in society as it's now, you don't really see these sort of depictions, especially of a Black trans woman. There's the Black gay man. And all of this, too, is there's - the church is at the center of this community...
WALLACE: (Laughter).
RASCOE: ...And you're intersecting with that.
WALLACE: Oh, my God.
RASCOE: Were you worried? - 'cause I understand you're a Christian.
WALLACE: Every other day.
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: I've been to church so much, if I never go to church again in my life, I have put my time in.
RASCOE: (Laughter)
WALLACE: We used to go to church on Sunday and didn't get out till Tuesday. You know what I'm talking about.
RASCOE: Yeah. We didn't ask when to get out. Has anyone come to you and said, you know, George, I love your work, I love that you don't curse, I love your comedy - but this show right here, I don't know if this is right 'cause you're dealing in these topics that we're not comfortable with?
WALLACE: Haven't heard that yet at all - and I've been to all the bishops, you know? They may not agree with it, but hell, I don't agree with a lot of things the church does, like my Church of God in Christ. They don't allow ladies to be bishops. I think that's wrong. I think a lady could - who run the church, anyways?
RASCOE: (Laughter) What role does the church, though, play in Harry and Desiree's journey?
WALLACE: The ladies in the church get together, and they says, you know what? This is our daughter of the community. We got to back this child, and this is our child. And you know what? I got to love my child no matter what. And it's "Clean Slate" because everybody can start a new life, get a new chance, and we can all forgive and be forgiven, too. And we do it with a humor.
RASCOE: You mentioned that the show is about, you know, Harry learning, but there's also a bit of Wallace, a bit of you learning, too. I couldn't help but notice that parts of your stand-up routine from over the years made it into parts of Harry's personality.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
WALLACE: I don't cuss. I'm one of the clean comedians. I don't cuss. I'm old school, and I did it on television. That's all I studied, for television. I had to do it clean, so I don't cuss, but I want to cuss. When I met Waka Flocka Flame, I said, you know, Waka Flocka...
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: ...Waka Flocka - it ain't cussin', but it's close, isn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: Waka Flocka - I was at church Sunday. The preacher walked up in the pulpit. I said, look at this Waka Flocka.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: And then here's Harry in the show.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CLEAN SLATE")
WALLACE: (As Harry) No, sir, not today. I ain't letting this Waka Flocka libertarian get in front of me. Ain't gonna happen today.
RASCOE: Whose decision was that, to kind of blur the line between you, George Wallace, and Harry, the character?
WALLACE: Laverne Cox will tell you that. They don't know what's going to come out of my mouth.
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: But it is my life. It's my real life about enjoying people. When I walk into a room, I think everybody - just like meeting you. I feel as though I know you already.
RASCOE: Oh, that's so nice. I mean, I can say, you definitely have a warm personality. I'm smiling since I've started talking to you.
WALLACE: See?
RASCOE: (Laughter).
WALLACE: That's what it's all about, Ayesha. When I see happy people, it makes me happier.
RASCOE: Why are you a clean comedian? And do you think profanity is a crutch, or is it just a different style of comedy?
WALLACE: It's just a different style. It's funny as hell - oh, I said a cuss.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
WALLACE: No, but it's funny. It's funny. People that cuss - nobody did a better comedy show than Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy. There's nothing wrong with cussing if you express yourself the right way. So you do who you are. I'm the best cuss out there, by the way.
RASCOE: Oh, really?
WALLACE: Oh, yeah. I - you know, every now and then, during the show, I might say something, but I do use Waka Flocka for my real cussin'. Look at this Waka Flocka.
RASCOE: (Laughter)
WALLACE: And I thank each and every one of the Waka Flockers that come to my show.
RASCOE: I can't see you, but do you have your I Be Thinking cap on today?
WALLACE: Yes, I do. How'd you know?
RASCOE: OK (laughter).
WALLACE: I got my I Be Thinking cap on.
RASCOE: OK.
WALLACE: I live in New York on the 31st floor, OK? I ordered some food from DoorDash. The concierge called me and say, Mr. Wallace, your food is here. Do you want us to send it up? And I been thinking, no, you keep it. What the heck?
RASCOE: (Laughter).
WALLACE: That's when I cuss. People say all kinds of stupid stuff, you know?
RASCOE: (Laughter).
WALLACE: I been thinking, what's up with the hotels? You can't check in till 3 but you got to check out by 11? That ain't no 24 hours. I be thinking about all kinds of stuff.
RASCOE: Can we get you to do your classic sign off?
WALLACE: OK. This is Dr. George Wallace. I love you, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it because my love for you, Ayesha, does not require your permission.
RASCOE: As my friend George Wallace would say...
WALLACE: Whoo (ph).
RASCOE: ...I'm Ayesha Rascoe, and I love you, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it (laughter).
WALLACE: As George Wallace would say it (laughter).
RASCOE: That Waka Flocka.
WALLACE: Yeah, that...
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: No, hey, Ayesha.
RASCOE: Yes.
WALLACE: Ayesha. Don't push me. Don't push me.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: That's George Wallace. His new sitcom, "Clean Slate," is on Amazon Prime Video. Thank you so much for your time.
WALLACE: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF FUROZUN'S "HUM") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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