Jennings, Jazz

Sitcoms have a history of ushering in social progress and building acceptance. But in a time of backlash and fragmented audiences, that may be harder.“Clean Slate,” on Amazon Prime Video, is the kind of comedy you’ve seen on TV before. A woman leaves her hectic life in New York City for her hometown in Alabama to make a fresh start, repair her relationship with her estranged father, work at the family carwash and, just maybe, find love.The first season is a tall glass of sweet tea — wholesome, a little saccharine and mostly sitcom-standard. Except for one thing: Desiree (Laverne Cox) is transgender, which is a revelation to her gruff, old-school dad, Harry (George Wallace), who last saw her 23 years ago as his “son,” Desmond.What might be most striking about “Clean Slate” is how un-fraught the situation is. After his initial surprise and a few pronoun faux pas, Harry takes his daughter’s identity in stride. So do their friends and neighbors (except for one moralizing preacher). Though the show was co-produced by the late Norman Lear, there is little of the acrimony of his 1970s culture-clash sitcoms like “All in the Family.”The statement, and maybe the fantasy, of the show is to posit a world that largely, casually assumes transgender rights and personhood, even as the headlines from our actual world scream otherwise. Our social problems aren’t absent in “Clean Slate”; at one point, in a burst of fatherly protectiveness, Harry worries that “these streets are not safe for people like Des.” But mostly, the show sticks to quirky family comedy and good-natured wisecracks.The kind of transformation that “Clean Slate” imagines — the movement of a group from controversial to ordinary — is one we’ve seen in other areas of society, most recently around gay rights. That change was itself driven in part by TV shows.From left, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes in “Will & Grace.” The show has been credited with helping to usher in acceptance of gay marriage.NBCWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More