Season 5 of “Transparent” will provide “closure” to fans, head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke said Saturday at the Television Critics Association summer 2018 press tour.
“We are planning a Season 5 of the show,” Salke told reporters. “What form it takes, we haven’t quite announced yet, but it exists, and we’re very excited about [it].”
Salke continued to say that “we know exactly what it is creatively,” and she recently met with creator Jill Soloway, who has ideas “beyond ‘Transparent.’”
“We were just with Jill this week,” said Salke, who sat for the panel with Amazon TV co-heads Albert Cheng and Vernon Sanders. “I think I’m going to take it upon myself to just tease that Jill came in with sort of what she’s excited about beyond ‘Transparent,’ and I think you can stay tuned in the next week or two to hear more about what that is. But it’s something we’re incredibly excited about. And so, all good. We’re going to give the ‘Transparent’ fans the closure that they and we long for, and do what’s right by, you know, those fans.”
That news came after accusations of sexual misconduct against Jeffrey Tambor led to the announcement that he will not appear in the final season.
Salke was tight-lipped on how Tambor’s character will be written out, saying that she wanted to allow Soloway “to be able to own that space.”
Tambor was accused in November of harassing two trans women on the “Transparent” set, including costar Trace Lysette and his former personal assistant Van Jones. A third woman unrelated to the production — makeup artist Tamara Delbridge — later came forward.
In May, Tambor opened up about his behavior on the show’s set, saying he was “mean” and “difficult,” and would yell at Soloway, though he denied the accusations of sexual harassment.
As TheWrap previously reported, Soloway had considered using Tambor in the season in a flashback-only role as his pre-transition character Mort Pfefferman, but that idea was nixed.
The series has garnered critical acclaim since its premiere and helped put Amazon Prime on the map in the original series arena. Tambor took home a pair of Emmys for Best Actor in a Comedy in 2015 and 2016, but the comedy was notably absent from this year’s Emmy nominations.