Come 'Beyond the Gates' for the first Black-led soap opera — the first new network soap in decades

NEW YORK (AP) — The first thing viewers of "Beyond the Gates" see is a black Mercedes gliding past manicured lawns and stately estates. The sedan pulls up at an elegant country club and the valets come out. The Emotions' funky tune "Best of My Love" is playing.

That car and the glamorous woman behind the wheel are driving into TV history on Monday as CBS begins airing the first Black-led daytime soap opera — and the first new network soap since “Passions” premiered in 1999.

“I think that not only will it change daytime, but it’ll also change the landscape of TV,” said Sheila Ducksworth, president of CBS Studios/NAACP Venture and an executive producer. “I think it really will be something that will have far-reaching effects, and I look forward to it.”

Set in an affluent, gated Maryland community, “Beyond the Gates” has drama, joy and heartbreak played by very attractive people with a strong pocket-square vibe. But even the rich can lose it: The first episode ends with a roundhouse punch. A later episode has a golf club raised in anger.

“We want people to be entertained. We want people to have fun with it,” said Ducksworth. “There’s a lot of unpredictable stuff that’s going to be happening, a lot of juicy storylines. We have a lot of scandal and secrets and lies embedded in this world of power and prestige.”

Four generations represented

Actor Daphnée Duplaix, a veteran of “Passions” and “One Life to Live,” is the driver of the Mercedes and therefore won the distinction of being the audience's first glimpse of life in upscale Fairmont Crest.

“It was pretty awesome when I realized that I am the opening scene into this new world that we’re creating. I was like, ‘Oh, that is fun and exciting,’” she said. “That meant a lot. It really did.”

The premiere episode airs after "The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful," capping a three-hour block of CBS soaps. NAACP has partnered with the network, and Procter & Gamble, connected with soaps for decades, is a sponsor. It will stream on Paramount+, giving it a global reach.

The show is centered around four generations of the Dupree family, from a grandfather who is a civil rights icon to grandchildren who are social influencers. Unlike NBC’s “Generations,” the short-lived soap that made history in 1989 for featuring a Black family from the start, the main cast of “Beyond the Gates” is predominantly Black.

“We just wanted something that felt fresh, new, different, really glossy, fun and really epic,” said Ducksworth.

Characters born on index cards

Michele Val Jean, an Emmy-winning veteran daytime writer, is the creator, executive producer and showrunner. She created the characters in her mind on morning walks, jotting down ideas on index cards.

“By the time I was ready to start writing, I had this big stack of index cards. And once I sorted everything out, the characters were there,” she said. “It’s hard to describe. It’s almost like I’m a stenographer and the stuff just sort of came through me.”

Val Jean wanted to create soap characters viewers hadn't seen before and describes one pairing — played by Tamara Tunie and Clifton Davis — as if Diana Ross married the late Rep. John Lewis. One of their daughters — played by Karla Cheatham Mosley — has no filter and holds a fearsome grudge against her ex-husband.

“I love the characters that come into your house five days a week and sort of get inside you,” she said. “That’s what I want this show to do. I can think of many times I would have loved to have taken a golf club to somebody’s desk.”

Another thing that differentiates “Beyond the Gates” is the music. Tunie, who has a degree in musical theater from Carnegie Mellon, is one of a few cast members who will sing.

“The writers told me, ‘We’re going to have you singing on the show,’” she said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, OK. Didn’t know that, but OK. Let me let me dust off my cords.’”

Black excellence on screen

"Beyond the Gates" is the long-gestating dream of Ducksworth, who has been watching soap operas since she was 10 but yearned for more representation: "I have to say, for many years it's been very few and far between having real diversity on soaps."

The show is grounded in real Black excellence. Ducksworth points out there are pockets of affluent Black families in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

“It’s something right here in our backyard that many people may not be aware of,” she said.

Duplaix said Black wealth is often only portrayed as enjoyed by athletes or entertainers, so to be able to show Black doctors, psychologists and lawyers is important.

“This is normal. It’s not a fluke. It’s not a one-off. Black excellence is everywhere. So I’m so excited for that to be normalized Monday through Friday on television,” she said.

The series is filmed in Georgia on 27 sets over 35,000 square feet with a cast and crew of some 200 people. They've been working long hours since the end of October.

Val Jean recalls watching the first episode and gasping at the moment it all became real: A scene when all the Duprees gather as their grandfather tells a story. “My God, there they are — my babies,” she recalled with a laugh.

Inclusivity with intention

Ducksworth points out there's something for everyone — from people who have money inside the gates to those with less outside, lawyers and entrepreneurs as well as nurses and firemen. All races and sexual orientations are depicted.

“While it is primarily a Black cast, we intentionally wanted to include everybody,” she said. “What was important to me was what I felt was missing in so many of these soaps, which is real inclusivity.”

The cast and crew will be working to create more episodes on Monday, so they won't be able to tune in and see TV history being made. But there's a screening party planned at the end of the day for the first two episodes.

“Then we’ll pop some Champagne and have some food and fellowship together and celebrate our accomplishment,” said Tunie. “We need a moment to mark the moment and celebrate what we’re doing.”