Why CBS is gambling on Atlanta-produced soap opera ‘Beyond the Gates’

“It’s one of the biggest undertakings in TV you can ever imagine,” said Sheila Ducksworth, an executive producer and the brains behind the show’s conception, in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Scheduled to produce 250 original episodes in the upcoming year, “Beyond the Gates” is the first daytime soap opera to debut on American TV since 1999. That was so long ago, “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” was the hottest show, “The Sopranos” was a cutting-edge new drama on HBO and YouTube and streaming didn’t exist.

Although soaps at the turn of the century were starting to wane in influence a generation after Luke and Laura drew 30 million viewers to watch their wedding on “General Hospital” in 1981, there were still 11 on air at the time. Over the next 15 years, that number dwindled as viewers ― mostly women ― worked in greater numbers, and reality soap operas like “The Real Housewives” universe on Bravo subsumed the cultural landscape.

By 2014, there were just four daytime soaps left: the aforementioned ABC survivor “General Hospital,” two CBS stalwarts “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” and NBC’s “Days of Our Lives,” which moved to its Peacock streaming service exclusively in 2022. The death knell seemed to be ringing for the entire genre, but as viewers became more inured to the on-demand model, “Days of Our Lives” and the other surviving soaps have found a new way to maintain and build a loyal audience.

This led CBS Studios, in coordination with the NAACP, to green light “Beyond the Gates,” which has a one-year guaranteed commitment to air weekdays at 1 p.m. daily, replacing “The Talk.” It will also be readily available on CBS’ streaming companion Paramount+.

“For fans of soaps, ‘Beyond the Gates’ was earth-shattering news,” said Mara Levinsky, editor of Soap Opera Digest. “It’s absolutely breaking new ground. I am sure CBS anticipates this show will be the first to be largely consumed on streaming.”

The series is also noteworthy for the fact it is being led by a Black family, the fictional Duprees who built and reside in a fancy gated community Fairmont Crest in the D.C. suburbs of Maryland.

Credit: CBS

Credit: CBS

Ducksworth, whose credits include Showtime’s early 2000s drama “Soul Food” and reality show “College Hill,” pitched “Beyond the Gates” to CBS. It was inspired by a short-lived NBC soap “Generations,” the first to feature a wealthy Black family in 1989 when Ducksworth was a college student at Yale University.

“People still talk about ‘Generations’ to this day,” she said. “I wanted to do something similar.”

Indeed, Ducksworth hired as head writer for “Beyond the Gates” Michele Val Jean, who began her career on “Generations” and became the first Black head writer on a soap 25 years ago on “General Hospital.”

“Black viewers have long supported soaps,” Levinsky said. “They are deeply dedicated and loyal. But perhaps they’ve wondered: Do these shows love them back? That’s something that has stirred fans about this show and why there is so much audience goodwill before it’s even on the air.”

Stephane Dunn, a Morehouse College film and pop culture professor, has been one of those inveterate soap fans for decades and is excited.

“This show not only has a strong Black contingent in front of the camera but behind the scenes,” Dunn said. “They have an impressive cadre of Black veteran writers and some newer ones.”

Val Jean and Ducksworth cast several soap alums in key roles such as Tamara Tunie (“As the World Turns”) as the matriarch Anita Dupree, Karla Mosley (”Guiding Light,” “The Bold and the Beautiful”) as her free-spirited younger daughter Dani and Daphnée Duplaix (”Passions,” “One Life to Live”) as her more stable older daughter Nicole.

Credit: CBS

Credit: CBS

But there is no shortage of newcomers in the vast pool of recurring characters including Atlanta actors Maurice Johnson (Nicole’s plastic surgeon husband), Marquita Goings (Dani’s ex-husband’s new beau) and Arielle Prepetit (Dani’s oldest daughter). Other key Atlantans on set include makeup chief Stevie Martin, hair department head Wankaya Hinkson and stage manager Candice Conley.

On set, Conley was watching the clock and saw a makeup artist primping one of the actresses. “She looks amazing!” Conley said. “Black girl magic!”

Duckworth, watching, whispered, “That’s her way of saying: Finish up and get going!”

There are 27 sets, including multiple bedrooms, living rooms, offices, a police station, a hospital lobby, a fancy restaurant, a diner and a country club. Ducksworth installed working fireplaces in multiple rooms.

Ducksworth didn’t skimp on any detail, however small. “The crest of the country club features a lantern symbol for Harriet Tubman, who is from Maryland,” she noted. And a painting on the wall, fictionally of the Dupree architect who created the country club and entire residence, is actually Paul Cheeks, a renowned Black architect and father of current CBS president George Cheeks.

Based on the first week of episodes sampled by the AJC, the standard soap plot lines and characters are readily apparent. There are nurses, doctors, lawyers and a detective as well as a social media influencer. There’s an angry, jilted wife, a scheming outsider, a car accident that wasn’t really an accident and numerous chaste love scenes. Someone gets punched and another gets slapped ― by the same person!

“From segments I’ve seen so far, it’s gleefully aware of the genre it’s in,” Dunn said. “I believe there’s still an audience for this type of escapism. Daytime TV is supposed to be sexy, not dangerous.”

Credit: NYT

Credit: NYT

Levinsky of Soap Opera Digest said building an audience for any soap has always been a challenge, be it 1958 or 2025: “Any new soap has an inherent disadvantage if it’s not already part of someone’s routine. You are starting with a deficit of emotional bonds to characters. Those take time to build and are the lifeblood of any soap’s odds of survival.”

Indeed, some soap stars play the same characters for multiple decades like Susan Lucci as Erika Kane on “All My Children” for 41 years and Eric Braeden as Victor Neman on “The Young and the Restless” for 45 years. And on the same day “Beyond the Gates” airs its first episode, “General Hospital” is scheduled to air its 15,655th episode.

“We are starting with a blank slate,” said Tunie, who has more than 15 years of soap experience. “We can go anywhere. That’s exciting. And I think the audience is chomping at the bit to have this back in a new, fresh way.”

Who are the Duprees?

Credit: CBS

Credit: CBS

Anita Dupree (Tamara Tunie): The matriarch, she had a Diana Ross-type music career, starting in a girl group, then a huge solo career with an EGOT. She is kind and loving but steely.

Credit: CBS

Credit: CBS

Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis): A retired senator, he was part of the Civil Rights Movement and comes across as avuncular. He and Anita are super tight and will do anything to ensure the family’s stellar reputation remains intact.

Credit: CBS

Credit: CBS

Nicole Dupree Richardson (Daphnée Duplaix): The oldest daughter of Vernon and Anita, she is a successful psychiatrist with a loving husband, plastic surgeon Ted Richardson. “You consistently make me and Vernon proud,” Anita tells Nicole in the first episode.

Credit: CBS

Credit: CBS

Dani Dupree (Karla Mosley): At the start of the series, the headstrong Dani is recently divorced from her longtime husband Bill, who had the gall to set his wedding with his younger fiancée at the local country club and live in the neighborhood that the Duprees built. Dani, as shown in the trailers, is hell-bent on revenge. “Dani’s a powder keg ready to explode,” Nicole said in an early scene.

WHERE TO WATCH

“Beyond the Gates”

1 p.m. weekdays on CBS and also available on Paramount+.