Beyond the Gates (2025 TV series)

Beyond the Gates
Promotional title card
Also known as	The Gates (working title)
Genre	Soap opera
Created by	Michele Val Jean
Written by	Michele Val Jean
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Michele Val Jean Sheila Ducksworth Leon Russell Derrick Johnson Kimberly Doebereiner Robert Guza Jr. Julie Hanan Carruthers
Production locations	Assembly Studios Atlanta, Georgia
Production companies	CBS Studios NAACP Procter & Gamble Studios
Original release
Network	CBS

Beyond the Gates (originally The Gates) is an upcoming American television soap opera created by Michele Val Jean. The series is the first daytime television soap opera to feature an African-American cast since Generations in 1989 and the first new daytime soap to debut on a major broadcast network since Passions in 1999. It will center around the Duprees, a wealthy African-American family in the gated community of Fairmont Estates.

It is scheduled to debut on CBS, as part of their daytime programming block, in early 2025 replacing the canceled talk show The Talk.

Premise

Beyond the Gates will tell "the story of a wealthy Black family in a posh, gated community." This family—known as the Duprees—will reside in Fairmont Estates, located in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. area.

Cast and characters

On September 19, 2024, the first three castings were announced by TV Insider. Tamara Tunie was cast as Anita Dupree, a "once famous singer who worked hard to succeed and raised two daughters with her now-retired senator husband." Daphnee Duplaix and Karla Mosley were cast as Anita's daughters, Nicole Dupree Richardson and Dani Dupree, respectively. Nicole is described as a "high-achieving and competitive philanthropist and psychiatrist, and exudes warmth, empathy and compassion", while Dani is described as a "former model turned momager who gave up her career for love."

Other regular roles and breakdowns were revealed, via TV Insider.

• Patrick, a retired Senator, described as "gentle, humble, and generous", husband of Betty, holding a family secret
• Elizabeth, a paralegal, engaged to Joseph following an extra martial affair
• Marcus, a congressman following in his grandfather's footsteps, married to Daniel, have two adopted children together, desires to be first Black openly gay President
• Sam, a plastic surgeon at Garland Memorial Medical Center in Washington, D.C., runs and operates their own private practice with friend Lester Fine
• Stacy, owns a real estate agency which specializes in luxury properties
• Courtney, a charmingly intense woman whose late husband has passed
• Jillian, resides in Washington D.C, is the daughter of Sara, sister of Cheryl, granddaughter of Betty, married to David a police officer
• Diane, described as a bit of a mystery, with "two faces"
• Luis, a personal trainer at the Fairmont Estates Country Club, who has his eye on one of the married women who live in The Gates
• Allison, the spoiled daughter of Jessica and Sam
• Armand, a freelance photographer, who is philanthropic following the death of his parents a decade ago, nephew of Sam
• Cheryl, a reluctantly successful model with a cocaine addiction, daughter of Sara
• Rick, a fireman who is described as fearless
• David, a descendant of a family of law enforcement officials, known to get too personally invested in his cases
• Katie, daughter of a single mother, with a genuine desire to assist others

Production

On February 23, 2024, it was reported Michele Val Jean would be leaving the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful after 12 years. The following month, it announced that Val Jean was developing a new daytime soap opera that would follow the lives of a wealthy Black family. It will be produced by a joint venture of CBS Studios and the NAACP, along with Procter & Gamble Studios. Val Jean will serve as writer and show runner, and will also executive produce alongside Sheila Ducksworth, Leon Russell, Derrick Johnson and Kimberly Doebereiner. On March 15, 2024, it was reported that the series was under "Accelerated Development". On April 15 of the same year, it was reported CBS ordered the serial, originally titled The Gates, to series for debut in January 2025.

Beyond the Gates will be the first American daytime soap opera to feature an African-American cast since the 1989–1991 NBC soap Generations, which—along with being Val Jean's first job as a scriptwriter—was the first serial to feature a Black family from its inception, and to focus primarily on a family of ethnic minorities. It will also be the first new daytime soap opera to debut on an American broadcast television network since Passions premiered on NBC in July 1999 (it moved to The 101 Network for its final season in 2007), as well as the first daytime soap opera to be produced by Procter & Gamble since Guiding Light and As the World Turns ended their runs on CBS in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

In July 2024, it was reported soap opera writing and production veterans Robert Guza Jr. and Julie Hanan Carruthers had joined the serial as executive producers, alongside Val Jean. Taping will begin November 4 of the same year in Atlanta, Georgia. Skyy Sandifer, credited for her work as a script coordinator on Ambitions was announced as a writer's assistant for the serial the following month. The names and descriptions of nine series regular roles to-be cast were revealed by TV Insider on August 15, 2024, with note all actors "must" reside in Atlanta. Four days later, it was revealed The Gates would film at Assembly Studios. That same month, Soap Opera Network reported the writers' room had been "set" and would include "some familiar names to the genre."

On September 9, 2024, names and descriptions of six additional characters were revealed by TV Insider. Ten days later, the castings of Duplaix, Mosley and Tunie were announced.

External links

• The Gates at IMDb