CBS Is Developing ‘The Gates,’ Network’s 1st New Soap Since ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’
For the first time in decades, daytime TV might be getting another soap opera.
CBS Studios and the NAACP announced on Wednesday, March 6, that they are developing The Gates, a new daytime drama about a wealthy Black family living in a posh, gated community. P&G Studio, a division of Procter & Gamble, will coproduce the series. P&G previously worked on As the World Turns, Guiding Light and Another World.
The Gates will be the network’s first new soap opera since The Bold and the Beautiful premiered in 1987. It will also be the first new daytime soap on broadcast television — period — since Passions debuted on NBC in 1999. The genre has declined in popularity over the last two decades, even more so recently as streaming has taken off, giving viewers more daytime options.
Soap opera veteran Michele Val Jean, who has written over 2,000 episodes of daytime drama, will serve as script writer for the series. Her previous credits include General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful and Santa Barbara. She also worked on daytime television’s first-ever Black soap, Generations, which ran from 1989 to 1991 on NBC.
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Sheila Ducksworth, CBS Studios’ NAACP venture president, will co–executive produce the series alongside Leon Russell, Derrick Johnson and Kimberly Doebereiner.
“The Gates will be everything we love about daytime drama, from a new and fresh perspective,” Ducksworth said. “This series will salute an audience that has been traditionally underserved, with the potential to be a groundbreaking moment for broadcast television.”
CBS Studios and the NAACP struck a deal in 2020 to develop scripted and unscripted programs for TV and streaming. CBS Entertainment Group President George Cheeks said at the time, “There is no better partner than the NAACP — the preeminent civil rights organization in our country — to help us find, develop and tell these inclusive stories.”
That seems to be what The Gates, the first show to emerge from the partnership, will try and accomplish on daytime TV.
“I’m excited to develop this project with CBS and P&G, two of the longest and most passionate champions of broadcast and daytime television, and the NAACP, whose enduring commitment to Black voices and artists is both powerful and inspiring,” Ducksworth said.
Giving fans a taste of what to expect with The Gates, Ducksworth added, “With multidimensional characters, juicy storylines and Black culture front and center, The Gates will have impactful representation, one of the key touchstones of the venture.”
CBS currently broadcasts two of the three still-running daytime soaps, The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless. General Hospital still airs on ABC while Days of Our Lives has moved from NBC to Peacock.
CBS renewed the 51-year-old Young and the Restless for an additional four years in February.
