CBS has announced that it is producing a soap opera following a rich Black family.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show is called The Gates and is set to become the network’s first Black-led daytime TV drama in decades.
The show is a CBS Studios/NAACP production along with Procter & Gamble’s P&G Studios.
They have enlisted The Bold & The Beautiful’s Emmy-winning Michele Val Jean to write and act as showrunner.
Val Jean has written over 2,000 daytime TV episodes, so she brings a wealth of experience.
CBS’ The Gates Sounds Promising
In 1989, NBC released Generations as a half-hour drama.
It was the first American soap that followed a Black family from its inception.
However, the show didn’t last long.
Some also consider Fox’s Empire another soap opera, though it aired in primetime.
“The Gates will be everything we love about daytime drama, from a new and fresh perspective. This series will salute an audience that has been traditionally underserved, with the potential to be a groundbreaking moment for broadcast television. With multi-dimensional characters, juicy storylines and Black culture front and center, The Gates will have impactful representation, one of the key touchstones of the venture. 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.” Sheila Ducksworth, CBS Studios NAACP Venture President
Simply releasing a new daytime soap opera would be groundbreaking; the last new soap was 1999’s Passions.
- For now, only three daytime soaps still run:
- The Young & the Restless
- Bold & the Beautiful
- General Hospital (Days of Our Lives moved to Peacock)
Executive producers include Kimberly Doebereiner, Leon Russell, and Derrick Johnson.
