NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The first thing viewers of 鈥淏eyond the Gates鈥 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 鈥淏est of My Love鈥 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 鈥 and the first new network soap since 鈥淧assions鈥 premiered in 1999.
鈥淚 think that not only will it change daytime, but it鈥檒l also change the landscape of TV,鈥 said Sheila Ducksworth, president of CBS Studios/NAACP Venture and an executive producer. 鈥淚 think it really will be something that will have far-reaching effects, and I look forward to it.鈥
Set in an affluent, gated Maryland community, 鈥淏eyond the Gates鈥 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.
鈥淲e want people to be entertained. We want people to have fun with it,鈥 said Ducksworth. 鈥淭heresa国际传媒 a lot of unpredictable stuff thatsa国际传媒 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.鈥
Four generations represented
Actor Daphn茅e Duplaix, a veteran of 鈥淧assions鈥 and 鈥淥ne Life to Live,鈥 is the driver of the Mercedes and therefore won the distinction of being the audience's first glimpse of life in upscale Fairmont Crest.
鈥淚t was pretty awesome when I realized that I am the opening scene into this new world that we鈥檙e creating. I was like, 鈥極h, that is fun and exciting,鈥欌 she said. 鈥淭hat meant a lot. It really did.鈥
The premiere episode airs after and 鈥淭he Bold and the Beautiful,鈥 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 NBCsa国际传媒 鈥淕enerations,鈥 the short-lived soap that made history in 1989 for featuring a Black family from the start, the main cast of 鈥淏eyond the Gates鈥 is predominantly Black.
鈥淲e just wanted something that felt fresh, new, different, really glossy, fun and really epic,鈥 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.
鈥淏y 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,鈥 she said. 鈥淚tsa国际传媒 hard to describe. Itsa国际传媒 almost like I鈥檓 a stenographer and the stuff just sort of came through me.鈥
Val Jean wanted to create soap characters viewers hadn't seen before and describes one pairing 鈥 played by Tamara Tunie and Clifton Davis 鈥 as if married the late One of their daughters 鈥 played by Karla Cheatham Mosley 鈥 has no filter and holds a fearsome grudge against her ex-husband.
鈥淚 love the characters that come into your house five days a week and sort of get inside you,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hatsa国际传媒 what I want this show to do. I can think of many times I would have loved to have taken a golf club to somebodysa国际传媒 desk.鈥
Another thing that differentiates 鈥淏eyond the Gates鈥 is the music. Tunie, who has a degree in musical theater from Carnegie Mellon, is one of a few cast members who will sing.
鈥淭he writers told me, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to have you singing on the show,鈥欌 she said. 鈥淎nd I was like, 鈥極h, OK. Didn鈥檛 know that, but OK. Let me let me dust off my cords.鈥欌
Black excellence on screen
鈥淏eyond the Gates鈥 is the long-gestating dream of Ducksworth, who has been watching soap operas since she was 10 but yearned 鈥淚 have to say, for many years itsa国际传媒 been very few and far between having real diversity on soaps.鈥
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.
鈥淚tsa国际传媒 something right here in our backyard that many people may not be aware of,鈥 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.
鈥淭his is normal. Itsa国际传媒 not a fluke. Itsa国际传媒 not a one-off. Black excellence is everywhere. So I鈥檓 so excited for that to be normalized Monday through Friday on television,鈥 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. 鈥淢y God, there they are 鈥 my babies,鈥 she recalled with a laugh.
Inclusivity with intention
Ducksworth points out there's something for everyone 鈥 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.
鈥淲hile it is primarily a Black cast, we intentionally wanted to include everybody,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hat was important to me was what I felt was missing in so many of these soaps, which is real inclusivity.鈥
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.
鈥淭hen we鈥檒l pop some Champagne and have some food and fellowship together and celebrate our accomplishment,鈥 said Tunie. 鈥淲e need a moment to mark the moment and celebrate what we鈥檙e doing.鈥
