CBS To Develop First Black Daytime Soap Opera In 35 Years

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

March 7, 2024

CBS has teamed up with the NAACP to develop the first daytime soap opera with a predominantly Black cast since 1985’s “Generations.”

CBS has teamed up with the NAACP to develop the first daytime soap opera with a predominantly Black cast since 1985’s “Generations.”

Titled “The Gates,” the new soap opera follows the lives of a wealthy Black family living in a posh gated community, Variety reports. It comes as part of CBS’ content partnership with NAACP and brings on Michele Val Jean to serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer.

Val Jean is a renowned veteran in the soap opera world having served as a writer on “The Bold and the Beautiful” since 2012 as well as boasting writing credits on “General Hospital” and “Santa Barbara.” The show will air on CBS Television Network and be produced by CBS Studios NAACP in partnership with P&G Studios, a division of Procter & Gamble.

The president of the CBS Studios NAACP venture Sheila Ducksworth has been tapped to executive produce the soap opera along with 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.”

The “College Hill” producer went on to tease the “juicy storylines” viewers can expect from the Black culture-driven series that will fill a 35-year-old void in daytime 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,” Ducksworth shared. “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. I also want to thank CBS’ George Cheeks, NAACP’s Derrick Johnson and P&G’s Marc Pritchard for their personal involvement and support to take our next step forward with ‘The Gates.’”

“The Gates” is also the first greenlit soap opera in years. Only three soap operas remain on daytime television including “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “Young and the Restless” on CBS and “General Hospital” on ABC.

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